Inquiry activities involving hurricanes and River Run:

Using the Data Visualization tool River Run, use the following questions to explore hurricanes and their affects on the environment.

www.uncw.edu/riverrun/

à Do hurricanes affect the salinity of the rivers?  Turbidity?

à What other impacts do hurricanes have on the rivers?
HINT: see 09/98 on Cape Fear River at NC11, AP, and NAV sites, "Plot multiple dates at one site." Observe and compare many other parameters such as: dissolved oxygen, temperature, turbidity, inorganic and organic nutrients, pH, etc.

à What other dates show the effects of hurricanes?
HINT: look for similar patterns in the parameters (remember what we already learned from the question above)

à Compare the impact of Hurricane Floyd at the NAV site (on Cape Fear River) with the NCF 117 site (Northeast Cape Fear River). 

HINT: find the dates of the two hurricanes from the chart given to you. Then look on River Run to compare the two.

1. What did you find?

2. What parameters are lower than normal?

3. What parameters are higher than normal?

4. Is this what you predicted? Why or why not?

à Compare the impact of Hurricane Bonnie and Hurricane Floyd at any two sites on the Northeast Cape Fear River.

5. What do you find?

6. What are the differences?

Why do you think there are such differences?

Lesson by:

Kelly Hall