The Dead Zone

Before you try to determine the potential impact of this community on the local water quality, you need to become familiar with the area you are working with. In this step, you will use maps of Portsmouth, VA, the Elizabeth River, and the Chesapeake Bay to orient yourself to the local region.

Check out the maps below to get a frame of reference for the area we are going to be looking at in this webquest. The “Chesapeake Bay Watershed Map” shows the entire watershed of the Chesapeake Bay, encompassing an area of 64,000 square miles, including 6 states! The “Map of Chesapeake Bay & Tributaries” shows the Chesapeake Bay, which is 200 miles long and surrounded by the states of Virginia and Maryland. The Elizabeth River is one of the tributaries of the Chesapeake Bay. As you can see on the map, the Elizabeth River is at the very southernmost part of the Bay (at the bottom center of the map), close to the mouth of the bay. Portsmouth, VA is one of the cities along the shores of the Elizabeth River.

As you study the maps, answer the following questions in your journal. Turn in your journal when you are done. Your responses and groupwork will be assesed using the rubric below.

1.      Pull up and compare the “Map of Elizabeth River Watershed” and the “Map of Portsmouth, VA.” What do you notice about the borders of the city and the borders of the watershed?

2.      Does your house fall in the Elizabeth River Watershed? Your school? Your work (or your parents’ work)?

3.      What daily human activities might impact water quality?  

4.      Open up and look at the Chesapeake Bay Watershed map. Why should someone in Scranton, Pennsylvania care about the water quality of the Chesapeake Bay?

As a resident of Portsmouth, do the seemingly little things you do every day directly impact the water quality of the Elizabeth River, and in turn, the Chesapeake Bay? If so, how? Continue to Step 2 to find out…