Educator's Guide to the Barataria-Terrebonne National Estuary
The BTNEP Educator's Guide to the Barataria-Terrebonne National Estuary is a comprehensive source of information and activities for formal and nonformal educators. The activities are created specifically for students K through 12th grade.
From this page you can download all the components (pictures and graphics included) so that you can print the entire Guide. Files are generally in Adobe PDF format. (If you don't have Adobe Reader on your computer you can download the program here free!)
Sediment loss, in conjunction with the natural sinking of the marsh, is by far the most significant problem in the estuary. Sea-level rise and erosion also contribute to the problem, as can human activities such as canal dredging and construction of navigation channels.
Approximately 735 species of birds, finfish, shellfish, reptiles, amphibians, and mammals spend all or part of their life cycle in the estuary. Several of the species are either catagorized as threatened or endangered.
Hydrological modifications are considered the "lynchpin" problem of the basins, meaning that they affect all of the basins other problems. When we build levees, dredge canals, or cut through natural ridges, the natural flow of water is changed.
Some estuarine goods are assigned values in the economic marketplace, such as the products of the commercial fishing, hunting, trapping, and aquaculture industries. Other estuary services, such as storm protection and tertiary wastewater treatment, are never explicity purchased and thus are more difficult to value.
Louisiana GLEs Included in these documents are GLEs related to other subject areas including English, Language Arts, Social Studies, and Math. All other Science GLEs are listed in the original lessons.
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