Watershed Study

 

STUDENTS WILL BE ABLE TO:
- Identify how water cycles through their local area.
- Define watershed and identify important local components.
- Consider the effects of humans on water.

GUIDING QUESTIONS:
Where does our water come from?
Where does it go?

MATERIALS:
- Scrap paper
- Washable markers
- Spray bottles of water
- Phone book
- Access to research materials (library, computers with Internet access)
- Maps (especially topographic) or air photos of watershed (optional)

CLASS ACTIVITIES:
Days 1 and 2: Wonder and Explore
1. Conduct this introductory activity outside, on lab tables, or in another area that can get wet: Pass out one piece of scrap paper to each student, and give students markers to share. Students should crumple their scrap paper and then spread it out slightly so that it resembles a mountainous area. Students can then color the mountaintops and can also draw houses, farms, etc. Each feature should be a separate color. Students then spray water onto the map and watch as rivers form. Where does the water from the mountaintops go? Where does the water from the houses and farms go? As the colors mix, discuss how pollution can move through an area through the water cycle.
2. Define watershed. If possible, show students maps or overhead photos of their watershed. If you are using topographic maps, this activity can be helpful to explain the concept:

• Have students make the hand that they do not use to write with into a fist. The knuckles will make points, like mountains.
• Using a marker, each student can make circles around his or her knuckles, making a separate circle for every 1/8" of height.
  
• Once circles are drawn, students may flatten their hands. The concentric circles on their hands are now just like those on a flat topographic map - a visual representation of height on a flat surface.
  

3. Review the four steps of the water cycle:

Precipitation > Storage > Evaporation > Condensation

4. Working in groups of roughly four students, students should spend the next two days mapping the water cycle in the local watershed. Projects should answer the following questions:

• Where does our water come from?
  
• Where does it go?
  

When conducting research, students should identify important components of the local water cycle, including wells, wastewater treatment plants, their homes, school, aquifers, reservoirs, and farms.
5. Homework: Students should find out where the water at their home comes from. Does their house have well water? If not, where is the reservoir?

Days 3 and 4: Identify and Organize
1. As students complete their research, they should then make a cross-sectional map of the watershed. The map should show high points and the basin, and should have all key components labeled.
2. If time allows, students can present maps to class.

Optional Extension
1. Take a field trip to the local wastewater treatment plant.