Living in Our Watershed (3rd - 6th) | Series 6, Lesson #1
Key Topics/Vocabulary: Watershed, Runoff, Development, Permeable, Impermeable, Water Cycle, Pollution, Marine Debris
Grade Level: 3rd-6th
Click here for Series #6 Description
Students will learn about watershed stewardship and observe how water and pollution run off/infiltrate landscapes. We will also investigate watershed habitats and explore relationships that contribute to health or harm our watershed.
Essential Question(s) that Connect CCCs and SEPs:
Watershed- An area of land where water drains and collects in one place by way of rivers, lakes, and seas
Runoff- The water that falls from the sky and runs off the surface of the land and flows downhill into streams, rivers, ponds, lakes, and oceans
Development- When hard surfaces like roads and buildings are created to make it convenient for people to drive and live
Permeable- When a surface has air space for water to pass through (ex, pebbles, wood chips, grass)
Impermeable- When a surface does not have space for water to pass through (ex, concrete, asphalt)
Water Cycle- The continuous journey water takes from the sea to the sky to the land and back to the sea
Pollution- When harmful materials are brought into the environment
Marine Debris- When litter ends up in the ocean
Activity Option #1: Crumple a Watershed
Activity Option #2: Mini Watershed Model
Send out the River Runner link to teachers! This allows you to place a raindrop anywhere in the US and watch where it ends up. Great for visualizing where water travels in a watershed!
Activity Option #1: Crumple a Watershed
Activity Option #2: Mini Watershed Model
Engage:
Does anyone have any idea how creeks and rivers become polluted? What animals live in the creeks/rivers near us? Does the rainwater that falls on our school go to these rivers? How about the ocean?
Explore:
Walk with students through the garden and consider where water would flow if it were raining. For this age group, it is best to focus on how water flows from high to low places. Do you see water pooled anywhere? Where might it pool if it was raining?
Explain:
Thumbs up/down: Do you know what a watershed is?
The word ‘shed’ doesn’t just mean a small building where you put away tools. Who can tell me what it means when a cat or dog sheds fur? (It loses fur). A watershed is an area of land where all the water shed off the surface funnels to the same place. The water might flow into a stream, creek, lake, or bay. Right now, we are standing in one particular watershed, but if we climbed over a big mountain, we might be in another watershed where the water would flow into different creeks and streams.
Hold up your hands with your palms together and fingers out. You already have in your hand a map of a watershed. Wiggle your fingers. These are like the little creeks (or tributaries) that flow into bigger rivers. See the area where your palms meet. That is the main water channel, and the space between your arms is the ocean!
Think, Pair, Share: What materials might get picked up as water flows across a watershed?
A watershed connects all the plants, animals, and people that live in it and the non-living components like rocks. We all depend on the watersheds we live within to help keep us healthy. It is important to understand watersheds to ensure we don’t do things that accidentally pollute the water that so much life depends on to survive.
Let’s think more about how humans impact watersheds. Any ideas? Human development often involves building surfaces that we define as ‘impermeable’ (define impermeable). Can anyone give me some examples of impermeable surfaces? (Asphalt, concrete, compacted soils). So if we know what impermeable means, what types of surfaces would we consider permeable? (Gardens, grassy areas, hillsides - anything not developed). How can human development negatively impact watersheds? Define the remaining vocabulary words.
Action: Watershed Modeling
Option #1: Crumple a Watershed
into a tight ball. Then, gently open up the paper, careful not to flatten it out completely.
The highest points on the paper now represent mountaintops, and the low places represent valleys.
2. Depending on the age of your students, you can have them color mountain ridges or just see if they can point to where the ridges might be. If you do decide to color, select one color marker and draw lines to connect the highest points on the map. These are the mountain ridgelines.
3. Color or point to where the water would flow. Choose a second color and mark the low places where different bodies of water might be found (creeks, rivers, lakes, the bay etc.)
4. Color or discuss human activity. With a third color, mark four or five places to represent places of human activity: housing, factories, shopping centers, schools, etc.
5. Predict the flow of water. Point or mark the path water might take in the watershed if it rained on the watershed.
6. Observe the flow of water. Using a spray bottle, lightly spray the paper watersheds and observe where the water flows (it may be wise only to spray your own paper as a demonstration).
Option #2: Mini Watershed Model
Reflect:
What observations can be made about how water travels in the watershed? Where did you place the human activity on your map? Why? (Crumple a Watershed)What path did the water follow? Were your initial predictions correct? What materials might the water pick up as it moves through the watershed? (hint: pollution) How can we reduce human impact on our watersheds?
This lesson was prepared by One Cool Earth under award
NA20NOS4290033 from the Bay Watershed Education and Training Program
of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), U.S.
Department of Commerce. The statements, findings, conclusions, and
recommendations are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect
the views of NOAA or the U.S. Department of Commerce.
This lesson was updated on 2/2024 with the Morro Bay Natural Estuary Program.
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