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How Healthy is your Watershed?
Students will observe and record data about their watershed and identify abiotic, biotic and cultural factors that contribute to a healthy water system. The students will learn to use equipment, and gain skills and techniques used by scientists to monitor a watershed to see if it is a healthy system.
Connection to IslandWood
At IslandWood, students learn about ecosystems and watersheds. Watersheds curriculum groups will visit a marsh, harbor, stream or pond and conduct water quality investigations. The water quality monitoring at IslandWood involves taking weather data, turbidity, and a chemical and biological analysis. In addition, the watershed students study the pathway of water, what it looks like, how it affects the environment around it, and how humans affect it, both negatively and positively. Students who monitor their own waterway prior to coming to IslandWood will be familiar with the procedures, techniques and tools used to monitor water quality when they come to IslandWood. Watersheds students who have already come to IslandWood will be able to apply those techniques in monitoring their own waterway at home or at school. In addition, monitoring water quality at different types of waterways and geographic areas will help the students compare and contrast water quality at both locations. This comparison can prompt discussion on cultural impacts and action for stewardship, two culminating themes of the students experience at IslandWood.
Lessons Decoded
At the top of the first page of each lesson you will find the lesson title and summary with the list of understandings, knowledge, and skills that IslandWood has developed which are most relevant to that particular lesson (see Using Stewardship as an Integrating Theme in IslandWood's School Programs packet). On the right side of the page you will find the suggested age range, venue and materials included in the kit, materials you may have to provide, and the approximate time it will take to complete the lesson. The next part is the introduction to the lesson. This introduction includes short activities and/or questions that get your students thinking about the activity they are about to participate in.
The core lesson flow follows, set up as a step-by-step progression of activities. Questions that you may embed into the lesson are also included. After the core lesson is completed, the conclusion or discussion sections further students’ knowledge and appreciation for the topic. Meanwhile, the discussion with the students provides a formative assessment of how well your students have grasped the lesson.
If you find time to do extensions to the core lesson, some options are provided. Materials for these possible extensions are not specifically provided, though some of the materials that are in the kit might come in handy. The final section offers background information which may include some facts and figures that give a larger context to the lesson. Additional references and contacts can be found on the EXTENSIONS page.
The Lessons
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Lesson Summary: Students will be taken to a local waterway, such as a pond, stream, river or lake, where they will be introduced to the purpose of water monitoring, gain experience in recording data such as weather and sketch the waterway. This lesson will prepare the students for future water monitoring by having them learn how to use the monitoring instruments while stressing accuracy and thoroughness in their observations. |
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Lesson Summary: Students will use a sample of water from their own watershed and test for pH, dissolved oxygen, turbidity and temperature to determine if it is suitable for living organisms. Students will identify factors that contribute to a healthy water system. |
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Lesson Summary: Students will explore the banks of a waterway and learn the techniques to collect aquatic life responsibly. Students will then use hand lenses and field microscopes to sketch their critters and learn in-field identification. Students will discuss adaptations and survival requirements for these specialized animals. |
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Lesson Summary: Students will go to a stream and measure the direction and speed (velocity) the water is flowing. Students will gather flow data using a tape measure, stopwatches and ping pong balls and they will learn how and why stream velocity plays a role in the health of the watershed. |
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Note to instructor about this module
At IslandWood, the students from your school are divided into two separate curricula-Ecosystems and Watersheds. Watershed field teams participate in water quality testing at IslandWood using the same methods and materials in this kit. Whether or not you can do all four of the lessons in this plan will depend on the size of your class and the number of teachers and adults present to chaperone a particular lesson. The suggested flow of this module is Field Trip, Watershed Sketch and Weather, Chemical Analysis, Biological Analysis and lastly Stream Velocity. However, the chemical and biological analyses can be done interchangeably. In addition, the Stream Velocity lesson will only be applicable if your waterway has some kind of stream flow, or moving water. Each water quality test in this kit can be done separately or in conjunction with others at a later date when time allows. The data will still be useful in assessing the health of your school’s watershed so long as it is gathered using consistent methods. Keep in mind that factors such as temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen, and stream velocity will produce different results seasonally. These results can be used to compare seasonal changes in water quality over time.
