Lesson 1: Exploring Watersheds
Materials and Preparation
- Several tall objects and short objects (2 or 3 of each per model)
- White butcher paper (3’ x 4’ sheets)
- Large waterproof tin trays
- Transparency film
- Small spray bottles with water
- Newspaper
- Food coloring or tempra paint
- Student worksheet. Part 1: What is a Watershed?
Part 2: Elevation and Observation Map
| Go to the downloads page for: What is a Watershed? student worksheet. |
Note: Educators should construct and test the watershed model prior to class to ensure that materials work appropriately.
Procedure
Preliminary Discussion
Ask students key questions:
- Does anyone know what causes a river to flow in a certain direction or how its shape may be altered?
- Do you think the land around our rivers affects the quality of the water?
- Introduce the term watershed. One way to introduce this term is to ask students to separate the word into “water” and “shed” (to pour or cause to pour off; to emit) and discuss what each word means. Ask students what “sheds” water? (The land around a river.)
- Inform the class that they will be learning about watersheds using a model, which is a simplified representation of a natural phenomenon. Models help scientists represent their current understanding of natural phenomena as well as construct new understanding.
Advance Preparation
- Preview the materials and demonstrate how to build the watershed model. Connect the watershed model to the real world. Ask: What might be the purpose of this watershed model? Have students describe what the pieces of the model represent. (Paper = land. Spray bottle = precipitation.)
- Have students form groups. Hand out Part 1 of the student worksheet: What is a Watershed?
- Assign roles to group members: object placer, paper placer, taper, watershed transparency map creator, and/or sprayer. (Assigning roles is one strategy to facilitate small group interaction until students become adept at working together.)
- Remind students that they are all responsible for creating individual watershed maps, filling out their predictions, observations, and explanations, and taking notes on the concepts they identify.
- Distribute materials. Do not have the students get water bottles yet!
Build a Watershed Model
- Review set-up procedure with students. (Steps 1-4 on the work sheet.)
- Monitor students as they build their watershed models.
- Create an elevation map. Describe the procedure for making an elevation map. (Steps 5-6 on the work sheet.) Students will mark high areas with “H” and low areas with “L” on both their model and on a separate transparency. Monitor students as they create maps.
- Have groups raise their hands when maps are completed.
- Predict water flow. Review steps for making predictions. (Step 7 on the work sheet.)
- Monitor students as they make predictions and explanations on their worksheets or in journals, about how water will flow over their watershed model.
- Have groups raise hands when predictions are completed.
- Observe and test models. Inform the students that they are now ready to test their models and make observations. Remind them to keep detailed notes of their observations: they will use their observations to help explain their models.
- Give each group a spray bottle. Students will use spray bottles to test their watershed model.
- Monitor groups as students make observations. Return materials.
Source
Used with permission: Center for Highly Interactive Classrooms, Curricula and Computing in Education (Hi-ce), University of Michigan School of Education.
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