LESSON 1 Activity 6

What Is Your Watershed Address?

Grades:

4th - 12th

Objective:

Students will learn where the water in the streams near their homes and villages comes from and where it eventually ends up. They will see how a pollution source near their homes could potentially affect other water bodies in their watershed.

Method:

Each student uses a map to figure out his or her watershed address -- the series of streams one would have to follow from the ocean to reach his or her home.

Materials:

Copies of the Watershed Address Form, and at least one (preferably more) detailed map of NY.

Note: A map of your particular county, or a local topo map, will not suffice because they would not allow students to follow their streams all the way to the sea.

Time:

Preparation Time: 15 minutes
Class Time: 20-30 minutes

Procedure:

  1. Explain how all land is part of one watershed or another, and how everyone lives in a watershed. Explain how larger watersheds (e.g., the Delaware River Watershed) are comprised of many smaller watersheds (sub-watersheds). Local streams may pass through many sub-watersheds.

  2. Pass out the address form, and have them write their street addresses on the left side.

  3. Distribute the map(s) to the class and briefly explain the what they are to do.

  4. Have each student locate the road they live on (or the nearest road that appears on the map). Then have them find the closest stream to their house. If mountains appear on the map, students should find the nearest stream that is not on the other side of a mountain or watershed divide from where they live.

  5. Students can now trace the path of the water. As they follow their stream, they should write down the names of each larger stream it enters. Students should continue until they reach the ocean.

  6. Have students draw a picture (map) of their watershed address so the rest of the class can visualize the course of their water.

  7. Have each student pretend that there are no roadways in New York State. Each student must instruct the class on how to reach his or her house from the Atlantic Ocean, using only the names of the existing water bodies.

Assessment:

  1. If you sprayed a lot of fertilizer on your lawn, and after a heavy rainfall, most of it washed into the stream, where might that pollution end up?

  2. How might that pollution affect the way of life of residents in the village downstream from you?

NYS Learning Standards:

Math, Science, and Technology
Standard 4 - Science: Physical Setting 2; The Living Environment 7

Social Studies
Standard 3 - Geography


Source: This activity developed by Martha Cheo, Watershed Coordinator for the Hudson Basin Riverwatch.