LESSON 1 Activity 5

Becoming Wary of Watersheds

Grades:

4th - 7th

Objective:

Students will be able to predict the paths of water within a model watershed and be able to describe the various drainage patterns of the water. Students will understand what a watershed is, what it does, and that many sub-watersheds are linked to create a larger watershed.

Method:

Students build a model of a watershed or observe a model built by the teacher.

Materials:

A large tray or large piece of corrugated cardboard, newspaper, masking tape, aluminum foil, a spray bottle with water (dyed), a collecting bucket or plastic container (if needed). If students are to build their own models, have them bring materials from home (unless available at school).

Time:

Preparation Time: If choosing to construct and demonstrate model yourself: 30 min.
If choosing to have class build the model: 5 min.
Class Time: If choosing to construct and demonstrate model yourself: 15 min.
If choosing to have the class build the model: 45 min.

Procedure:

Decide if you or your class will construct the watershed model.

Intro: Begin by asking the class if they know what a watershed is. A watershed is an area of land that collects the precipitation that ends up in a particular body of water. For example, all of the land surrounding the Hudson River drains into the Hudson River. That land is the Hudson River watershed. Ask the class if they are in a watershed at this moment. Then explain that all land on Earth is part of some watershed.

Explain that you will be using a model watershed so they can visualize the path of water within a watershed.

  1. Crumple up sheets of the newspaper, or any other scrap paper. Try to use various sizes. (These will represent mountains.)

  2. Arrange the various shapes on the tray or cardboard, with the largest pieces near one side of the base, the medium-sized pieces next to that, and then the smaller ones. It should form somewhat of a "C" shape, with a low valley in the middle. This valley will become the stream.

  3. Once you are happy with the shape of the watershed, tape the paper pieces to the tray or cardboard. Be sure to tape the paper down rather well, while still keeping the desired shape of the mountains.

  4. Cover the entire mountain range with aluminum foil to prevent water from wetting the paper, and to improve the drainage patterns of the model.

  5. Now you may wish to raise one end of your model in some manner to improve the drainage process. You may also wish to place a collecting container at the outlet of the future stream to prevent any spilling of water.

  6. Once the model is ready to go and you have filled the spray bottle with colored water, tell the students that this area of land is now going to experience a precipitation event. Before applying the water, ask the students to predict where the water will flow. Point to several different locations, both inside and outside of the main watershed.

  7. Begin spraying the foil model. Spray all areas as evenly as possible until a flow is generated. Point out the various drainage patterns that occur in the watershed. Make sure you spray outside the stream's watershed and ask where that water flows. Ask if the side of the mountain facing away from the stream is in the same watershed as the side of the mountain facing toward the stream.

  8. Have students point out the various drainage divides that appear. How can they tell it is a drainage divide?

  9. Be sure to point out to the class that all of the water from inside the main watershed is draining into one place, or common outlet. This is the mouth of the stream. Explain how this stream would feed into another stream, and so on, until the stream reaches the ocean. Hence, all watersheds are connected.

  10. Review the major points to ensure that students understand the functions of watersheds: to collect, store, and eventually release water. Review drainage divides. Discuss the concept of sub-watersheds. All land on this planet is part of one watershed or another.

Extension: Have students look straight down on their model and draw a map of it. They should indicate where the mountains, streams, pools, and divides are located.

Assessment:

  1. What might the watershed model look if it had two different watersheds on it?

  2. How might pollution in one area of a watershed affect the drinking water in another part of the same watershed two miles away? How might the same pollution in your watershed affect a community in another watershed 20 miles downstream from you?

  3. In what ways, other than a stream, might water leave a watershed? Hint: think of the water cycle diagram.

NYS Learning Standards:

Arts
Standard 1 - Creating, Performing, and Participating in the Arts: Visual Arts

Math, Science, and Technology
Standard 4 - Science: Physical Setting 1,2
Standard 5 - Technology: Tools, Resources, and Technological Processes
Standard 7 - Interdisciplinary Problem Solving: Connections


Source: This activity developed and written by Nathan Chronister and Aaron Bennett.