Watershed Investigations

During your field investigations for our Watershed Investigation program, students will measure water quality parameters via low-tech chemistry tests and by investigating bioindicators. Water chemistry gives a snapshot view of water quality: how healthy is the water at this moment in time? Finding, identifying, and tallying species of aquatic macro-organisms with varying pollution tolerances helps us determine water quality over a longer time (organisms require time within their healthy parameters to develop and grow). They will also conduct a site analysis to determine how humans use the land around a wetland and what organisms make up the food web in a wetland habitat. If there is a fourth class, students will also make watershed models

This program can serve as the field investigation portion of their Meaningful Watershed Educational Experience (MWEE) Field investigations are more meaningful to students when they are integrated into their curriculum. The data collected can be used for analysis, creating tables and graphs, and comparing to regional trends. We also recommend several texts and associated activities to enrich your students' experiences.

A Long Walk to Water               Non-Fiction

Author: Linda Sue Park           

Grade: 6-8                Lexile: 720L

Suggested Activities:

• Students record daily water use for a week, tracking which activities need to have clear, purified water, which clear water, and which could use muddy water. Calculate the volume of water used in a day, and determine the weight of that water. "My Water Footprint" by Project WET is an excellent and similar activity. 

• This "Clean Water For All" (PDF) from World's Largest Lesson (in partnership with UNICEF and with help from UNESCO) explores global issues of inconsistent access to clean sources of water. 

• Where does the water for the school come from, and what has to happen for it to come out of our taps? Visit a water treatment facility either in person or virtually. 

• This book lends itself to an excellent action project for a Meaningful Watershed Educational Experience unit: raising funds to provide clean drinking water for an at-risk population. Specifically, the author recommends Water for South Sudan, however, there are many quality projects all over the world. Ideas for raising money are in the back of the book. 

• Additional activities are suggested on the Water for South Sudan website. We particularly like the Two-Voice Poem (PDF) module. 

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I Am the Rain               Fiction

Author and Illustrator: John Paterson          

Grade: PK-3                Lexile: AD470L

Suggested Activities:

• Prior to engaging in water quality testing, use this book as a hook for students. Conduct a read-aloud (even with middle schoolers), and then have students brainstorm additional ways that they interact with water and create an "I Am the Rain" statement about one of those interactions. 

• After water quality testing, select one of the "I Am the Rain" statements (When springtime comes I melt away and run into a creek. Waiting, I'm the ocean bay that searching rivers seek) and have students describe what would be different if one or more of the abiotic parameters were altered. 

• Develop a deeper sense of the watershed by having students use pins or stickynotes to identify places in their watershed where each of the "I Am the Rain" statements could take place.

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One Well: The Story of Water on Earth                Non-Fiction

Author: Rochelle Strauss            Illustrator: Rosemary Woods        

Grade: 3-7

Suggested Activities:

• Project Wet A Drop in a Bucket clearly illustrates how much freshwater is actually accessible.

• Multiple pages in this book connect to other recommended readings. For example, page 21 has an excellent graphic depicting water use by humans in different areas and could be used in partnership with A Long Walk to Water and The Water Princess. Prior to reading one of the other stories, examine the related page in One Well. Refer back to that page while reading, and use sticky notes to add supporting information.

• Conduct a schoolyard watershed assessment. There are many schoolyard report cards online (like this PDF from the Chesapeake Bay Foundation) that can be adapted to focus on how the land could influence water. Identify problem areas and suggest improvements. 

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STEAM Team Adventure #4 - Water Ninjas and the Mystery of the Potomac            Fiction

Author and Illustrator: airfax Water     

Grade: 5-9             

Suggested Activities:

• Explore turbidity by placing a constant quantity of tap water into a CLEAR container and reading text through the bottom. Measure and add a small quantity of sediment, stir, and attempt to read the text. Be sure to record quantities and observations. Continue to add sediment in increments until the text is unreadable. 

• Devise a filter to clean turbid water. Engineer (design, test, refine) the most efficient filter possible (produces the most, cleanest water). 

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The Water Princess         Fiction

Author: Susan Verde and Georgie Badie            Illustrator: Peter H. Reynolds       

Grade: K-3                Lexile: 480L

Suggested Activities:

• Learn more about water access issues across the world. Create a short story (or comic) from the first-person perspective of someone facing these challenges that can be shared with younger students. 

• Identify organizations working to bring clean water to populations without access. Students brainstorm a way to support an organization's mission.