Yakima WATERS “5-E” Inquiry Lesson
Identifying Watersheds
The lesson gives a background about what a watershed is and how its boundaries are defined. The focus is on the Yakima watershed since that is the watershed in which the school is located in. The lesson starts with a brief PowerPoint presentation explaining what a watershed is and showing a map of watershed in Washington State. The students then make their own paper mountain and spray water on it to create their own watershed. They also will draw a map of their paper mountain and identify the watershed boundary and other features. The lesson will take approximately 90 minutes. It is planned for a 7th grade class in earth science.
Standards
EALR 1 Grades 6-8 Systems
SYS-A – Students expected to identify the subsystems and a larger encompassing
System
SYS-B- Students can explain how the boundaries of a system can be drawn to fit
the purpose of study
EALR 4 Grades 6-8 Earth Systems, Structures and Processes
ES2-G – Students will explain how a given landform has been shaped by
processes that break down and carry away material.
Standards Justification
The students will understand the idea of the watershed as a system. It has many inputs such as precipitation and land area as well as outputs such as discharging rivers and the sediment they bring with them. They will understand that a single watershed can be a part of a bigger watershed and that those systems are connected. For example, they will understand that water running off into the Naches River gets carried down to the Yakima, which gets carried down to the Columbia and then to the ocean. They will be able to link the origin of the water to its final destination through several different systems.
This lesson ties to the Standard ES2G of EALR 4 for grades 6-8 because it touches on the processes of erosion and weathering. The students will understand how water that started as rain in the mountains runs off into river carrying with it sediment. They are beginning to understand how river channels and lakes are formed.
Outcomes
Knowledge
At the end of the lesson, the students should be able to define what a watershed is. They should be able to explain how water and sediment gets transferred throughout the watershed. They should be able to describe how watershed vary in scale and that they can be broken up into smaller division. For example, the Columbia River basin is one large watershed but can be broken up into many smaller ones of which the Yakima River Watershed is a part of.
Skills
They should be able to correctly identify a watershed on their model and any other 3D map. They should be able to correctly use terms terms like channel, confluence, precipitation and erosion.
Materials and Equipment
Materials needed for each partnered group of students
2 pieces of white paper
2 pieces of masking table
Washable marker, preferably blue
Spray bottle
Colored pencils
Materials that each student will need
Pencil
Journal or paper to draw on
Prior Knowledge
Prior to this lesson the students should know the inputs to a watershed such as what precipitation is. They will have an understanding of the physics of water for example, water flows downhill, and that large amounts of precipitation or snowmelt can lead to flooding. They should be able to describe where rivers flow to, for example that the Columbia flows to the ocean, and know what the continental divide is.
Safety
There are not any major safety concerns as all the materials are harmless. However, they should of course be supervised at all times and have warnings of properly using materials reinforced so the classroom isn’t covered in water at the end of the lesson or the kids have marker all over their face.
Engage
I started off by asking them what they though a watershed was. The class came to a consensus on that definition and then I started the presentation on the maps of watersheds. I showed them a map of the Yakima watershed and asked them to look closely at the border and consider why the boundary is where it is.
Explore
After the PowerPoint presentation and general introduction on what a watershed is, I had them create their own watershed. I had them work in partners and between the two of them they crumpled up a piece of paper then opened it up again (but did not flatten it out all the way) and taped the two diagonal edges to another piece of paper to create a paper landform. Most of them ended up with one “mountain” with basins surrounding it. First, I had them envision where the water might run if it rained on the area and using a pencil they marked an “x” where they would put their house. Then using a washable marker they traced all the ridges on their paper landform. Then they sprayed about 8 squirts of water onto it to simulate rain and watched where the water ran and collected.
Explain
Following the leading question described above, I would give them an official scientific definition of what a watershed is. I also reiterated where the topographic highs are around the Yakima watershed that give it its shape. I did this by showing a map of Washington that had the mountains drawn out in diagram form as well as the rivers flowing through the valleys (I did not se a topographic map because they don’t know how to read one and I thought that would be confusing). For homework, the students were given a list of the vocabulary used in this lesson and using their own words they had to provide definitions.
Extend
After dowsing their paper landform with water, I had the students draw an aerial map of their watershed. They used colored pencils to indicate where a mountain was, where the water flowed and where it collected. They also had to draw the boundary of a watershed (just one) that they saw in their paper landform.
Evaluate
Their vocabulary lists that were homework were used as an assessment for their comprehension of the vocabulary (they were told but not given the scientific definitions of the watershed vocabulary). Their drawing of a map of their paper landform was also graded, the performance rubric is attached.
Performance Rubric
See attached sheet.
Teacher Background Information
The students seemed to understand the concept of a watershed and they were able to identify one on their paper landform. However, there focus was mostly on the movement of water, they had a hard time understanding that the area of land is what makes up a watershed. Maybe having them shade in the watershed area rather than just drawing the boundary would help them understand that water running off a landform is just as important as the water in those rivers and lakes when thinking about environmental impacts on a watershed scale.
The idea of the lesson was for the students to understand what a watershed is. A watershed is defined as a region or area of land where all water runoff from rain or snowmelt drains downhill to a body of water such as a river, lake or ocean. A factor influencing a watershed is the amount of precipitation an area receives.
Art was integrated into the lesson when they had to draw a map of their paper landform. Math could also been incorporated into it by having the students calculate the surface area of their paper mountain and be able to determine the size of their watershed. They could have also measured the volume of water that they squirted onto their paper mountain to determine amount of precipitation that was simulated in their model.
Resources
Kauffman, J., Knott, R., & Berman, L. (1989). River Cutters Grades 6-9. Berkley: University of California Press. pp. 23-28.
US Environmental Protection Agecny. (2009, July 22). What is a watershed? Retrieved August 30, 2009 from http://www.epa.gov/owow/watershed/whatis.html
USGS. (2009, February 10). Water Science for Schools: The Water Cycle. Retrieved September 2, 2009 from http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/watercycle.html
Author: Holly Eagleston, Yakima WATERS Project, CWU, 2009-2010
PAPER WATERSHED ACTIVITY RUBRIC
Directions Scoring
1. With a partner, create a topographic map by wadding up one piece of paper. Tape two corners to the second piece of paper forming a mountain / ___/5pts2. With a marker, mark all the ridges. / ___/5pts
3. With a pencil, mark an X where you would choose to put a home. / ___/5pts
4. Spray water onto your paper mountain. (No more than 10 squirts). / ___/5pts
5. In your science journal create an aerial map of your model. / ___/15pts
6. Using a red pencil, outline one watershed boundary. / ____/5pts
7. Using a green pencil, label the following on your aerial map:
Channel
Confluence
River Mouth
River Source / ____/2pts
____/2pts
____/2pts
____/2pts
8. Write a concluding paragraph answering the following questions below you map:
· What is a watershed?
· How would you identify a watershed on a map?
· Did you put your house in a good location? Why or why not? / ___/5pts
___/10pts
___/5pts
______/68 pts
Total Points