What is a Watershed, Anyway?

Trees are everywhere! Yet what do these majestic organisms do for their ecosystem, and why do some have leaves and some have needles? During a five-day activity, young scientists investigate trees by analyzing the water cycle,...

What does the ground around your home have to do with water pollution? Young ecologists learn about their local watershed and create their own cause-and-effect models of the hydrosphere.

Maybe you've seen land that is covered in water, not deep enough for a lake or pond, but deep enough that the water stays throughout the year. This area is called a wetland, and during a five-day activity, learners investigate wetlands,...

Young ecologists investigate how primary headwater streams are important to the health and wealth of not only an ecosystem, but also an entire watershed.  

When you water a plant, it miraculously grows. What is found under the soil where you put the water and how does that help the plant? Throughout the five-day activity, learn about the water cycle, the parts of a plant, and how gardens...

Write-on! Demonstrate a writing model and support learners as they write an informational essay on a water resource issue of your (or their) choosing. The lesson plan provides a well-scaffolded summative writing experience that wraps up...

Through class discussion and role playing scenarios, scholars share their perspectives regarding what character traits make up an ideal citizen, as well as what constitutes a negative citizen. 

Class members create their own watershed by crumpling a sheet of paper, using different colored water soluble markers to highlight the high and low points on the paper, spraying their paper, and then observing the runoff.

The cumulative effects of human activity (non-point source pollution) on the watershed is the focus of this interdisciplinary lesson on pollution.

What kind of impact do humans have on watersheds? Find out in a lesson that defines, explores, and promotes ways to protect our watersheds. The ultimate goal of the lesson is for learners to discover how a watershed is impacted by...