FIFTH GRADE - LOCAL WATERSHEDS

OBJECTIVES:
·         Looking at a local watershed.
·         Creating a watershed model from a map.

VOCABULARY:
·         watershed
·         storm water
·         water supply

MATERIALS:
·         TriCity area in San Francisco Bay Area Placemats
·         Local Watershed  http://msnucleus.org/watersheds/index.html
·         Shape it (dough)
·         Plastic spoons, knives or other items to help mold a watershed

Watershed Powerpoint

BACKGROUND:

Wetlands can be various sizes and shapes, with either freshwater, brackish water, or marine water for a portion or an entire year. Marshy, boggy, or swampy areas also qualify as wetlands.  

There are three indicators of wetlands that include the presence of water, soil development under aquatic conditions, and the presence of wetland plants. Water can be caused by run-off or ground water and is available during the growing season.

Wetlands are important for biological life because it sustains a diversity of organisms throughout the year. Wetlands provide rest stops for migrating animals like birds. Wetlands also filter and clean storm water from pollutants. Different wetlands fill different functions in an ecosystem. Tyson Lagoon is a permanent, freshwater wetland, whereas the other areas that contain water only during the rainy season are considered seasonal wetlands.

Watersheds naturally clean themselves as water can be filtered as it flows through wetlands. Water that migrates through the different levels of the watershed nourishes biological life. However, we sometimes pollute these wetlands by discharging industrial or municipal waste into the watershed (point source pollution). This overloads the system and pollution of toxic substances may increases. Even small amounts of pollution (non point pollution) can accumulate and cause significant damage. Our watersheds reflect the health of our environment.

PROCEDURE:

1.     Show students the local watershed map and see if the students can recognize the different areas.  (http://msnucleus.org/watersheds/index.html)

2.    Open up the watersheds powerpoint to the first slide (map of tri-City area).  Hand out the placemat of the Tri-City Area.  Ask the students to find the following places, by putting their finger.  Walk around and check that they correctly have found the areas.
a.  cities of Newark, Fremont, Union City
b.  ask them what is the difference between the brown, light blue and dark blue lines on the map  (make sure they see the legend).  The brown are sewage line, the dark blue represent storm drains, pipes, and natural water movement; the light blue is drinking water
c.   Find East, West, North, South  (east is where the East Bay Hills are, Mission Peak)
d.  how does the water flow
e.  locate:  Tule Ponds and Lake Elizabeth

3.    Go over the rest of the Watersheds powerpoint. (Slides 2-8).  These slides define watersheds and end up back with the tri-city map.  Have students outline the Mowry Slough Watershed, Laguna Creek Watershed, and Alameda Creek watersheds on the map. 

4.  Hand out the shape it trays so students can create their own watershed.  Ideally 2 -3 students can work on a project.  Students should produce something that is hilling and forms a network of streams  (called dendritic pattern).  The watershed is defined as gravity acting on an area to bring all the water and debris downward.  They should be able to show you the boundaries of their watershed.

Return to NGSS Model