Last week I taught 18 classes of 7th graders about watersheds.....needless to say I'm over it at this point! Teaching the exact same 45ish minute lesson 18 times in a row is exhausting to say the least.
But, it went pretty well overall, and they seemed to understand the concept of watersheds after I was done, which is the goal.
In order to help them to understand what a watershed is and how it relates to water quality, I lead an activity that I have been leading for years now called "crumple a watershed". It's exactly what it sounds like in that you have students crumple up a piece of paper (that is always their favorite part) and then you go through different features and have them add it onto their watershed using washable markers. I start by having them highlight the high points and add some waterways. Then they use the locations of those features to develop different community pieces like roads, farms/golf courses, and factories. When they are done, I get to simulate a rainstorm and spray water all over their watershed to simulate how runoff can carry pollution down the watershed and into the bodies of water.
This activity then lends itself to a discussion about the various types of pollutants that can come from the different sources.
Solid activity overall, but I'm super done teaching that lesson for the time being.
How Neat Is That?!
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