Hands in the River Lesson 1: Connecting the Water Cycle & Watershed

Sierra Nevada Journeys Hands in the River Unit

 Lesson 1: Water Cycle & Watershed

Enduring Understanding: 

Students will understand the importance of a watershed, which is tied directly to the water cycle, and the impact environmental factors and humans can have on this system and what impact this has on humans. Students will gather evidence and research in order to answer/address questions with empirical evidence.

Essential Questions: 

How is our water cycle unique or different from the “typical” water cycle? Build and use models to understand systems of the Truckee River Watershed and the water cycle.

Objectives:

• Students will be able to describe the interaction between the water cycle and the Truckee River watershed.
• Students will be able to model how watersheds work.

Standards:

5-ESS2-1: Develop a model using an example to describe ways the geosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere, and/or atmosphere interact.

Science and Engineering Practices:

Developing and using models: Develop a model using an example to describe a scientific principle.

Disciplinary Core Ideas

Earth’s major systems are the geosphere (solid and molten rock, soil, and sediments), the hydrosphere (water and ice), the atmosphere (air), and the biosphere (living things, including humans). These systems interact in multiple ways to affect Earth’s surface materials and processes…

Crosscutting concepts:

A System can be described in terms of its components and their interactions.

Materials:

• Opaque cup
• Trays (10)
• Rocks (10 bags)
• Aluminum Foil
• Small squirt bottles (10)
• Chalk
• Small play balls
• Markers
• Laminated maps
• Dry erase markers (15)
• Notebooks

Key Vocabulary:

• The Water Cycle- Evaporation, Condensation, Precipitation, Run off
• System
• Watershed- The Truckee River Watershed: Sierra Nevada Mountains, Lake Tahoe, Truckee River, Pyramid Lake
• Model

Invitation: (5 minutes)

Before the class starts fill an opaque cup with water. When the class is ready start walking around the room expressing how excited you are about what you have in your cup. “It’s one of the most amazing things on the planet!” etc. Have the students try and guess what is in the cup. When you tell them that you have water in the cup, most likely they will not be that impressed. But, in order to activate prior knowledge about water ask them where the water came from.

Explore: Build a Watershed (20 minutes)

1.    Have students get in groups of 3-4. Each group will get a tray and rocks. Explain to the students that they will be arranging the rocks inside the tray however they want to, but some parts should be higher than others.

2.    Next give each group a piece of aluminum foil, large enough to completely cover the tray.

3.    Explain that the students will be covering their tray with the aluminum foil and gently pressing down to cover the rocks-careful not to rip the aluminum foil.

4.    Pass out a few markers to each group and have them mark the high points and the low points. Ask them to mark where they think water will flow to and collect.

5.    Each group will get one squirt bottle. Have the students take turns squirting the aluminum foil making observations to where the water goes.

6.    Clean up.

7.    Discussion: What happened? Did your prediction match what actually happened?

Concept Invention: (15 minutes)

1.    Draw a basic picture of the water cycle on the board and ask the students to discuss what is happening in the picture.

2.    With the students, label the picture The Water Cycle. On the picture label Evaporation, condensation, precipitation, and Run off.

3.    Explain that the water cycle is a system and that all of the components are necessary in order for the system to work.

4.    Briefly discuss why Nevada is a desert and its impact on our watershed.

5.    Ask them if the activity they just did had any part of the water cycle in it. (Precipitation and run off)

6.    They just built a model of a Watershed. Ask the students what they think a watershed is. Draw our watershed on the board and label the model together.

7.    Students can be writing in their notebooks on their map, while you are filling it in on the board.

8.    Ask the students why they used a model for the watershed.

***Check for Understanding***

1.    Erase the board and put the names of the watershed (Sierra NV Mountains. Lake Tahoe, Truckee River, and Pyramid Lake), and the water cycle (evaporation, condensation, precipitation, and run off) on the board. Have students help with the names of the system parts.

2.    Pass out a laminated map to each pair of students.

3.    Using a dry erase marker, have the students write in the water cycle and watershed, label the side of the mountains that receives more precipitation, and the direction of flow.

Application: Mapping the playground (15 minutes)

1.    Take the students outside to spot on the playground.

2.    Explain that they will be walking around their playground mapping where they think water will flow if there was precipitation.

3.    Have the students in groups of 3-4 and give them a piece of chalk. Give them about 5-10 minutes to walk around the playground marking where they think the high and low spots are, which direction they water will flow, and where they think the water would collect. Have them use a ball to test their theory, by rolling the ball and seeing if it follows the path they predicted.

4.    Gather the students around and talk about what they found. How did they determine where the water would gather or which direction the water flowed? What was this activity a model of?

***Check for Understanding***

1.    Pose the questions on page 1 of the journal. Have the students discuss the questions in their groups or with a partner.

Reflect: Storm drains (10-15 minutes)

1.    If there is a storm drain in the area, take the students over to the storm drain.

2.    Ask the students what they know about storm drains.

3.    Where do they flow? How are they part of our watershed?