CONTENTS:
Classroom Activities:
• Irrigation Inquiries
• Watershed Modeling
• Stormwater Analysis
• Exploring Wetland Wonders
• Locating Sources of Lead
H2O Home
The Truth about H
2O focuses on the
need to protect the nation's water resources. By demonstrating how the hydrological cycle
works, the program shows how water not only sustains life but is critical to the quality
of life.
As water drains from a watershed, it is affected by the people
living nearby.
Students are involved in monitoring the health of Thorton
Creek.
Healthy watersheds are essential to health, diverse
wildlife.
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Teaching
Guide |
This teaching guide is
designed to complement the 20-minute video, The Truth About H2O. Click here to request
the video. Please note that video supplies are limited and may no longer be
available.
Watersheds
& the Thorton Creek Project
A single drop of rain splatters on the car windshield, signaling the
start of a massive downpour. Soon the glass is covered with tiny particles of H2O. Like
kernels of popcorn heating in a microwave, the frequency of raindrops hitting the
windshield increases until nothing can be seen. The flick of a button sets the wipers in
motion and sheets of rain are propelled out of sight. As the shower continues, puddles
accumulate on the highway. Roadside drainage systems work overtime to keep the water out
of the way.
Enroute to its destination, the water will likely pick up many pollutants, including
oil, road salt, animal manure, excess fertilizers, pesticides, tiny particles of soil and
other harmful materials. Eventually this polluted water will end up in a stream, river,
lake or other body of water. Yet, a healthy water source is necessary to provide habitats
for plants, animals and humans.
Cleaning up bodies of water into which polluted water flows is just part of the
solution. For example, imagine a bicycle with a tiny hole in the tire. No matter how many
times the tire is inflated, the air slowly seeps out. In order to correct the problem, the
cause, not the effect, has to be located. That’s why many water quality programs
across the country focus on the area of land which drains into streams, rivers, lakes or
other bodies of water.
Varieties of
Watersheds
These areas of land are called watersheds and the actions of people who live within a
watershed affect the health of the water that drains from it. Watersheds come in different
shapes and sizes and may be made up of homes, ranches, forests, small towns, big cities
and more. A large watershed is often composed of many smaller watersheds and is usually
part of another watershed system.
According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, there are more than 500 active
volunteer monitoring groups with more than 1,000 watershed alliances already working
nationwide. One such group, Thornton Creek Project, uses its watershed as an educational
tool. Students and educators from kindergarten through doctoral students throughout the
watershed and across the city of Seattle, Wash., participate in many ways. They are joined
and supported by partners from three other sectors of the community – active local
citizens, business and government agencies.
The mission of the four-year-old Thornton Creek Project is to develop in students the
habits, attitudes, skills and knowledge of good citizens and leaders through understanding
and caring for the urban watershed. Thornton Creek and its tributaries drain and sustain a
12-square-mile watershed community in north Seattle. It consists of 18 miles of creeks
flowing into Lake Washington. The watershed is home to about 200,000 people including
25,000 students in 35 schools, salmon and other fish, hundreds of species of resident and
migratory birds, amphibians, insects and mammals such as bats, coyotes and muskrats.
Students Get Involved
Students primarily are involved in the project through their school
classes, but also take individual leadership in activities. Projects include four basic
components: learning things that are already known; gathering new information; making
sense and meaning from what has been gathered; and applying and sharing in useful ways
what has been learned.
Examples of student projects include monitoring creek health, an
oral history project, artistic and literary projects, salmon rearing projects and a
"Special Places" project. The "Special Places" project allows students
to create artistic representations in various media of what Thornton Creek means to each
person.
Combining education and watershed programs creates a more
knowledgeable and involved public. Business and community leaders take an active role in
the education process. Students see first hand the consequences of pollution; when it
comes to water quality, what goes around comes around.
Healthy watersheds are vital for a healthy environment. Watersheds
provide water for drinking, irrigation and industry. Wildlife relies on healthy watersheds
for food and shelter. The actions of those who live in a watershed can affect the eventual
state of our oceans, lakes, rivers, streams and other bodies of water.
Sources
"Making a difference." U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency. Oct. 16,1997. Internet.
"Monitoring Water Quality." U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of
Water. February 1996. Internet.
"Thornton Creek Project". Sept. 29, 1998. Internet.
"What is a watershed?" U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Oct. 16, 1997.
Internet.
"Wild on Watersheds." (c) 1996 California Association of Resource Conservation
Districts. Internet.
Watering
Camden Yards | Thorton Creek Watershed | Stormwater Management
The Cactus Playa | Living Unleaded
| Wildlife & Lead Poisoning
Last Updated: 02/16/03
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