Blue River Have you heard we all live in a watershed? Well, it is true! This total body activity will allow students to demonstrate how water flows in a watershed while exploring how seasonal variations affect the amount of water flowing through a river. With the local mountains serving as a backdrop, students can make connections to the watershed they live in.
Pre-Event Activities Blue River A watershed is an area of land that drains water toward a common river. It is also referred to as a drainage, basin, or catchment. You can trace the boundaries of a watershed on a topographical map by tracing a line along the highest elevations. Water from melted snowpack and rain will run off the highest elevations and merge into small headwater streams. As the water flows downhill, it will gather more water and join to become tributary streams. The tributaries then flow into the main stem of a river that will eventually flow out to the sea (with the exception of closed basins). Pre Field Trip Suggestions 1. Explain to students that we all live in a watershed. 2. Look at images and maps of the watershed students live in. USGS provides great examples, http://nationalmap.gov/ustopo. 3. Start a dialogue about what consequences certain environmentally harmful activities performed by populations of any given area in a watershed will affect communities in a different part of the watershed. 4. Discuss how weather events might impact water volume of streams and rivers. Brainstorm the similarities produced by surface runoff. Students might recall large storms where runoff appears to look like urban rivers flowing through their neighborhoods. Blue River Activity Adapted from Project WET Curriculum and Activity Guide, Generation 2.0 Full credit is given to the Project WET Foundation.
Activity Instructions Blue River Students participate in a whole-body exercise to simulate the movement of water through a river and its watershed. They will demonstrate water flows as affected by seasonal variations. Students will be assembled north to south in a manner that will represent the main stem of a river and its tributaries. Given CBWCD s location, it would be best to use an area with a slight slope, with the local mountains as a focal point to reinforce the idea that water flows from high to low elevations. It would be best to use an area with a slight slope, with the local mountains as a focal point to reinforce the idea that water flows from high to low elevations. Vocabulary Words: Basin Closed basin Drainage Gaging station Headwaters Main stem Runoff Spring Stream flow Watershed Catchment Downstream Floodplain Ground water Hydrograph Rivulet Snowpack Spring melt Tributary Materials Needed: 200-500 beads or beans Large bucket One gallon pails Sign on sticks with pictures representing snow, rain, sun and each of the seasons (optional) Four chairs Length of rope or string Copies of Graph it! (one per two students)
Activity Instructions continued Blue River Creating a Watershed Part I Delineate the boundaries of a watershed with chairs or stakes. Students will assemble on a slight slope, simulating a river and its tributaries. Students at the headwaters of each stream will stand on a chair to reinforce that water flows from high to low elevations in a watershed. They will be responsible for passing one bead at a time downstream. Once they reach the last person in the river s main stem, the beads are deposited in a bucket and recorded at the end of the activity. Part II Instructors will call out seasons to demonstrate how seasonal variations affect the flow of a river and its tributaries. Each season simulation will be one minute in duration. Winter: When the minute begins, students pass beads/beans slowly, counting to three before passing it on. Spring: Snowpack begins to melt. Students pass beads quickly. When beads/beans inevitably spill, students must leave them to simulate flooding. Summer: Snowpack has melted. Streamflow decreases. Pass beads/beans at leisurely pace. Summer Storm: Pass beads/beans through one headwater stream for 20 seconds. Simulates isolated storm. Fall: Streams are slow. Student pass beads/beans after counting one or two before passing it on.
Post-Event Activities Blue River Post Field Trip Suggestions 1. Discuss with students the flow of water recorded at the mouth of the river for each season. Remind them that streamflow (amount of water passing through) is measured at several spots along a river, called gaging stations (measuring stations). This data is then represented in hydrographs (charts). A hydrograph records the streamflow at one spot on the river over a period of time in cubic feet per second (cfs) or cubic meters per second (cms). 2. Students can view data from gaging stations in their own watershed by visiting the USGS website, http://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis/rt. Have pairs of students record data from their simulation and complete the hydrograph on the Student Copy Page Graph it!