1. HR 120 Benjamin A. Friedman Middle School Grade 5
Game of Stewards
HR 120
Benjamin A. Friedman Middle School
Grade 5

2. One example of a watershed is the Taunton River.
What is a Watershed?
A watershed is made up of many tributaries that drain into a common outlet.
One example of a watershed is the Taunton River.

3. How we learned about the watershed
Google maps and looking at the Taunton river watershed
Testing water
Going to the lab
Sawmill
Building filters
Bug sort
Collecting eels

4. Storm water activities
After all the activities we did, we learned how a stormwater steward interacts with the environment and how we can help the environment. We also learned that in an ecosystem biotic organisms have a special role to help the environment, called a niche.

5. How the activities relate to a stormwater steward
The activities relate to being a stormwater steward because every activity we did connects to rivers, and lakes. These activities show how to keep our runoff healthy,and less polluted.After completing the activities we have a better understanding of how to help our environment, specifically our watershed.

6. The Sum Of The Parts: The effects of humans on the environment
In the activity we were put into groups and we were given sections along the watershed. Each section represented structures and spaces that are present in an environment. We showed a river down the middle of the structures and spaces. To show all of the effects of humans, beads were used to show pollutants such as herbicides and pesticides and also nutrients that end up in the river, and our drinking water. Sum of the parts demonstrated the positive and negative effects humans have on the environment.

7. The Sum Of The Parts: What We Learned
When we did The Sum Of The Parts, we learned many things. For one, we found out that there are many positives and negatives in our watershed. Things like pesticides which are negative, were flowing into the river, and things like nutrients, which are positive, were flowing in the river. Also, if you live at the top of the river, you get clean water in your watershed, but if you live at the bottom of the river, you get the dirty water with all of the pollutants. A really big impact is the pesticides and herbicides that farmers use. If we can come up with a solution to not use pesticides and herbicides, the river would be a lot cleaner.

8. The Sum of the Parts:How it relates to being a Steward
The Sum of the Parts relates to being a stormwater steward because a stormwater steward makes sure the river is not polluted. They also keep the rivers clean and healthy for organisms in the river. The beads we used were used as pollution and nutrients in the river which a stormwater steward is looking for. This project showed what a stormwater steward does everyday.

9. Water Filter Project!!
In class we got the chance to make our own water filters. We got window screens, coffee filters, sand, rocks, gravel, pebbles, cotton balls, and rubber bands. First, we made stormwater and tested it for volume, PH level, odor, turbidity, conductivity, and temperature. Then, we designed our very own water filters. After, we tested our filters. We took our dirty storm water and put it through our filters. Once it went through our filters we tested the water again. Mostly everyones water came out slightly cleaner. In conclusion, I think the project was successful because we learned a lot about filtering water.

10. Why filtering is important
Filtering is important because without filtered water people and animals would be drinking and using polluted water which could cause illnesses or diseases. Also filtering water decreases the pollution in oceans and other bodies of water. In conclusion filtering water is a safety precaution, so that is why filtering is important.

11. How does the water filter activity relate to being a stormwater steward?
The water filter activity is related to being a stormwater steward because cleaning your water is important for the ecosystem. Clean water is important for many organisms to thrive. Stormwater stewards take care of our environment and water to make it clean and healthy. Water is vital for you and me as well. Water is very important so it is also very important to keep it clean.

12. Bioretention beds!!!!!
Why bioretention beds are important- bioretention beds are important because they help the environment in many ways. One way is they do not allow pollution to make it to the ocean. Another way is they help the plants grow in our environment.
What we learned about bioretention beds-
We learned that they help prevent runoff. Also dirty water drains into the bed and gets cleaned and goes into the ocean as clean water. Also when the water drains into the bed the plants grow benefiting many animals in the environment.

13. What We Did At The Sawmill
At the Sawmill we did many activities. First we tested how clean the river water was. We partnered up and tested PH, conductivity, turbidity, and temperature. Next we looked at a fish ladder, the worker there told us how the fish ladder works. Then, we pushed down and pulled up on an untied rope to wash out the eels. After that we used fish nets to transfer the eels into a glass container. Then we walked over to the river and let the eels go. Finally, we sorted the bugs. There were pictures of all sorts of bugs. We used different tools to pick out the bugs from their container, into the glass where we identified what kind of bugs they were. These are the activities we did at the Sawmill.

14. Why we went to the Sawmill
We went to the Sawmill to learn about many different things like different bugs that live in the river like stoneflies, water scorpions, baby dragonflies and true bugs. Then we tested water that the bugs and eels live in, we tested river waters PH, turbidity and conductivity. These tests showed how clean the water was. Finally, we studied glass eels and how they migrate using an eel ladder. We also looked at the fish ladder and discussed how it is used during migration.

15. How does a sawmill connect to a steward?
A sawmill connects to a steward because a sawmill is a type of mill that houses aquatic animals. The sawmill that our class went to has eels and herring. The ladder at the sawmill helps migrating eels and herring to get to their birth place and back. There is a special kind of help for the migrating eels and herrings and it is called a “Fishway”. A fishway is a series of pools and boulders that help fish, eels, and herring migrate upstream each spring. So how does that connect to a steward? First you have to know what a steward is and a steward is a person that is an expert in watersheds. And how does that connect to a sawmill? Both the sawmill and steward help their environment by helping eels and herring migrate so they can reproduce. Stewards educate people on watersheds.

16. What we did for the Rain Gauge
Each day two students would go outside to the courtyard to see the rain gauge. The main idea of the rain gauge is to see how much rain we got the day before. We would go outside and measure how much rain water we got by looking at the cup of rain, a few drops or nothing at all. We would then go inside, tell the teacher how much rain we got the day before. Our teacher would then record it onto the Cocorahs website for anyone to view.

17. How the rain gauge relates to being a steward
Stewards use rain gauges to record data on daily rainfall. It is important to know how much rainfall occurs because it is related to how much runoff we will have. Runoff has a huge impact on our watershed.

18. The Wrap Up
Thank you for listening to our slideshow! This is a portion of the work we did with Bridgewater throughout the year. Because of these activities we have a better understanding of our watershed and what it is to be a steward. Thank you for including us in this great experience!