1. Walk-In for (today’s date) Copy the question and answer in sentences: Why do pictures of watersheds always seem to have mountains and a river in them?

2. What Affects Your Watershed?

3. Imagine… You have just been given a piece of property that borders a river! Your property has something built on it already. The item on it is on the card you will receive.

4. Your task… Draw the river in the BOTTOM THIRD of your paper. Color it blue. Draw the item from your card on the land. Include other relevant things that go with your item. LABEL YOUR DRAWING WITH WHAT WAS ON THE CARD. Example: You have a fast-food restaurant! You can also include a parking lot, dumpster and trash cans as part of your picture.

5. Now lay out the river! Have everyone in your assigned groups lay their papers on the floor, with the river portion along the bottom of the paper. Look at all the different uses of the land.

6. Discuss… Discuss with people nearby you how each place uses the water. Which things make the water quality worse? Do any things make the water quality better? Does water quality depend on where you are along the river?

7. Clean Up… Put your river cards back in the baggie. Return to the demo table. Put your river picture into the recycle basket, or store it in your science folder. Return to your seat for discussion and reflection.

8. Write these reflections… Streets with houses – Slanted rooves make water fall in only certain areas, not over all of the ground. Shopping centers/parking lots – buildings and pavement prevent water from reaching the ground.

9. Reflections continued… Roads – oil from cars gets mixed with water, so polluted water goes into drains. Parks, forests, grassy areas – good since nothing stops water from being absorbed (although trees/leaves can slow it down). Fertilizer on lawns/fields – adds dangerous chemicals to the groundwater and runoff.

10. How Do We Affect Our Watershed? In your notebook, write a paragraph about what can affect a watershed. Think about the presence of: - rooves of houses, buildings - trees, grass - trash, plastic bottles and bags - pavement, cars, parking lots