"A Culture of Conservation" Activity Booklet
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waterocrks! Educational Enhancement activities Culture of Conservationfor the Video Series Grades 6-12 and beyond How to use this resource book Separate instructions for 6th-8th Grade and High School Video Overviews Pages 4-17 Background information to reference before the video is shown pages 18-30 Questions to pose after students watch the video All the activities in this booklet can help to fulfill essential concepts and/or skills in the Iowa Core and Next Generation Science Standards for grades 6–12. See the Water Rocks! website for details on individual videos and the concepts that they meet. Related activities www.waterrocks.org include assignments and experiments for Thank you... each video Mary Swalla Holmes, Karla Stevens, Dawn Harms and Donna Evans pages 31-41 for applying their teaching experience and creativity to help develop this educational resource. Follow water rocks! Supplemental reading page 43 Video Video Building a Culture of Water is Life Conservation: Iowan to Iowan All the water that will ever be A Culture of Conservation encourages us to exists right now in the Earth’s High School and Beyond not take our environment or our resources for biosystem. The Earth’s water is in Assignment/group discussion ideas granted. The adoption of conservation practices constant motion, in the process on our farms and in our cities is shown to reduce known as the hydrologic cycle. Water and Quality of Life nonpoint source pollution in Iowa. Fertile soil How much are we willing to Discuss the connection between the lack of safe water, hunger, disease and poverty throughout the world. and clean water are essential for sustaining life change our lives to ensure the and the quality of life in Iowa. water we use is clean, pure, readily Questions to consider 6th-8th Grade available and affordable to all? How does the abundance of clean water enhance your life Focus questions here in Iowa? What did Iowa look like 200 years ago? How has it changed? What mechanisms are in place to provide water and ensure What does it mean that we never actually act alone? its safety? What does it mean to be a good steward of the land? Assign online research in water monitoring and treatment 6th-8th Grade practices and/or coordinate a field trip to a local water How do reusing, reducing and recycling affect water quality? treatment facility. Assign a 1-2 page paper and/or facilitate Background materials group discussion about findings and ideas. The Water Cycle – page 18 High School and Beyond Precious Water – page 19 Water Use and Conservation Assignment/group discussion ideas Focus questions Have students consider how much water they use on a daily, Personal History and the Land A Leaky System How much of the earth’s water is available for drinking water? weekly, and/or monthly basis by completing a questionnaire Students will research the cultural and natural history of The video talks about today’s farming practices in Iowa as a Why do humans alter water systems? on the United States Geological Survey website at: http:// where they currently live or a place they have lived in the “leaky system.” Start a discussion on what this means and the Who or what does that affect? ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/sq3.html past. Encourage them to utilize libraries, Internet, historical personal impact it has. What contributes to the contamination of water? They should consider other uses that add to their societies, etc. to gain an understanding of how and why the consumption (e.g., lawn/garden, livestock/pet care, cleaning land has changed over time. home/auto). Questions to consider Related activities What are the two ways water leaks out of fields during high Investigate Your Own Water Usage – page 33 Questions to consider precipitation events? Questions to consider How has your identity been shaped by where you’ve lived and/ Personal Water Use Worksheet – pages 33-34 What changes in the landscape cause this “leaky system”? How much water do you use daily on average? How much for or currently reside? Pollution: Where Might Pollutants Enter the Water? – page 33 What are the problems associated with surface runoff? a week and month? What kind of influence have you had on the land in return? Subsurface drainage? How much water does everyone consume in town? Are there What can be done to leave the land in better shape for future How can the effects be stopped or reversed? personal changes you could make to conserve water? For what generations? reasons should you? Discuss some positive and negative effects of our collective Assign a 1-2 page paper and/or facilitate group discussion actions related to soil and water quality. How can we help Have students discuss ideas or write a 1-2 page paper with about findings and ideas. Highlight differences between mitigate the negative effects? thoughts and findings. experiences (e.g., growing up in urban vs. rural areas). 4 5 Video We All Have a Place in the Watershed High School and Beyond Background materials Watersheds – page 18 No matter where you are, you are standing in a watershed. Our homes, work, where we grow our food Assignment/group discussion ideas and where we play, all exist in watersheds. A watershed Know the Flow Slow the Flow is an area of land that drains to a common point such as Discuss the concept of watersheds with students. Have them Examine and discuss a watershed illustration shown on page 18. a lake, river or marsh. utilize the EPA website: http://cfpub.epa.gov/surf/locate/index.cfm to locate and learn more about the watershed in which they live. At the site they can learn about bodies of water deemed “impaired” Questions to consider by EPA within their watershed and why. What are the roles of wetlands, grassy borders and waterways 6th-8th Grade within a watershed? Background materials Questions to consider How can some farming practices and the urbanization of Iowa Related activities land impact the flow of water and contribute to the potential of Watersheds – page 18 What is a watershed? Find Your Watershed Address – page 31 flooding? Iowa Watersheds Map – page 20 What’s in my Watershed? – page 31 What is the name of your watershed? Are there any changes you can make in your life impacting Point and Nonpoint Source Pollution – page 23 Visit EPA’s “Surf Your Watershed”: What are the major bodies of water within it that are close to water flow? http://cfpub.epa.gov/surf/locate/index.cfm where you live? Questions to consider Build a Watershed – page 32 Assign a 1-2 page paper and/or facilitate group discussion about What impairments, if any, are present within any of the water What is a watershed? findings and ideas. sources? What problems do high levels of nitrogen and phosphorus Follow-up questions What are potential causes of these impairments? cause? Who or what does that affect? How? What are some possible sources of pollution in your watershed? In what condition do you predict these water bodies to be in 20 Water Pollution What is the difference between point source and nonpoint What other impervious surfaces besides parking lots can cause years? Why? Lead a class discussion and/or assign research and a 1-2 page source pollution? Give an example of each. excessive runoff in a watershed? paper on causes and effects of water pollution in your local What can be done to reduce our impact on watersheds and their watershed. environment? Assign a 1-2 page paper and/or facilitate group discussion about findings and ideas. What is the quality of water in the rivers, streams and lakes in your watershed? Questions to consider What are point and nonpoint sources of water pollution? Additional resources Using a map of the area around your house and EPA’s “Surf Your Related activities Watershed,” identify where the runoff from your driveway will end What practices threaten the safety of your water? NRCS site with additional information about many of Conduct a Water Survey – page 40 up. Can you track the path of potential pollution to a large body of Global Changes in the Water Cycle – page 40 How can you know the safety level of the water you drink? Iowa’s watersheds: http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/ water (e.g., ocean)? nrcs/main/ia/technical/dma/rwa/ What practices can you do to help ensure quality of water? Facts on drinking water from the EPA: http://water.epa.gov/ learn/kids/drinkingwater/index.cfm Rock Your Watershed! online game: www.waterrocks.org 6 7 Video Video Don’t Call it Dirt: A Passion for Soil The Work of Our Hands It takes thousands of years for rock to develop into soil and hundreds Ecosystem services are defined as “the benefits provided by ecosystems to humans.” of years for rich organic layers to build up. Keeping soil in place is only Many key ecosystem services provided by biodiversity, such as nutrient cycling, pest the beginning of soil conservation. regulation and pollination, sustain agricultural productivity. Promoting the healthy functioning of ecosystems ensures the resilience of agriculture as it intensifies to meet 6th-8th Grade Assignments/group discussion ideas the stress of growing demands for food production. Background materials Types of Soil Soil Food Web Graphic and Narrative – page 21 Discuss different types of soil: 6th-8th Grade Questions to consider Prairie Plants and Roots Graphic – page 25 • Sand (large particles feeling gritty) What is an ecosystem? • Silt (medium particles feeling silky) Background materials How does an ecosystem impact and relate to agriculture? Questions to consider • Clay (smallest particles feeling sticky) How does agriculture affect the ecosystem? Give specific Loam is an equal mixture of the three.