Apologia and Watershed Education: Newbies

Okay, you like the idea of adding some watershed education but not the GLOBE Watershed Dynamics Project yet.  That is way too much!  You like the simple watershed model and want to start with a small project first.  Try one of the lessons in Watershed Education.  These lessons are targeted for elementary students in grades 4-6.  Much less intimidating.  Most of the lessons are from Project WET.  Another favorite to try is Dragonfly Pond, an exercise in land use.

Want another easy project to use?  Try this Chesapeake Bay  webquest.  What is a webquest?  Basically, it's an activity with a question, a task or series of tasks, a list of web sites, and a product, such as making a trading card or brochure.  A webquest is a quick way to explore a new topic to get a sense of its scope.  Before you send your child off to try one, preview the links.  Broken links are,frustrating.  If the webquest has an interesting task and probing questions, but the links are broken, Google the questions.

Plan a stream study.  4-H has stream guides.  You'll see tons of different guides, most of which focus on identifying benthic macroinvertebrates, larvae living in the water, which are good indicators of the stream's water quality.  You'll need a net, some white, ice cube trays, plastic tweezers, and a bucket.  Let's do this!