River Project

The children will initially learn about their watershed by investigating rivers. What is a river? How do they originate? How do they flow? Definitions of lakes, ponds,oceans and their relationships to rivers will be explored.

The children will learn and develop an understanding (developmentally appropriate) of the water cycle, plant and animal life along their river and the impact of man, pollution and other environmental issues on their rivers, streams, lakes, etc. They will develop a scientific and mathematic vocabulary as they complete their activities.

The learning experiences will provide opportunities for young children to use an inquiry approach, critical and creative thinking, and emphasize interdisiplinary connections.

The student's knowledge and emerging understanding will be assessed through pictures, conversations, journals and structures they create.

Activity 1: Rivers
Activity 2: Erosion
Activity 3: Stopping Erosion
Activity 4: Water Cycle
Activity 5: Life Science: Animals
Activity 6: Life Science: Trees
Activity 7: Life Science: Flowers
Activity 8: Earth Science
Activity 9: Physical Science & Technology

Children will learn that rivers are made of flowing waters, rivers can twist and turn, rivers erode and rivers flow toward lakes, ponds, and oceans.

Begin this lesson with a brainstorming session asking the children, "What is a river?" Write all responses on the board.

Where and how does a river begin?

Each group of students should be provided with the following:

large, plastic, rectangular container with low sides
soil or slightly moistened sand
rocks of various sizes and shapes
jug of water
2 paper cups with pre-poked, compass-point size, holes
6 cm block of wood
science journal
pencil

Instruct students to fill pan with sand or soil and randomly place the rocks. Prop one end of the pan up onto the wooden block to form a slope. Have students hold the cups at the high point of the container and pour the water through them to make it "rain." Observe what the water does, where it flows, and where it stops. Record all observations and results in journal.

Have a group discussion about the experiment. Discuss the ideas about rivers that came up during the brainstorming session and compare them to the results of the experiment. Have children write a short paragraph in their science journal about what they learned, and illustrate the experiment.

Try this experiment again, changing one or more variables such as type of soil, number of rocks, or slope. Ground cover can be added or grown in the box prior to the experiment to integrate life science.

How do rivers erode the land?

Each group of students should be provided with the following:

large, plastic, rectangular container with low sides
large paper cup
soil or moistened sand
compass point
scissors
small piece of modeling clay
large drinking straw
6 cm block of wood
jug of water

Use the compass point to poke a hole in the side of the paper cup where it meets the bottom. Using scissors, enlarge the hole enough for the drinking straw to fit in it. Insert the straw and seal around the hole with the modeling clay.

Fill the container about 5 cm deep with sand or soil. Prop one end of the container up on the wooden block to create a slope. Place the paper cup and straw at the high end of the container. Have one student place their finger on the end of the straw while another pours water into the cup. As the student releases the straw and the water flows out, observe what happens to the soil. Record observations in science journal.

Have a group discussion about the experiment. Have the children explain what they have learned.

Ask the children ? Was the earth picked up, carried, and deposited somewhere else by the water? Explain that erosion does these three things.

Try this experiment using plant life. Are the results the same?

Make sand castle; pour water over the top slowly. What happened to the sand?

Does Plant Life Help to Prevent Erosion?

2 funnels
2 jars
soil
leaves
grass
pine needles
water
2 stopwatches

(1) Fill 1 funnel with a mixture of soil, leaves, grass, pine needles; place funnel in jar.
(2) Fill 1 funnel with soil but no plant life; place funnel in jar.
(3) Pour water through each funnel. Time with a stopwatch.
(4) Ask students which jar has the most sediment?
(5) What happened when there was no plant life in the funnel?
(6) Will plant life help to stop erosion?
(7) Which jar took longer for the water to pass through?

What is a water cycle?

a plastic tub
a glass shorter than the height of container
plastic wrap
tape
clean water
small stone
food coloring

(1) Pour water into tub 3 cm deep; Add a few drops of food coloring
(2) Place glass in the middle of tub right side up.
(3) Cover the tub with plastic wrap and tape it in place so that no air can escape.
(4) Place stone on top of plastic above the glass; do not let the plastic touch the glass.
(5) Put container in a sunny spot. Record and illustrate daily in journal what is happening.

(1) Children will illustrate the water cycle in journal
(2) Label the parts of the water cycle.
(3) Draw arrows to show which way water moves in the cycle.

(1) Repeat this activity using salt water.
(2) Have students place glasses of water around the room and measure changes in water level to record evaporation.
(3) Boil water; place glass in the steam to show condensation is like a cloud.

Evaporation - Condensation
Precipitation on my mind
It's all a part of the water cycle and it happens all the time.

Children will observe the buffer zone along the river.

1. What type of vegetation grows along the river? Describe denseness and height of vegetation.

2. What type of animals lives in or along the river?

3. Look for signs of animal life. Are there any animal tracks along the river? If so, what do they look like? Are they large or small? Describe them and illustrate them in a journal. Plaster of Paris may be used to make casts of the footprints.

4. What type of food does this animal eat?

5. Is this animal predator or prey?

6. Why is the river important to this animal?

7. Is there more than one sign from the same animal?

8. What is the largest/smallest animal that was seen along the river?

9. Can you find any sign of the animal's home?

10. What type of invertebrates live along the river?

11. What type of vertebrates live in the river?

12. Draw the invertebrates in a journal.

13. Catch the insects in a cup.

14. Identify the insects using a field guide.

15. Are any of these insects more sensitive to pollution?

16. Are there any crustaceans in the river?

17. Illustrate in journal.

1. What color is the bark on the trees?

2. Is the bark rough or smooth?

3. What type of leaves are on the trees?

4. Children may pick some leaves from the ground to identify using field guides back in the classroom.

5. Are all the trees the same type? Compare and contrast the trees.

6. Does the tree have a smell?

7. Are there any signs of animal life in or on the tree?

8. What is the circumference of the tree?

9. Do a leaf and bark rubbing of a tree; compare and contrast the rubbings.

10. Are all the leaves along the river the same shape?
  

2. Use a field guide to identify the flowers?

3. Where are the flowers growing? In the sun or shade? In a wet or dry spot?

4. Describe the flower (stem ? leaves ? flower).

5. How many different types of flowers are growing along the river?

6. Illustrate and describe the flower in a journal.

7. What colors are the flowers along the river?

8. Do the flowers have a smell? Describe the smell.

What would happen if oil were spilled in the river?

Would it affect the animal and plant life?

Would it affect the town's water supply?

 
A Fish Story
(A story of our effect on water quality and the things that live in water)
Imagine a river as it meanders through the countryside, past the farmer's field, widening into a lake, but narrowing again as it passes through the city. In this river lives a fish. (Point to the fish in the clear water in the jar.) HOW DOES IT FEEL TO BE THIS FISH? (Let students respond aloud.)
 

The fish swims down river past an eroding bank. When it rains what will happen to the bank? What if it rains a great deal? (Put soil into the water.) HOW DOES IT FEEL TO BE THIS FISH?
 

Suppose part of the soil eroding into the water came from some farmland. The farmer has just put fertilizer on the field. Instead of staying on the field and helping the crops, the fertilizer ride "piggy-back" on the eroding soil and goes into the river. (Add sand or vermiculite to simulate fertilizer.) What effect will the fertilizer have on the plants in the river? If the plants grow too abundantly and too fast the river can't continually support them and supply the necessary nutrients. They die, fall to the bottom, and start to decompose. Decomposing things use oxygen. What else in the river needs oxygen? HOW DOES IT FEEL TO BE THIS FISH?
 

Farm fields aren't the only source of fertilizer in a river. Homes may also be a source. Where the river has widened into a lake, several families have built their homes. Perhaps their septic tanks drain into the water or some of the fertilizers they've put on their lawn have washed into the water. (Add liquid dish detergent to represent pollution from septic tanks.)
As the lake narrows back into a river, our fish continues downstream past the city. Even though the city people don't pollute the water directly, what they do at their own homes or subdivisions can affect the quality of the river's water. Have you ever seen a car leaking oil? Where does the rain wash this oil? (Put pancake syrup, representing, oil, into the jar.) HOW DOES IT FEEL TO BE THIS FISH?
 

In the winter what do we put on our roads to make it easier to drive? (Put salt into the water.) When you eat or drink something salty, what do you do? Can this fish get fresh water to drink? HOW DOES IT FEEL TO BE THIS FISH?
 

Suppose the city has a park next to the river. People litter the park and some of it blows into the water. (Put pieces of paper into the jar.) HOW DOES IT FEEL TO BE THIS FISH?
 

As the river leaves the city, there are several factories that are located along it. Although regulations are strict, perhaps they are still dumping some chemicals, detergent, or heated water into the water. (Put powdered detergent and hot water into the water.) HOW DOES IT FEEL TO BE THIS FISH?
 

The waste water treatment plant for the city is also located along this section of the river. Sometimes rules aren't quite as strict as they are for factories and perhaps the treatment facilities aren't as thorough as they could be. The plant does its best but still has to put some polluted water into the river. The river has a large volume of water though and the plant only puts a small amount of pollution into it. It shouldn't cause too much of a problem. Right? It would be like putting 2 drops of this food coloring into this jar of water. (Stir it.) HOW DOES IT FEEL TO BE THIS FISH?
 

THE END (of a sad fish story)

Children should write predictions in their journals before doing this experiment.

1. Take temperature with Celsius thermometer. Put water in cup from surface of river and record the temperature using thermometer. Do the same with water from the bottom of the river.
Why is the water colder at the bottom?

2. Children may then take the temperature of the water in sunny and shady areas. Where is the water the warmest? Why?

3. Measure the width of the river 50' apart. Do this three times.
Add total and divide by three.

4. Measure the depth of the river in three different places and make sure the river is going in a straight line.
Add total and divide by three.

5. Will the widths and depths differ throughout the year? If so, at what time of the year will the river be the widest and have the deepest water? At what time of the year will the river be the narrowest and have the shallowest water?

6. Attach a styrofoam ball to a 15-foot string. Hold onto the end of the string. Drop the ball into the water. Using a stopwatch, see how long it takes for the string to straighten out. [15 feet divided by time it took for string to straighten equals feet per second]

7. What color is the water in the river?

8. What is the land around the riverbed made of? sand / sticks / leaves / clay / stones?

9. Is there any evidence of pollution in the river?

10. Does the water have an odor? If so, describe it.

11. How does the water flow? fast / slow / a trickle?

12. Is there any moss around the river?

13. Is there any runoff from bridges, parking lots, fields, or sewers?

14. Do a PH test on the water.

15. Use a water quality testing kit from the MWRA and do their activities.

16. Use a plankton net in the river to get samples of photo plankton or zoo plankton. Observe under a microscope and illustrate in journal. What is under the microscope?

Art Connection

Children will create mural of the river. They will include animal and plant life along the river.

Art Lesson - Web

Purpose:

To show how all things in the environment are connected. What man does to one part of the environment will affect the rest.

Paper plates
scissors
hole punch
yarn

(1) Cut center out of paper plate
(2) Punch holes around the edge of paper ring
(3) Create a web by threading yarn through the holes going criss cross
(5) Cut one string
(6) What happens to the web?

Ask the class to connect the web lesson to the river bringing in pollution. What will happen to the river?

Children will do research on the river and see how it has changed over time with the population increase in the town as well as with all the industry that has moved in to the town.
 

Bibliography

1. The Sun, the Wind and the Rain by Lisa Westberg Peters, Henry Holt & Company, New York, 1988
2. The Castle Builder by Dennis Nolan, Aladdin Books, Macmillan Publishing Company, New York, 1993
3. What Is Soil? by Fred & Jeanne Biddulph, Wright Group, Bothell, Washington, 1995
4. The Summer Sands by Sherry Garland, Gulliver Greenbook, Harcourt Brace & Company, New York, 1995
5. The Stream by Naomi Russell, Dutton Children's Books, New York, 1990
6. A River Ran Wild by Lynne Cherry, Harcourt Brace & Company, New York, 1992
7. Brother Eagle - Sister Sky by Susan Jeffers, Dial Books, 1991

Resources

Water Watchers (MWRA)
Water Wizards (MWRA)
Water Quality (MWRA)
Monoosnoc Brook, Outdoor Classroom 1996; Monoosnoc Brook Greenway Project
Weymouth Conservation Committee, Weymouth, Mass., Town Hall
Ecology - Teacher Created Materials, 1994, Huntington Beach, Cal., 92647
The Earth - Teacher Created Materials, 1995, Huntington Beach, Cal., 92647
Integrating Literature, Environmental Education, Becky Campbell & Kristin Nasman
Frank Schaffer 1993

 Great Science Web Sites

Sierra Club - New one not finished; old site great. http://www.sierra.org.
K-12 Teaches Lesson Plans Science Units. http://www.csun.edu/~vceed009/science.html
Bill Nye On line. http://nyelabs.kcts.org/
EPA Web Site: http://www.epa.gov/owow
Virtual Schoolhouse. http://sunsite.unc.edu/cisco/schoolhouse.html
Eric Lesson Plans. http://ericir.sur.edu/
Armadillo's WWW Resources. http://192.239.146.18/links/html