Watershed diorama

A diorama is a three-dimensional scene that is usually miniature. In this activity you will make a diorama of a watershed.

watershed diorama

Part A, preparing to make a diorama

Research the subject.

Read the information provided on the home page of What's a Watershed.

Complete the following activities:

• Crumple a Watershed

• Watershed in a Pan

Make a rough sketch of your ideal diorama.

Look for inspiration online, like on Pinterest or YouTube. Sketch out what you want the diorama to look like, including the background and foreground. Think of the composition of the piece, and the layout of all the figures.

Make a list of the items you’ll need and gather your supplies.

You may want modeling clay, construction paper, glue, scissors, paint and a paintbrush, markers, felt, and fabric scraps. You can also use found objects, like rocks and twigs, and printed pictures or magazine pages.

Select a container.

Because dioramas have layers of background, they should be made in a box or frame that is several inches deep. The container must have an open-faced front so that viewers can see the scene. A shoe box or shipping box turned on its side works incredibly well for creating a basic diorama. Larger dioramas can be created out of a large wooden crate or frame attached to a box.

Part B, constructing a diorama

Create your background first.

Begin at the back of the container and work your way forward, adding layers of details and images to create depth in your scene. Make the background first against the farthest and inside walls of your box. Consider painting a basic scene or printing an image and gluing it on. You could also create a collage out of magazine cutouts to act as the background for your diorama.

Build up the ground or landscape.

A realistic diorama should include details on the bottom of the box as well. You can use pictures, paint, or modeling clay to create a realistic ground or floor for the diorama.

Add details to make the scene realistic.

Work from the back of the box toward the front, and place smaller items in front of larger ones. Space your items out from the top of the box to the bottom to make it visually appealing. Lay everything out, but wait to glue it down until you’re sure things are where you want them.

Glue everything down when you’re happy with the arrangement.

Take a few moments to inspect the diorama. Make adjustments until you are pleased with the overall look. Try to space out the objects evenly throughout the diorama so the scene is balanced. Now, go ahead and glue everything into place!

Include these components in your diorama

The headwaters are the places where streams begin, usually the highest point.

Small tributary streams flow into one another to make larger streams. Larger streams join to form rivers.

A floodplain is an area that can become flooded when a river or stream overflows.

A ridgeline is the top edge of the mountain that divides one watershed from another.

Precipitation is water that falls to the earth as rain and snow and flows into streams and is absorbed into the ground for plants to take up in their roots.