Station 3: Watershed

Class Discussion:

Where does the water from rain go during or after a storm?

Rainwater will flow off roads and buildings into a stream or it will soak into the ground

Water from springs, streams, wetlands, lakes, etc. will form into rivers. Where do rivers end?

Rivers may grow or change names-- but all of the water will eventually end up in an ocean

What is the river that runs through our wetlands?

The Oconee River

The Oconee River joins the Altamaha River in Southern Georgia before the water gets to the Atlantic Ocean. What would happen if we threw trash in the Oconee River?

It could become caught in any of the streams, lakes, riverbanks, or wetlands where the Oconee River flows. It could also end up all the way in the Atlantic Ocean!

What are things that could cause water pollution?

There are many things that can cause water pollution:

• Throwing trash or littering
• Leaking chemicals such as oil, gasoline, or yard chemicals
• Leaking sewage or pet waste
• Too much dirt loosened from construction
• Too much fertilizer from farms
• Other chemicals or waste from factories or industry

Class Activity: My Watershed

(could also be done as a Demonstration)

Materials: printer paper, markers, squirt bottle with water

• Hand each student or pair of students a blank piece of printer paper
  • Explain that the paper will be a map of their state
  • Students will use 1-2 different colors to draw lines or small houses to create cities or towns on their paper
  • Without ripping the paper, students will need to crumple up their map into a loose or larger paper ball (avoid flattening/squeezing paper- trying to create ridges)
  • Students will carefully un-crumple the paper balls just a bit, without smoothing out the paper-- the crumples will now be mountains in their state
• The Instructor will then spray each state with water from a spray bottle to represent rain in the state (be sure to aim for areas where the cities are)
• Water from the 'rain' will flow and pool in certain areas to show how a watershed gathers and moves water
• Activity Conclusion:
  • The water in every state will look different! Some pages will be more flat, like the plains in the United States; other may be very hilly or mountainous
  • Why did some marker color from the cities fade into the watershed?
    • If people in towns and cities pollute (ex. throwing trash or dumping oil), it will leak into the watershed
    • Smaller cities may cause less pollution than larger ones
  • Have you ever noticed anything that may cause water pollution?