Capturing Watershed Experiences

Engage

Look at the organism picture found in the PDF and Micrsoft Word documents for this lesson. Is this a water or land creature? How do you know? How is this “critter” adapted to life in a particular habitat?

Next, choose a partner and brainstorm a list of organisms you might expect to find in a fresh water biome. How would your list change if you were comparing organisms that live in a tributary to those found in a larger body of water?

Your class will be creating a dichotomous key to help classify invertebrate and vertebrate organisms you will find in a tributary and a stream. A dichotomous key is used for identification of organisms based on a series of choices between two alternative characters.

Use the web site links below for examples on how to create a dichotomous key.

http://nerds.unl.edu/pages/preser/sec/skills/dkeys.html
http://www.messiah.edu/Oakes/fungi_on_wood/introduction%20page/keys.htm

Explore

Prepare to wear your boots today! You are exploring the wonders of nature. You and your classmates will visit a tributary and a larger stream to take samples and measurements of the water and identify the organisms located in the water.

Your group includes 3 – 4 individuals. Assign one person to record the information gathered. Prior to going to the site, print off a sample collection form from http://watershed.syr.edu/taxkey/Form.html or create your own form.

Measurements may include:
temperature
pH
turbidity
velocity
streamflow (higher levels)
vegetation, erosion
streambed composition
benthic macro-invertebrate classification

Assign another person to take digital photos of organisms and interesting finds. (Digital photographers should record images as though they were capturing the activities to explain to an absent classmate).
All other group members are part of the collection process.

After classifying the organisms, return them to the stream.

If visiting a larger stream is inconvenient or unsafe, have students compare different areas of the smaller stream (e.g., pool versus riffle, above and below another tributary, different streambed, etc.).

Explain

Now that you have collected your samples, taken your measurements, and documented what you’ve seen through digital imagery, use this information to analyze on the abiotic and biotic features of the tributary and the larger stream.

Next, create a Venn Diagram comparing the abiotic features of the tributary to the larger stream. Also create a Venn Diagram describing the biotic features of the tributary versus the large stream. An example is available in the PDF and Microsoft Word attachments on the Nortel LearniT web site.

Finally, using the web site, http://www.usgs.gov/ , locate the graph(s) for real-time water data nearest to the watershed you explored. Download the graph for use in the final project.

Elaborate

Develop a story that includes your first-hand experience in collecting organisms, images and descriptions of the location and web-based research. Assemble all images and text in one document such as Microsoft Word.

Next, use this information to create a multimedia presentation utilizing Animoto.

Animoto is a free online tool for creating exciting videos with special effects and music. It combines your images and music into a customized Animoto video. Animoto automates the process using a video production artificial intelligence agent to match builds, fades, etc. to the cadence of your music and the "flavor" of your video. You can email it, post it, and share it. Educators can register for free accounts that enable their class to create videos using Animoto.

An example of a watershed collection presentation is located on the Animoto web site. http://animoto.com/play/y4FFPEhaNeXjk1vY1BvjPw?from=share

Using images taken at the collection sites and images found on the Internet, create a professional looking presentation using Animoto. http://education.animoto.com/

Remember to choose your images wisely to limit the running time for your Animoto video to no more than 2 minutes.

Tip: When you decide what images (pictures), sounds or text that you want to use in your production, be sure to check for a copyright notice. Some web sites want you to use their materials for educational projects while others don’t. A good practice for you should be to look for an email address on the web page from which you want to use materials, and send a request for permission to use the materials or information in your class production.

It is also important that you identify materials that you use completely in your production. This is called “making a citation of” or “citing” someone else’s work. The format that is typically used is as follows:
Last Name, First Name of Author (if known). “Title of work/article/page.” Title of Complete Document (if applicable). Date last modified. URL (date visited).

Find out more about copyright issues and fair use policies viewing video tutorials about these topics at http://nortellearnit.org/technology/Digital_Ethics/

Evaluate

An evulation rubric has been provided to use for assessment.

Extend

Consider some of these ideas for extensions.
1. Identify a micro-watershed near your home. How would you evaluate the watershed? Is it a healthy watershed? If not, describe how you would make improvements.
2. Write a letter to your community leaders asking to protect and preserve a watershed in your community.
3. Write and produce an animation from the point of view of one of the organisms you found during your collection.

Related Resources
• http://nerds.unl.edu/pages/preser/sec/skills/dkeys.html
• http://animoto.com/play/lkMmb8lxexjX9moZx3UneQ
• http://www.usgs.gov/
• http://nerds.unl.edu/pages/preser/sec/skills/dkeys.html
•http://www.messiah.edu/Oakes/fungi_on_wood/introduction%20page/keys.htm