Contents in Brief

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Program Overview

     ·      “What is a Watershed?”

     ·      “Why is the state of the watershed important to people?”

     ·      “How can we improve water quality in the Watershed”

     ·      Correspondence with PWCS Objectives and Virginia SOLs

     ·      Meaningful Watershed Experience

“What is a Watershed?”

1. What is a Watershed?
2. Boundaries of Virginia Watersheds  
3. Play Dough Mountain- Create your own Topographic Map  
4. Overview of Chesapeake Bay Watershed  
5. Watershed Address Using Google Maps  
6. Schoolyard Mapping Activity 
7. Will It Soak Right In? Runoff Experiment  
8. Calculating The Amount of Impervious Surface in Your Schoolyard
9. Stream Table Experiment
10. Cacapon Institute Web Activities
11. Watershed Investigation: Where’s My Watershed? & Runoff Race

            Field Investigation Occoquan  

“Why is the state of the watershed important to people?”

1. Watershed Models and Riparian Buffer Zones
2. Introduction to Water Quality
3. Mosquito Larva Demonstration   
4. Introduction Vernier Probeware
5. Collecting and Submitting Schoolyard Water Quality Data
6. Who Contaminated the Water? 
7. Data in the Classroom
8. Discovering the Water Quality of Belmont Bay   
9. Water Quality Testing: “How’s the Water?”  Field Investigation
10. Macroinvertebrate Study: “Who Lives Here?”  Field Investigation
11. Wetland Metaphors
12. Water Quality Interactive game  
13. Wetlands lesson- Field Investigation Manassas
14.  Watershed Management: “Where Has All the Water Gone?”

Field Investigation Occoquan   

1. A River Runs Through It-role playing game   
2.  A Drop in the Bucket   

“How can we improve Water Quality in the Watershed?”

1. Don’t Waste Water: Water Conservation Calculations 
2. Stewardship Project Ideas

Appendix

1. Literacy strategies:

·         Word Wall Cards

·         Essential Vocabulary Board Game

·         Crossword Puzzle 

·          Watershed Analogies

2.      Student Data Sheet for Field Watershed Investigations  

3.     Cited and Additional Resources - web sites  

4.     Jeopardy  

5.     Data in the Classroom Teachers Guide

Acknowledgments:

Potomac Environmental Research and Education Center (PEREC),

Department of Environmental Science and Policy, George Mason University (GMU): 

Dann Sklarew, Ph.D., PEREC Associate Director

R. Christian Jones, Ph.D., PEREC Director

Cynthia B. Smith, Ph.D., PEREC Education Director

Robert Johnson, graduate student 

Prince William County Public Schools, Office of Science and Family Life:

Jason Calhoun, M.S., Supervisor

Joy Greene, M.S., Coordinator

E.A.G.L.E.S. Center (Eastern Area Grounds for Learning Environmental Science)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Chesapeake Bay Office:

Shannon Sprague, Education Program Manager 

            Ann Marie Chapman, Education Coordinator