Trees in Our Own Backyard and How We Can Help (Part 2 of 2)

Welcome to Change is Simple’s Online Learning Platform!

Overview: Today, we will be continuing to dive into the benefits trees provide us, especially the types of trees around where we live. We will also be learning how to identify trees by their leaves. These activities are for all ages.

Grade Level: K-6

Theme: Natural Systems, Natural Resources

Supervision needed? No

Essential Questions: 

• Why are trees so important?

• What is the scientific process that trees go through to create oxygen?

Materials Needed:

• Pencil

• Paper

• Camera

Standards:

We are going to be covering information from our last post so if you haven’t seen that you can click below and check it out!!!

Activity #1: How are the trees around your house helping you?

For this activity we are going to be taking a look at the trees around your home. As we have talked about this week trees have so many important benefits. So, let’s see how the trees around your house are helping you out! This activity is for all ages and you can be as detailed as you would like. There are examples under each step, but I am not the best artist so you can make yours however you’d like.

Materials:

• Piece of paper

• Something to draw with ( colored pencils, crayons, markers, pen, pencil)

Step 1: Start by drawing your house from a birds eye view

Step 2: Add what is around your house. Are there other buildings close? Are there trees? Is there water or a stream?

Step 3: Now add the trees, (in my picture they look like bushes since it is from a birds eye view)

Step 4: Number each tree, then write a sentence for each on how it is beneficial.

Ex) Disclaimer I don’t have many trees in my back yard…..

1 and 2: These are very large old trees they provide shade for my back yard and the back up my house when the sun is coming up. They also provide home for so many birds….that wake me up every morning

3 and 4: These are also very large trees that are in my neighbors yards. These trees provide some shade for their deck and pool.

Since houses are so close here they act like trees would, helping to shade my house and protect it from the wind.

Activity #2: Identifying the trees around your house by their leaves

On Wednesday we identified trees by their bark. This is a great technique to use in the winter when there are no leaves on the trees. Now that it is almost summer, the leaves have finally popped! So let’s take a look at them!

A Dichotomous Key is the most popular tool to use when identifying a leaf. These keys asks you questions about what the leaf looks like to slowly narrow your option down. Almost every Dichotomous Key starts with the same question which I have put below. Answer the question and then continue to use one of the keys that are listed it identify your trees.

Question #1

Does the tree have Needles (A) or Leaves (B)?

A

B

There are two main types of trees Coniferous and Deciduous.

Deciduous Trees: These are the trees with leaves on them, they lose their leaves every fall and grow back in the spring.

Coniferous Trees: These trees have needles on them, and their needles stay on the tree all year around. They’re also called Evergreen trees.

How we can help!

There is a lot that we can all do while we are at home!

• Make sure to recycle!

• Reuse as much as possible.

• Reduce your consumption of meat.

• Reduce your use of products with palm oil in them.

• Plant a tree whenever and wherever you can!

Send us a photo of yourself doing today's activity or how you help at home! and if you would like, please share your name(s) and where you are from with cisonline@changeissimple.org!

Benefits of Trees and How to ID Them (Part 1 of 2)

Welcome to Change is Simple’s Online Learning Platform!

Overview: Today we are going to be taking a look at the largest living things on earth…..TREES!! Trees provide us with so much and are a very important piece to our environment. Over the next few days, we are going to take a closer look at some different types of trees and how to identify them in a few different ways. These activities are for all ages.

Grade Level: K-6

Theme: Natural Systems, Natural Resources

Supervision needed? No

Essential Questions: 

• Why are trees so important?

• What is the scientific process that trees go through to create oxygen?

Materials Needed:

• Pencil

• Paper

• Camera

Standards:

Check out the video below to learn about why trees are so important and one way to identify trees……there will be some questions to answer from the video, so pay attention!

Why are trees important?

Hopefully, you were paying attention to the video, let’s see if you can answer these questions:

1. Write 2-3 sentences on why trees’ roots are so important.

2. What gas do trees take in and what gas do they provide us? What is that scientific process called?

3. Explain how trees can help you save energy at home.

4. Write 4-5 sentences on how the trees around where you live are helping your environment and you. (ex: shading your house, providing a home for animals, helping the soil around your home)

Activity: Now let’s get to know some trees!

1. Head outside and try to find 5 different trees to identify, bring a piece of paper and something to write with

2. Take some notes on the tree bark that you are identifying, be looking at the Texture, Color, and Pattern. Look below to see some examples.

3. With the notes that you took, use the Bark ID guides below to help you identify the trees

   • If you are located outside of the northeast, just search Bark ID guide for your area to help you out.

4. Take pictures of the unique bark patterns you find and send them in!

5. Research to see if those trees are native to your area?

   • Native trees help local ecosystems and are much more beneficial to your local ecosystem than invasive trees

   • Invasive Species: These are species that are not from the area and has spread because many do not have predators in the new area. Invasive species usually are harmful to ecosystem that they don’t belong in.
     
     

What to look for when Identifying a tree by its bark:

• Texture- Smooth, rough, shaggy

• Color- White, brown, multi-colored

• Patterns- ridges: deep, shallow, horizontal, vertical; scaled, spotted, plain

American Beech

White Pine

Cedar

Sycamore

White Birch

Norway Maple

Tree ID Guides:

Tree Math!!

1. If every minute about 36 football fields worth of trees are cut down, how many football fields worth of trees would be cut down in 8 minutes?

2. A tree grows about 2 feet a year. How long would it take to grow your height?

3. One tree can make 8,300 sheets of paper. The average person uses about 7 trees worth of paper in one year. How many sheets of paper would the average person use in one year?

4. Recycling 1 ton of paper can save 17 trees. Your school uses 6 tons of paper a year, if you recycle half of that paper, how many trees can you save?
   
   
   
   

Did you enjoy today’s activity? Stay tuned Friday we will be talking about another way to identify trees and in the meantime…

Send us a photo of yourself doing today's activity and if you would like, please share your name(s) and where you are from with cisonline@changeissimple.org!

Making Paper

Welcome to Change is Simple’s Online Learning Platform!

Overview: Today’s topic is trees and paper making! We will be learning about different types of seeds and trees, why they are so important to us, and we will complete a cool activity where we reuse old paper scraps to make new paper, conserving this amazing natural resource!

Grade Level:  k-6

Theme: Natural Resources, Waste Reduction

Supervision needed? Yes

Essential Questions: 

• What is a compost critter?

• How do they play a role in composting our food?

Materials Needed:

• Scrap paper (check your recycling bin! Most types of paper will work; just avoid magazines and glossy paper, and be sure to remove any staples or plastic, i.e. address windows on envelopes)

• Bowl of warm water

• Sponge

• 2 Towels (kitchen towels, handkerchiefs, pillow cases, or old t-shirts)

• Blender (students, please ask for permission & help to use a blender, and be sure to clean it out when you’re done! **If you don’t have a blender, you can still do this activity. Just follow the alternative directions in Step 2)

Standards:

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Today, we have a fun Spring activity for you. We are going to make our own paper, that can also be planted! How? Watch this video to learn and get started:

Now it’s time for YOU to make your seed paper!

Step 1- Gather scrap paper (at least 5 sheets)

You can use newspaper, printer paper, construction paper, etc. (no magazines or glossy paper)

Step 2- Rip the sheets up into about 1 inch x 1 inch squares. Place the ripped pieces into a warm bowl of water and let soak for at least 10 minutes.

**If you don’t have a blender, just rip the paper into smaller pieces (as small as you can), place in warm water and soak for at least 30 minutes. Jump to Step 5.**

Step 3- Put your ripped paper into the blender…and make your pulp!

Put 3-4 handfuls of the soaked paper pieces into the blender. Add about 1 cup of water. Blend for 10-15 seconds and check it- if you still see large pieces of paper, blend for another 10 seconds until it is smooth. You’ll want a consistency like applesauce. *Make sure to get permission and help to use the blender!

Step 4- Pour the pulp from the blender into a bowl.

Step 5- Add seeds to your pulp.

Sprinkle seeds (about a tablespoon) into the pulp and stir. You can use wildflower seeds, chia seeds, whatever you might have.

Step 6- Protect the surface of your workspace.

Place a piece of wax paper or a paper grocery bag down, then lay a towel on top of it.

Step 7- Scoop the pulp from the bowl onto your towel

Get your hands right into that pulp! Scoop a few handfuls (let some water drain through your fingers over the bowl) onto your towel, and gently press it into the shape of your choice - circle, square, rectangle, oval, or a funky shape!

Step 8- Place your other towel over your shaped pulp.

Step 9- Absorb the water with a sponge.

Take your sponge and gently press straight down onto the towel over the shaped pulp. This is drawing the moisture up from the pulp into the sponge, and down into the towel. Repeat this at least 5-6 times. Wring out the sponge in between presses if needed.

Step 10- Gently peel back the towel/handkerchief to reveal your paper!

Step 11- Let dry for 24 hours

Carefully pick up the towel that’s underneath your paper by all 4 corners, keeping it as flat as possible (I recommend having someone help with this step), and put it in a safe place out of the way to dry. Be patient and try not to touch or move the paper until it is completely dry. Drying time will depend on how thick your paper is.

Reflection and follow up

1. What will you do with your seed paper, once it dries? Will you draw or paint on, send a card to someone you miss right now? Please share your ideas, take a picture of your homemade paper, and send it to amy@changeissimple.org. We’d love to see your creations and hear your ideas!

2. We used scrap/recycled paper in order to make our paper today. Do you know how new paper is made? What natural resource is paper made from?

3. Why do you think it is important to reduce, reuse, and recycle the paper that we use?

4. Learn more about the process of how paper is recycled:

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Directions for planting your seed paper, once dried and used:

1. Soak the seed paper overnight

2. Cut the plantable seed paper into pieces and then cover with soil (1cm deep in a small pot). 

3. Water it every day- make sure to keep the soil wet to let the seeds sprout.

4. In a few days, you’ll see how the plants sprout and begin to grow.

5. Place it in a window that gets good sunlight, or plant it in your yard/garden.

If you do send the seed paper to someone else, be sure to include these directions for them so they can plant it once they’re done with it!

Did you enjoy today’s activity? Stay tuned for more, and in the meantime…

Send us a photo of yourself doing today's activity and if you would like, please share your name(s) and where you are from with cisonline@changeissimple.org!

Let’s see that paper!!

Water Conservation

Welcome to Change is Simple’s Online Learning Platform!

Overview: In this lesson, students will learn about water as an extremely limited natural resource. Water is used in many aspects of life every day, but there is only a small amount of clean, available freshwater for human use- and this is reduced every day! In this activity you will learn where our supply of global water is, and how we can conserve water as a resource for human use. 

Grade Level: 1-4. For 5+, click here. For adults, click here and here

Theme: Water availability, natural resource use

Supervision needed? No

Essential Questions:

• Is water a limited or unlimited resource?

  Where is our water stored globally?

Materials Needed:

• One Sheet of Paper

• Measuring Cup

• Computer

Standards:

• 13.1 Describe types of natural resources and their connection with health.

• Ecological Health 13.2 Describe how business, industry, and individuals can work cooperatively to solve ecological health problems, such as conserving natural resources and decreasing pollution

• Ecological Health 13.4 Identify individual and community responsibility in ecological health.

• Ecological Health 14.2 Identify ways the physical environment is related to individual and community health

• 14.3 List practices and products that make living safer.

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Let’s start by watching this introduction video!

Student-led Experiment    

Activity Duration: 15 Minutes

Materials Needed:

1. sheet of paper

2. measuring cup & two water glasses

3. computer

step 1: water availability

Please watch this video below and then move onto Step 2!

step 2: water usage activity

From this video we are able to see that water is an incredibly limited resource! Is water really that important? In today’s activity we are going to look at some ways we use water and how much water we can save if we change our habits!

Question 1: Let’s brainstorm 10 things we NEED water for! 

1. ____________________

2. ____________________

3. ____________________

4. ____________________

5. ____________________

6. ____________________

7. ____________________

8. ____________________

9. ____________________

10. ____________________

Now let’s see how much water we typically use, and how much we could save if we change some simple habits and fixtures. For this activity you will need: 

1. sheet of paper

2. two equal sized water glasses

3. a measuring cup

Brushing our Teeth: 

We all should be brushing our teeth twice a day for 2 minutes at a time. Fill the cup on the left with 2 cups of water (fill the cup as full as possible - if it doesn't hold 2 cups, that is okay). Then fill the cup on the right with ¼ cup of water.

These cups represent that you can use 88% less water if you shut the faucet off when brushing your teeth. You only need to turn it on when you are rinsing! Later we will calculate how many gallons you would save!

Showering:

If one person showers once a day for 10 minutes, you can use up to 40 gallons of water! Fill the cup on the left with 2 cups of water (fill the cup as full as possible - if it doesn't hold 2 cups, that is okay). Then fill the cup on the right with 1 cup of water.

These two cups represent how you can use 50% less water if you take a 5 minute shower instead of a 10 minute shower! 

If you change your shower head to a low flow shower head, you can use 50% less than above by cutting your flow in half! Take the cup on the right and remove ½ cup of water. Later we will calculate how many gallons you would save!

Hand-Washing Dishes: 

If we hand wash our dishes for 10 minutes while leaving the faucet running, we could use up to 40 gallons of water! Fill the cup on the left with 2 cups of water (fill the cup as full as possible - if it doesn't hold 2 cups, that is okay). Then fill the cup on the right with ¼ cup of water.

These two cups represent how you can use 88% less water if you shut the faucet off when washing the dishes. You would only need to turn it on when you are rinsing or filling the sink with soapy water. Next we will calculate how many gallons you would save!

Step 3: Water Worksheet

Based on the three things we just learned, let’s find out how much water we could save by applying the above changes to our lives! Calculate the difference between the Traditional Usage and the Conservative Usage using the table below.

Want more of a challenge and to learn more? Click below to calculate your home water usage!

Step 4: Let’s Reflect

Question 1: What percent of the water on Earth is available for humans to use? (Hint: think back to the first video on water availability)

Question 2: What are 5 ways that you can save water in your house? 

1. ____________________

2. ____________________

3. ____________________

4. ____________________

5. ____________________

Question 3: Why is it important to save water? 

Step 5: Additional Resources

Parents! Check These Out!

Did you enjoy today’s activity? Stay tuned for more, and in the meantime…

Send us a photo of yourself doing today's activity and if you would like, please share your name(s) and where you are from with cisonline@changeissimple.org

Overfishing (2 of 2): Threatened Fish of New England

Welcome to Change is Simple’s Online Learning Platform!

Overview: Today, we are going to take a deeper dive into a topic we discussed last week, overfishing! In today’s lesson, we will closely examine a local, threatened fish species of your choosing. After becoming marine biologists and researching some local fish, we will become artists and draw/paint the subject of your research!

Grade Level: 3-5

Theme: Natural resource, sustainability, tragedy of the commons

Supervision needed? No

Essential Questions:

Materials Needed:

Standards:

• Ecological Health 13.2 Describe how business, industry, and individuals can work cooperatively to solve ecological health problems, such as conserving natural resources and decreasing pollution

• Ecological Health 13.4 Identify individual and community responsibility in ecological health.

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PLEASE WATCH THIS VIDEO SO WE CAN GET STARTED!

Now it’s Time for YOU to become A Marine Biologist!

Time to take a deep Dive and Find out all About a Local, Threatened Fish Species.

You are going to build a species profile of the fish that you choose! In order for you to to build this species profile, you will have to research and compile information about your fish. Time to start digging!

Step 1-Pick your Fish

Start by surfing the web and choose a threatened/overfished fish species that is local to you! Since I’m in Massachusetts, I picked a fish off the coast of New England. If your joining us from somewhere else, choose one in the waters near where you live!

Here is a good resource to get started!

Step 2-Build your Species PRofile!

Now that you have chosen your fish, its time to start learning all about it. For this activity, you will need a piece of paper and something to write with to record all your data. Here are all the components you will need to build your species profile. You will have to research these questions and write the answers down on your sheet.

1. Write the name of your fish on the top of paper and underline it

2. What type of ocean habitat does your fish live in? (coastal, estuary, deep sea, etc)

3. How big does your fish species grow? (weight & length)

4. What does your fish species feed on?

5. Choose 5 adjectives (describing words) to describe your fish

Want to dig deeper? Here are some more challenging questions to add to your profile!

1. What type of commercial fishing is impacting your fish? (long lining, seine net, bottom trawler, etc)

2. How much has your fish’s stocks declined? (%)

3. What is the market price of your fish? ($)

It is Now Time for you to become an Artist!

Now that your species profile is built, it is now your job to draw and color your fish!

Materials

• Paper, canvas or drawing pad

• Colored pencils, markers, crayons or paint

Step 1- Sketch the outline of your fish

This will be your fish step. Look at your fish, what is it’s body type like? Is it shaped like a football? a torpedo? Is it flat? This is a good question to ask yourself while starting your sketch.

Step 2- Add Details

Once you have the body shape outlined, the next step will be to add in the finer details. These include fins, eyes, gills and patterns on your fish’s body. In my drawing, the Tuna has big eyes in order to hunt effectively and streamlined fins that help it accelerate through the water like a torpedo!

Step 3-Choose your colors!

Once we have the sketch complete, it will be time to bring it to life with some color. Using whichever coloring medium you would like, start compiling all the different colors you will need. I like to use a ton of colors and even create new ones by blending them together!

Step 4-Start Shading!

Now it is time to give your drawing a splash of color! Start by shading in the darker areas of your fish, this will give it a nice shadow affect. Next, add some base color to fish, but keep it light so you can add more colors on top! This will give your fish a really unique look and bring it to life!

Step 5-Lets get Funky! start blending those colors!

To really make your work of art pop, you can start blending different colors to give it layers and to even create some cool new colors! For my tuna, I started with a base of yellow, then added two different hues of blue to give my fish a unique green color that mimics the bluefin’s camouflage!

Step 6- KEep on Coloring till its done!

Keep adding color layers, blending colors and shading to make your piece of art complete! Here is my finished Bluefin Tuna!

Did you enjoy today’s activity? Stay tuned for more, and in the meantime…

Send us a photo of yourself doing today's activity and if you would like, please share your name(s) and where you are from with cisonline@changeissimple.org!

Let’s See those fish pictures!!

Overfishing (1 of 2): The Tragedy of the Commons

Welcome to Change is Simple’s Online Learning Platform!

Overview: In this lesson, students will learn about what the ‘tragedy of the commons’ is and how overfishing marine life harms the ocean environment. In this lesson, we will discuss what overfishing is, what is currently happening to fish across our oceans, and we will even become fishermen! Our hands-on activity will simulate a fishing community and we will get to witness first-hand what happens when we over-exploit our natural resources (and we will get to eat some tasty snacks!) Afterward, we are going to discuss how overfishing is an example of a concept known as the tragedy of the commons, and some ways we can protect our natural resources!

Grade Level: 4+

Theme: Natural Resources, consumption, sustainability

Supervision needed? No

Essential Questions:

What is the tragedy of the commons and why is it an important part of natural resource conservation?

Materials Needed:

• Large bag of M&Ms, Skittles, or goldfish 

• Straws- preferably metal!!! (1 for each student) 

• A big plate to serve as our ocean  

• Small dishes or plates (1 for each student) 

• Paper (1 sheet for each student) 

• Markers (1 for each group)

Standards:

1-LS1-1. Use materials to design a solution to a human problem by mimicking how plants and/or animals use their external parts to help them survive, grow, and meet their needs

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Today, we are going to learn all about overfishing! In this lesson, we will discuss what overfishing is, what is currently happening to fish across our oceans, and we will even become fishermen! Our hands-on activity will simulate a fishing community and we will get to witness first-hand what happens when we over-exploit our natural resources (and we will get to eat some tasty snacks!) Afterward, we are going to discuss how overfishing is an example of a concept known as the tragedy of the commons, and some ways we can protect our natural resources!

Please watch this Video so we can get started!

Hands-On Activity

Background

It is now time for us to become fishermen! This activity simulates overfishing to help participants understand what happens when resources are overexploited (overuse) without regulation. Normally this game would be played as a group, but today we can play it with anywhere from 2-4 people. Lets get the whole family involved!

 Materials

• Large bag of M&Ms, Skittles, or goldfish 

• Straws- preferably metal!!! (1 for each student) 

• A big plate to serve as our ocean  

• Small dishes or plates (1 for each student) 

• Paper (1 sheet for each student) 

• Markers (1 for each group)

Location

A table to fit four participants.

Directions

NOTE: Check for allergies and don't get candy with nuts.

• Explain to participants that they are going to do an activity about resource exploitation. Have students sit around a table with a plate in the middle, this will serve as our ocean. Put 4 fish on the plate for each person participating . Provide each person with a straw and small dish. (If less people are playing the game, add more fish per person)

• Explain that they are a fishing village, and each person is the head of his or her family. To provide for them for a year, they must collect at least two fish. However, they can collect as many as they want during the time allotted. To collect fish they must use the straws to suck the candy or goldfish up (emphasize that it is not sucked into the straw, but held by suction at the end) and move it into the dish. Allow the participants 45 seconds to 1 minute for each season, and remind the participants that they cannot talk during the fishing season.

•  After you have called the time on a season walk around and put one fish on the big plate (ocean) for every candy left. This will exemplify the fish reproducing. Have students keep track of the fish they catch on their paper or fishing log.Then have the participants fish for another “season.” Repeat this two or three more times. Ideally, participants will begin to run out of fish because they “overfished.” 

Reflection

The Tragedy of the Commons

What we just experienced was a concept known as the tragedy of the commons. This is when individuals take too much of a shared resource for personal gain, which makes other people do the same, leading  to a situation where the demand outweighs the supply. This causes that resource to be diminished. 

For example; Lets say I'm a fisherman and I want to make more money, so I start catching more fish. Then Bob, who is also a fisherman sees me catching more fish and making more money, so he starts doing it too. Then Karen does it, then Tom does it, and so on. Pretty soon the whole fishing community is taking too much fish because they are competing for the same resource! This leads to too many fish to be taken before they can reproduce! 

Now Lets think about this!

• Was every fisherman able to feed their families through the course of the game?

• How did the fish population differ from the beginning to the end?

• Connect this game to the Tragedy of the Commons- can the students think of any other resource this could apply for?

• What could be done to help keep the fish population stable, while still being able to catch fish?

• Come up with some rules for the fishery that would allow for a healthy population and a sustainable fishing industry!
  
  

What can you do to help?

There are ways we can solve this! By implementing limits to how many fish can be taken, we can make sure that we leave enough fish behind to allow them to reproduce and replenish. If we do this right, there will be plenty of fish in our oceans for all the animals who rely on them and the humans who depend on them for their way of life! 

Some ways you can help are limiting your purchase of fish species that are overfished, such as cod and bluefin tuna, and instead buy fish from more sustainable fisheries, such as tilapia, wild salmon and barramundi (one of my favorites). Here is a great resource for determining how sustainable the fish you purchase is!

Shellfish are super sustainable too. If we manage our fish stocks correctly we will have enough fish for everyone! Even for my dog bear who loves his sustainably sourced fish skin dog treats! 

Did you enjoy today’s activity? Stay tuned for more, and in the meantime…

Send us a photo of yourself doing today's activity and if you would like, please share your name(s) and where you are from with cisonline@changeissimple.org!

Watersheds

Welcome to Change is Simple’s Online Learning Platform!

Overview: In this activity, students will create a watershed using a piece of paper and coloring materials. Students will follow along to an instructors direction to learn what is a watershed, and what you may find in one. After creating the watershed, students will conduct an experiment to understand where water travels through a watershed after a rainstorm. This lesson will highlight how water brings pollution from roads, construction zones, farms and residential areas into our lakes, streams, and oceans. 

Theme: Water pollution, natural resources

Grade Level: 2-5

Supervision needed? No

Essential Questions:

• What is a watershed?

• How does pollution travel though and enter a watershed?

• How does pollution impact a watershed?

Materials Needed:

• Paper

• Coloring utensils

• Spray bottle with water

Standards

• 3-LS4-4. Make a claim about the merit of a solution to a problem caused when the environment changes and the types of plants and animals that live there may change.

• 2-ESS2-1. Compare multiple solutions designed to slow or prevent wind or water from changing the shape of the land.*

• K-2-ETS1-2. Develop a simple sketch, drawing, or physical model to illustrate how the shape of an object helps it function as needed to solve a given problem.

Background:

What is a watershed?

A watershed is an area or ridge of land that separates the flow of water to different rivers, streams, and lakes. All of the water that falls over a watershed will flow to the same basins (lakes and ponds). When rain falls, or snow melts, that water travels downhill over dirt, roads, and farms carrying whatever it comes in contact with. That means that the water collects and carries pollution to nearby lakes and oceans!

What is pollution?

Pollution is any substance or item that is harmful to the environment it is in. Water pollution takes many different shapes. If rainfall or snowmelt travels over a farm, it can collect fertilizers from the soil and carry them to lakes and oceans. This fertilizer can harm aquatic life. Similarly, oil from cars on the road can harm aquatic life if it gets carried to oceans, lakes. etc.

student led experiment

Activity Duration: 15 Minutes

Materials Needed:

1. One sheet white paper

2. Assorted Markers

3. Spray bottle with water

Step 1: Set up experiment.

Crumple up a sheet of white paper with both hands, and then lay out and semi-flatten.

Color the ridges of your watershed in purple.

To create the towns in your watershed, draw three small towns (red) at three places in the valleys of your watershed. (A valley is a low point of land between mountains).

Next, draw a large city (orange) close to one of the towns. The towns and city are locations in our watershed where we often find large amounts of oil on roads from cars, and pollution from people.

Next, draw four farms (green) in different flat places throughout the watershed. Most farmers use fertilizers to help their crops (fruits and vegetables) grow! These fertilizers are helpful for the farms, but harmful if they end up in our waterways, causing a dangerous process called eutrophication. To learn more about eutrophication, click here!

Finally, draw a coal mine (black) near one of the cities. Coal is a major fossil fuel. The process of mining coal from the earth usually contaminates nearby waters with highly acidic water and metals. To learn more about the process of coal mining , click here!

Step 2: Create your hypothesis.

Soon, you are going to take your spray bottle or pipet and create rainfall over your watershed. Before you do this, you must make a hypothesis as to what will happen when you conduct this experiment!

Question 1: Where will the precipitation end up after the storm ends?

Question 2: What will happen to the pollution that comes from the coal mine, farms, and cities/roads?

Step 4: Create a rainstorm over your watershed!

Take your spray bottle and start to spray water on all areas of your watershed. Carefully observe the changes that occur. Be creative! You can make certain areas heavy rainfall areas and others lighter areas to observe the differences. Record your observations on a sheet of paper (pictures or words!)

Step 5: Reflection

1. Was your hypothesis (guess) from step 3 accurate?

2. What happened to the bodies of water after a serious rainstorm occurred over the cities and farms?

3. How could this runoff impact our watershed?

Now that you have completed this experiment, you hopefully understand that when it rains, pollution travels from our major towns and cities, farms, and industrial areas into our rivers, lakes, streams, and oceans. This can harm animals that live in the water and prevent humans from having clean drinking water. Let’s brainstorm some ways that we can help protect our watersheds from pollution!

The Change is Simple team has come up with three ways to help you get started:

Ride your bike or walk instead of riding in a car! The less we drive, the less oil ends up on our roads.

Pick up trash, even if it’s not yours! The best place for trash is in your trash bin, NOT outside where it can blow into our waterways!

Support local farmers that use little or no fertilizers! The less fertilizers used, the less that ends up in our oceans.

Stay tuned for more activities! In the meantime, send us a photo of yourself doing today's activity and if you would like to share your name(s), and where you are from to cisonline@changeissimple.org