These lessons help students develop a better understanding of the importance of well-managed water use while exploring the concepts of a watershed, land use, aquifers, and water engineering. The material focuses on the historical water use decision affecting the Owens River Valley in California. Materials lists, procedures, assessment recommendations, and extension ideas are provided. Links to additional ... Full description.

Materials presented here outline basic concepts related to groundwater, answering questions like "What is groundwater?" and "What is an aquifer?" More detailed topics include groundwater quality, sources of contamination, engineering problems presented by groundwater, and safeguards to the groundwater supply. A bibliography and links to other water-related sites are included. A French translation ... Full description.

These activities explain the management of ground water resources using a balanced approach, focusing on interdependencies in the environment. All activities can be performed using readily available materials. Fact sheets, reference materials, and a glossary of terms are provided. The activities cover such topics as groundwater basics, movement of water in aquifers, recharge and discharge, how a well ... Full description.

This Internet-based collaborative project will allow students to share information about water usage with other students from around the country and the world. Based on data collected by their household members and their classmates, students will determine the average amount of water used by one person in a day. They will compare this to the average amount of water used per person per day in other ... Full description.

This site describes the Chesapeake Bay watershed, which stretches across six states including New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, Virginia and West Virginia and also the District of Columbia. Also included in the Bay watershed are several subwatersheds, smaller systems that drain into the streams and rivers that flow into the Chesapeake. More than 64,000 square miles of land drain into the ... Full description.

This resource has students construct a model watershed in order to understand its operation. Students will observe how water flows from higher elevations to lower elevations, and the interconnectivity of watersheds. They will understand how the placement of buildings, roads, and parking lots can be important to watershed runoff, and how careless use and disposal of harmful contaminants can have a ... Full description.

In this lesson, students explore how groundwater contamination can spread through aquifers by participating in a groundwater plume simulation. They will learn how to determine the source of groundwater contamination, explore the possible contamination of Nevada groundwater by a major nuclear test site, and write a persuasive essay from the point of view of a Nevada resident living close to a groundwater ... Full description.

This lesson is designed to give students an enhanced understanding of the water cycle and rain as a resource, increase their measurement and data collection skills, and develop graphing and data interpretation skills. It expects that students will demonstrate the ability to measure and record rates of rainfall, evaporation, and infiltration and to graph and interpret data. The lesson provides detailed ... Full description.

In this activity students work as a team to determine the effect salt has on plant germination. They then use their lab data to create a report on how the increasing salt concentrations affected the germination of the seeds and at what salt concentration no seeds will germinate. Students will discover that salt buildup is an existing or potential hazard on almost all of the 42 million acres of irrigated ... Full description.

In this project, students work together to learn about water supply issues and possible solutions. Students spend about six weeks researching the topic of water supply, identify a problem relating to water supply, collect and analyze data, and present the best solution to the problem using multi-media software. This site contains all necessary worksheets and instructions, research links, and instructions ... Full description.