Teaching Resources for Elementary School – Water Resources
Lessons
Sources/Usage: Public Domain.
About: This Teacher Guide includes background information, lesson plans, and examples of student answers for three lessons about the Chesapeake Bay watershed. The Student Worksheet includes student activities and questions. This can be downloaded and printed or transferred to a digital classroom document.
Grades: 5th to align with NGSS, but adaptable to 4th-6th grades
Topics: Water quality, water availability
Length: Three lessons; one lesson per week (teacher determines the correct pace for their students)
Sources/Usage: Public Domain. Visit Media to see details.
About: This lesson introduces how streamflow is measured by streamgages and how various factors can change streamflow. Students use USGS data to make their own hydrographs for the Colorado River and for a river or stream of their choice.
Grades: 9 to 12
Topics: Streamflow, discharge, streamgages, dams
Length: 4 lessons, 30-45 minutes each
Sources/Usage: Public Domain.
About: In this lesson, students explore the water cycle and where humans live relative to water, learn about Earth’s water distribution, get to know a river or stream in their neighborhood, and think about river travel today and in the past.
Grades: 4 to 6
Topics: Water cycle, rivers, water distribution, watersheds
Length: 5 lessons, 1-3 class periods each
Activities
About: Have you ever dropped a stick in a river and wondered where it might go if it floated all the way downstream? Explore America's larger streams by tracing them upstream to their source or downstream to where they empty. Learn about your stream traces and the places they pass through in a detailed report.