Understanding & Finding Hydrologic Unit Codes (HUCs) - Lesson Plan (PDF)

Objectives:

• Define a watershed and explain why watersheds are important. 
• Describe what a Hydrologic Unit Code (HUC) represents. 
• Explain how HUCs become more specific as the number of digits increases. 
• Locate the watershed for their home, school, or another location using USGS mapping tools. 
• Compare their local watershed to larger watersheds and explain how water connects communities.

Recommended level: Grades 6 - 12

Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) Standards:

• DCIs: 5-ESS2-1: Develop a model using an example to describe ways the geosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere interact, MS-ESS2-4: Develop a model to describe the cycling of water through Earth's systems, HS-ESS2-5: Plan and conduct an investigation of Earth's dynamic systems and how water moves through them.
• CCCs:  Systems and Systems models, Scale, Proportion, and Quantity, Patterns
• SEPs: Developing and using models, Asking questions, Analyzing and interpreting data, Using digital tools