The Edible Aquifer activity is a hands‑on, food‑based model that helps students visualize how groundwater is stored and moves through different types of aquifers. Using layered ingredients to represent rock, sand, soil, and water, students explore concepts like the water table, recharge, confined vs. unconfined aquifers, and how pollution can spread through groundwater systems. This interactive activity supports NGSS standards and provides an engaging way to understand real-world hydrogeology.
An interactive app that explains streamflow; what it is, how we measure it and what does this look like in a real world context. The app guides you through activities that explain why streamflow is important and offers multiple opportunities to collect your own data, either outdoors or by using real USGS streamflow data.
In this activity students will investigate how snowpack acts as a natural water storage system and how changes in snow accumulation and melt timing affect streamflow and water availability in the Western United States. Using a USGS interactive visualization and real monitoring data, students will analyze trends, interpret hydrologic variables, and evaluate downstream impacts on people and ecosystems. This activity aligns with Next Generation Science Standards for high school science education.
In this activity students will learn how wildfires impact watersheds and water quality and think critically about how people and communities can adapt to these changes.
This lesson will help activate and assess students' prior knowledge about the water cycle and eventually progress to help build their knowledge. The final portion of this lesson plan includes an online interactive activity that can help keep students engaged throughout the entire lesson.
In this lesson plan students will investigate and compare where water is stored and how it moves in six different environments: deserts, forests, urban areas, suburban areas, coastlines, and agricultural regions.