How do clear cutting and burning of forests impact the quantity and quality of water in rivers? How do humans manage water scarcity?
As this storyline develops, students become research hydrologists and explore small and large-scale aspects of the water cycle as they build a forest slope model and test runoff in 3 cover types: forested, clearcut, and burned. Students then use a 3D topgraphic model of northern Colorado to analyze how precipitation patterns cause water scarcity on Colorado’s eastern slope and learn how people divert water under the Continental Divide. The data collected during these explorations mimics actual data collected by Dr. Tim Covino’s lab at CSU/MSU.
Major Concepts
- Hydrologic Cycle
- Soil Erosion
- Dissolved Organic Matter
- Ecosystem Impacts
- Trans-Mountain Diversion
- Water Rights & Resources
Scientific Inquiry Skills
- Using models
- Carrying out investigations
- Volumetric measurement
- Constructing explanations from evidence
Grade Levels: 6th grade & up
Level of Teacher Input: Moderate
Time Required: 90-120 minutes
Kit Distribution: 15 kits meant for partners of 2 (30 students)
Applicable Next Generation Science Standards
NGSS Cross Cutting Concepts
- Systems and system models
- Scale, proportion, and quantity
- Influence of engineering, science, and technology on society and the natural world
NGSS Science and Engineering Practices
- Planning and carrying out investigations
- Developing and using models
- Engaging in argument from evidence
- Analyzing and interpreting data
- Using mathematics and computational thinking
NGSS Disciplinary Core Ideas
MS-LS2-1 Analyze and interpret data to provide evidence for the effects of resource availability on organisms and populations of organisms in an ecosystem.
HS-LS2-2 Use mathematical representations to support and revise explanations based on evidence about factors affecting biodiversity and populations in ecosystems of different scales.
