pages 5-6 of the UWP Educator’s Guide to Teaching Students About the Upper Uncompahgre River Watershed (also see contents, introduction & pdf link)
This material aligns with Colorado’s Statewide Water Education Action Plan (SWEAP) Task Force Critical Water Concepts and Colorado Academic Toolkit for Colorado Educators and Organizations.
SWEAP water concepts include the following statements:
- The physical and chemical properties of water are unique and constant.
- Water is essential for life, our economy, and a key component of healthy ecosystems.
- Water is a scarce resource, limited and variable.
- Water cycles naturally through Colorado’s watersheds, often intercepted and manipulated through an extensive infrastructure system built by people.
- The quality and quantity of water, and the timing of its availability, are all directly impacted by human actions and natural events.
- Water is a public resource governed by water law.
For more information about SWEAP, visit https://www.cowateredplan.org/.
Along with the watershed lessons detailed in these pages, UWP has created a Watershed Materials Trunk, available for check-out by local schools. In this trunk are materials for conducting investigations and experiments detailed in the lessons. DOWNLOAD THIS ENTIRE GUIDE; or DOWNLOAD INDIVIDUAL LESSONS.
These materials are housed in two large plastic bins, which also house printed copies of this Educator’s Guide to Teaching Students About the Upper Uncompahgre Watershed. These materials provide schools with the necessary equipment to repeatedly test water, read topographic river basin maps, gather/evaluate macroinvertebrates, and more. These interdisciplinary, outdoor experiential lessons meet Colorado Department of Education Next Generation standards for science, math, and social studies.
There are five major activities for the Year 1 middle school curriculum, including:
- talk, research, learn mapping skills
- trips to sample waterways for sampling
- trips to sample macroinvertebrates for benthic counts
- compile data, draw conclusions, prepare presentations
- present to panel of 8th graders, who have completed two years of this curriculum
Year 2 of the middle school curriculum includes:
- talk, research, learn about water history, fish populations, and water pollutants
- trips to visit water treatment facilities and a dam
- trips to fish and sample macroinvertibrates
- compile data, draw conclusions, prepare presentations
- present to panel of 8th graders who have completed two years of this curriculum
While the lessons in this Guide were developed for middle school students, the materials can be used for any grade and lessons can be scaled up or down for other age groups.
