pages 9-10 of the UWP Educator’s Guide to Teaching Students About the Upper Uncompahgre River Watershed (also see contents, introduction & pdf link)
Guiding Questions
UWP worked with teachers to develop a two-year middle school program presented during “Watershed Awareness Week” during late spring. These activities were developed specifically for the upper Uncompahgre River Watershed with headwaters in Ouray County, Colorado. The following questions were used to guide Ouray County students in watershed exploration activities. However, these guiding questions and activities can be used to develop your own watershed lessons or to guide discussions about watersheds in the classroom.
Questions for Students
- Where is our watershed and what’s in it (topography and personal observations)?
- Where do we see human impact along the waterways? (Day 1)
- Where is our watershed in relation to established, historic mines? (Day 1 mapping)
- Where does our drinking water come from? (Day 1 visit to drinking water treatment plant)
- How is water impacted by development, mining, population? (Day 2 and 3 data collection by half the students at two riverside sites)
- How do I know my drinking water is safe and clean? (Day 2 and 3 data collection by students at two additional riverside sites)
- How do we know when our watershed is unhealthy(too polluted to sustain aquatic life or to support safe recreation)? (Day 2 and 3 data collection at all sites)
Refer to https://waterknowledge.colostate.edu/hydrology/water-quality/ - Who makes the decisions regarding the use or protection of our watershed? Refer to Water Quality | Department of Public Health & Environment
Questions for Teachers
- What do we want to do with this data? Outcomes?
- What does this data mean or indicate to us? Examples–safe for drinking? safe for swimming, fishing, wildlife?
- What minerals would we test the water for? What methods can be used to test water immediately (dissolved oxygen, conductivity, pH) and which are tested professionally by River Watch (i.e. iron, arsenic, zinc, e Coli, other nutrients, etc). Refer to UWP River Watch https://www.uncompahgrewatershed.org/tag/river-watch/.
- Which of these minerals are natural and which are not (point vs. non-point source pollution) What is the source of pollutants (i.e. runoff from ranches, acid mine drainage, acid rock drainage). EPA has standards for water quality and whether a waterway is impaired or suitable for human use, aquatic life, or wildlife. (Refer to UWP’s Watershed Quality Assessement at https://www.uncompahgrewatershed.org/water-quality-assessment-for-the-upper-uncompahgre-watershed/
- Outcomes for Grades 6/7: poster competition demonstrating knowledge gained from these lessons.
- Outcomes for Grade 8: develop grading criteria and judge poster competition.
