Watershed Investigations: 12 Labs for High School Science

As urbanization and populations increase, it becomes increasingly more important that we understand the given relationships between the trends in our behavior and the ecological impacts they impart. Of particular importance is the fragile state of a great number of our watersheds, which provide not only drainage areas from our rivers and streams, but also drinking water for human and animal populations alike. Watershed Investigations: 12 Labs for High School Science provides high school educators with a series of broad-based, hands-on experiments designed to help students understand the relationships between human impact and local hydrology. Covering a range of disciplines including geology, chemistry, Earth science, botany, and biology this volume gives educators lesson plans that will interest the student and meet a wide array of state and national curricular standards. The book includes twelve customizable labs, each with extensive background and reference information designed to allow students to share the excitement of discovery along with the methods of scientific research and relevant examples of textbook subject material. Labs include: Modeling Glacier Features with Sand Glacial Features of a Watershed Plant Identifications Wetland Delineation Measuring Plant Allelopathy Stream Channel Morphology Calculating Stream Discharge Flood Frequency Analysis for a River Comparison of Phosphorous Levels in Stream Sediments Macroinvertebrate Identification Factors that Affect Eutrophication Groundwater Contamination The flexible formats of these labs can be customized to fit any teaching style and can be adapted to fit either inquiry-based or traditional methods based on the given class and situation. Additionally, the book contains helpful reference materials and appendices that include a history of the watershed, resources for additional information, and rubrics for writing classroom laboratory reports. An exceptional example of proactive ecological education, Watershed Investigations will give students real-world experiential learning opportunities to understand abstract environmental concepts with concrete scientific detail.