This week, we began our unit on the watershed by focusing on Earth's four subsystems, or spheres (hydrosphere, biosphere, geosphere, and atmosphere) and how they are interdependent on one another. This was done through both class exploration of a variety of resources and the creation of sphere-based theme parks.
Our theme parks, called "Sphere We Go!", had to include a welcome sign, a sphere-specific ride and a ride that demonstrated a sphere interaction. We had petting zoos, canyon rides, roller coasters through the clouds, mines, and all four spheres, flume rides, panning for gold, virtual reality rides through the geosphere, bio-usel (a carousel with animals from the biosphere), a drop ride to represent rain drops going through the atmosphere, and so much more. We even had food stands with rocky road ice cream and rock candy to represent the geosphere. I was thrilled with the level of creativity. The goal was for kids to demonstrate their understanding of the four spheres as well as explain the interdependence of those spheres. The pictures below are of each of the groups with their final projects and them actively engaged in the activity.
On Wednesday, students were introduced to the idea that water is the most plentiful resource on the planet and that we will never run out. Knowing this, I asked students to think about why people were so concerned about saving water. To illustrate the reason, I used 1000mL of water to represent all of the water on the planet. Table groups then were assigned one of six sources of water (ice/glaciers, groundwater, oceans, rivers, etc). Groups predicted the portion of the 1000mL they would receive and were stunned with the actual amount they were given. Ice and glaciers got a little over 20mL, while another group received literally a single drop of water. Oceans were excited when they got almost the entire 1000mL, until I poured a large amount of salt into their portion. Students were shocked about how little clean, fresh water was available for the whole planet - only about 10mL.
We then learned 9 vocabulary terms and definitions related to pollution and the watershed. In order to make these terms more concrete, the kids were asked to look at all three class's sphere theme parks for examples of each definition. Below are pictures of the kids finding and discussing those examples.
Once done, they shared their ideas with their table groups, making sure they had a specific example for each term. Finally, we played a non-elimination version of musical chairs. The kids were given a 3x3 paper with 9 boxes. Each box had one of our vocabulary terms with the center as a "your choice" option. The kids walked, or danced, around the room until the music stopped, then had to stop at a desk and write an example of one definition from the theme parks on the grid. We danced our way through 8 of the 9 terms.
Finally, on Thursday we finished our deep dive ;) into the watershed this week with a lab. Students investigated four different sites around Chevy Chase Elementary in order to determine if the land was permeable or impermeable and the amount of run-off that was produced. The purpose of the activity was to provide the opportunity to see our school's actual impact on the watershed. Below are pictures of our investigation.
