Water Quality
by Katherine Hood
Lesson I - Wondrous Water
Objectives: The students will:
1. make a class poem using their own observations about water.
2. make a watercolor painting from a drawing that was created by each studentin nature.
3. begin a journal to keep observations, projects and other related informationcollected throughout the water program.
Time: This particular lesson could take anywhere between 1 hour to an entireday, depending on whether or not you choose to take a short field trip.
Materials:
-folders or large pieces of construction paper for beginning journals
-drawing pencils
-heavy drawing/watercolor paper
-watercolors and watercolor brushes
-newspaper
Advanced Preparation: A field trip to a stream, lake or river with drawingpaper and pencils.
Procedure:
-Tap prior knowledge/share with a neighbor
-"What is water?" Listen to a few of the students' ideas
-In their groups, have the students come up with a few observations aboutWhat They Know about water. How does it feel, smell, look or taste? Howdoes it move? What does it do? What does it make you think of?
-After about 5 minutes, take some suggestions from each of the groups (3or 4) and write them on the board.
-Now read the following poem by Hilda Conkling:
The world turns softly
Not to spill its lakes and rivers
The water is held in its arms
And the sky is held in the waters.
What is water,
That pours silver, And can hold the sky?
Discuss the poem with the class. Is the poet asking a question? What isthe question? What does the poet claim that water can do? Can water do allof those things? Explain. Accept all answers remember that with poetry,all observations should be considered. Now, as a class, compose a free-versepoem using the group observations from the board. To compose the poem, take1 or 2 group statements from the board mix them around until majority agreeson the composition.
The following example written by Antonio Torres Jr., Kristen Nguyen, JamesLopez, Quianya Enge, Matt Matcuk, Carole Beck and Geoffrey Habron. Editedby Katherine Hood.
Water has a cycle,
a mixture of life.
Water is hard and soft,
and what we are made of.
I like to lay on the bottom of it and look at the sun,
roll with the waves.
It never disappears.
The poem that the class writes should be displayed prominently in the classroomfor the duration of the water program.
Hands On Activity:
Have the students each choose a drawing that they completed in-nature (ifyou were unable to travel to a body of water, you can bring a body of waterto the classroom by using slides, pictures, and paintings of water for thestudents to draw from). Lay out newspapers, give each student a small glassof water for painting and a watercolor set with brush. Let them use thepaint on their drawings as you walk around giving watercolor tips (i.e.,If you use more water with your paint or less water, what will be the difference?If you make one part too dark, what can you add to fix it?). Prints or slidesof watercolor nature paintings would be helpful.
Summary: This lesson should be used as an introduction to water. As a class,you should find out WK (What's Known) about water and promote further reflectionon this absolutely essential molecule. We bathe in it, stay cool in it,lose our thirst with it and play in it. We paint with it, sleep on it, cookwith it, and ski on it. The possibilities are endless!
Clean Up: Watercolors are easy to clean up! Empty the dirty water glassesand wash them with dish soap. Lay the paintings out of the way overnighton some of the used newspapers. Recycle remaining newspapers. After thepaintings are dry, you may want to stack them underneath some books to flattenthem before hanging them up all over the room!
Extension Activity: Make a water journal! The first thing in it could bethe class poem. Every day of the program, a poem could be read and discussed.The students should be encouraged to write in their journals at any time.Five to fifteen minutes reflection time immediately following the poem isadded encouragement for journal writing!
Here are some additional poems:
Dark brown is the river,
Golden is the sand.
It flows along forever,
With trees on either hand.
Green leaves a-floating
Castles of the foam,
Boats of mine a-bloating-
Where will all come home?
On goes the river
And out past the mill,
Away down the valley,
Away down the hill.
Away down the river,
A hundred miles or more,
Other little children
Shall bring my boats ashore.
Robert Louis Stevenson
Mud is very nice to feel
All squishy-squash between the toes!
I'd rather wade in wiggly mud
Then smell a yellow rose.
Nobody else but the rosebush knows
How nice mud feels
Between the toes.
Polly Chase Boyden
Zero Weather
When we walked home
on Friday for lunch
the crisp white snow
had a soda-cracker crunch
Aileen Fisher
An old silent pond
A frog jumps into the pond,
splash! Silence again
Basho
Storm
In a storm
the wind talks
with its mouth wide open.
It yells around corners
with its eyes shut.
It bumps itself
and falls over a roof
and whispers
Ohohoh
Adrien Stoutenberg
Lesson II - Population and Water Quality
Adapted to EIF format from The Great Lakes in My World
Objectives: After completing this activity, each student will be able to:
1. explain the meaning of a toxic hot spot.
2. describe the relationship between toxic hot spots and water quality inthe Great Lakes,
Materials:
-Floor size maps of Lakes Superior and Ontario or a 22m (70ft.) and a 5m(17 ft.) length of string each tied into loops
-25 skull disks
-150 water drop disks
Teacher Information: There are 43 toxic hot spots that have been identifiedon the Great Lakes. These are places where there are high levels of pollution.The hot spots have a direct relationship to the number of people livingaround the lakes. Lake Superior is the least polluted, and Lake Ontariois the most polluted. Students will be able to recognized that people useand pollute water. They will be able to identify the correlation betweenwater use and water quality.
Procedure:
-Put the maps of the two lakes on the floor, or stretch out the two loopsof string to approximate the shapes of the two lakes. The larger loop isLake Superior and the other is Lake Ontario.
-Depending upon the size of your class, use the appropriate number below:
Total Number of Students = 15 then number for population around Superioris 1; number for Superior hot spots is 1; number for population around Ontariois 5 and number for Ontario hot spots is 8.
Total Number of Students = 20 then number for population around Superioris 1; number for Superior hot spots is 1; number for population around Ontariois 6 and number for Ontario hot spots is 12.
Total Number of Students = 25 then number for population around Superioris 1; number for Superior hot spots is 1; number for population around Ontariois 7 and number for Ontario hot spots is 16.
Total Number of Students = 30 then number for population around Superioris 2; number for Superior hot spots is 2; number for population around Ontariois 9 and number for Ontario hot spots is 17.
Total Number of Students = 35 then number for population around Superioris 2; number for Superior hot spots is 2; number for population around Ontariois 12 and number for Ontario hot spots is 19.
Total Number of Students = 40 then number for population around Superioris 2; number for Superior hot spots is 2; number for population around Ontariois 14 and number for Ontario hot spots is 22.
Choose a student(s) to represent the population around each lake and a student(s)to represent hot spots.
Put 132 water drop disks into Lake Superior. Put the other 18 into LakeOntario. These represent the relative amounts of water in each lake. Givea skull disk representing a hot spot to each student. Students should standaround the appropriate lake. Discuss the relative populations around eachlake. Do the same for the amount of water.
Each student representing population will take out one water drop disk.Students representing hot spots will put their skull disks into their lake.Removing the water disks represents water use. Skull disks represent theamount of pollution in each lake.
Compare the relative numbers of water drop disks left in each lake to thenumber of skull disks in each lake.
Lesson III - Mingle, Mingle
Adapted to EIF format from The Great Lakes in My World.
Objective: After completing this activity, the student will be able to describehow oil and water do not mix.
Materials:
-cut out circles from blue and black paper
-string (optional)
-one cup of water
-1/4 cup vegetable oil with a drop of food coloring
Teacher Information: Oil spills are a serious threat to water environments.The idea that oil and water do not mix is very abstract for a young student.This game may help the student visualize the mixing of oil and water andunderstand that oil spills do not generally go away by themselves. The gamewill also serve to "energize" the students.
Procedure:
Give about 2/3 of the students in the class at least one blue circle. Givethe rest of the students at least one black circle. These will identifywho is going to be oil and who is water. Then the students should pin orstick their circle on with tape. If you prefer, you can give each studentfive or six circles of the same color along with a length of string. Havethe students make necklaces.
Have the students walk around the room, snap their fingers and say, "Mingle,Mingle." The teacher calls out a part of the body that he/she wantsthe students to touch on each other.
Students in the oil group can touch only each other and the same for thewater group because oil and water do not mix. Examples of such calls mightbe: "Elbow to Elbow" or "Wrist to Wrist". The studentswith the same color should touch the body parts called out by the teacher.It is not necessary and really not desirable for all of the blue circlesto be in one group and all of the black circles in another. Group sizescan vary from 2 on up.
If an "oil" person ends up touching a "water" person,they are out of the game. You might let them call the next body part tobe touched. After all connections are made, continue the game by beginningthe "Mingle, Mingle" chant again until the next body part is called.The game continues until the class is "energized".
Evaluation:
If 90% of the students have linked correctly with other students, then theactivity has been successful.
An actual demonstration of oil and water mixing would be most appropriate.Use a clear bottle with a top on it. Put a quantity of water and oil inthe bottle and close it. Use motor oil or vegetable oil with a drop of foodcoloring added. The separation of oil and water should be easily observed.
Shake the bottle to try to get the oil and water to mix and then let itsit still for a moment and see what happens.
Lesson IV - The Incredible Clean-Up Machine
Adapted to EIF format from The Great Lakes in My World
Objectives: After completing this activity, the student will be able to:
1. give an example of pollution;
2. express, in a drawing format, an idea of how pollution might be cleanedup.
Materials:
-drawing materials
-paper
-pencils
-crayons
-colored chalk, etc.
Procedure:
Discuss how a machine that could be used to clean up pollution in the air,water or on land might work. Allow the students to express their ideas freely.
Each student should identify a particular type of pollution that he or shewishes to clean up. Examples may include beach litter or smoke in the airor any others you or they can recall. Each student should use his or herimagination to devise a machine that can be used to clean up the type ofpollution that was identified. The machine need not be like any other thathas been seen before. It can work on its own, be used directly by a personor persons and work on land, air, water or any combination of these.
Give each student a piece of drawing paper. Using a pencil and/or crayons,the students should draw a picture of the machine they have imagined. Theyshould think up a name for their machine and write it on the paper nextto the machine.
Evaluation:
When the drawings have been completed, divide the students into groups of3 or 4. In each group, each student should take 1 or 2 minutes to explainwhat his or her machine does. The students in each group should combinetheir ideas and make one terrific pollution clean-up machine. 1 or 2 studentsshould draw this machine on a sheet of paper. The other 1 or 2 studentsin the group should prepare to talk about their machine to the class.
After about 10 to 15 minutes of work time in groups, the entire class shouldcome together to hear each groups report and share their drawings.
Lesson V - Lake Invader Puppets
Adapted to EIF from The Great Lakes in My World.
Objectives: After completing this activity, the students will be able to:
1. name four species that are invaders to the Great Lakes
2. construct a simple puppet.
Materials:
-paper plates
-construction paper
-old socks
-newspaper
-sandpaper
-movable eyes
-drawing materials
-tongue depressors
-glue
Teacher Information: In the Great Lakes, invader species are organisms thatare not native to the lakes but have moved in from somewhere else. Thishas happened in a variety of ways. Most species have entered attached toships or by swimming through the St. Lawrence Seaway. Invader species competewith native species for habitat and food supply and some prey directly onnative species. In this activity, students will make some simple puppetsof four invader species: zebra mussel, white perch, sea lamprey and Bythotrephescederstroemi (B.C.). With a little imagination and creativity, childrenand teachers can create simple puppets. The following are suggestions:
Procedure:
1. Construct Zach the zebra mussel
A. Have the students color a paper plate the way a zebra mussel looks. Showthem a picture of a zebra mussel for reference. The students can add eyes,if they wish, to make the puppet a little more "personable".
B. Fold the paper plate in half and hold it in your hand between thumb andfingers to make it operate.
2. Construct Percy White Perch
A. Show a picture of a white perch. Have the students draw it on a pieceof drawing paper and color it in.
B. Cut the drawing out and attach a tongue depressor "handle"with glue
3. Construct Larry Lamprey
A. Stuff an old dark sock with newspaper to make a long narrow fish.
B. Tie off the end with string or a rubber band. Tie off about 2 or 3 inchesof the other end with string or a rubber band to make a head and mouth.
C. Glue on moveable eyes.
D. Cut out a donut shape (with hole) from sandpaper and glue on for a mouth.
4. Construct Bob Bythotrephes (B.C.)
A. Show a picture or drawing of B.C. Have the students draw a "B.C."shape onto a piece of transparency plastic and then cut it out.
Cut out a stage for the puppet show from a large appliance box. This couldbe painted to represent a TV or an underwater scene.
Find out more about the lake invaders from fishermen or scientists. Makea bulletin board with a map showing where the invaders originated.
Teacher Background: Migrant organisms have frequently been carried to newlands by various methods: wind, water birds, and human travels. People havecarried seeds, plants, insects, birds, viruses and innumerable organismssometimes by design, sometimes by accident, into new territories. Today,new organisms are even engineered or created by science.
Most of the invaders do not succeed in new territories because of temperature,rainfall, presence of predators, presence of other species in the same foodniche, or slow reproduction rates. But a small fraction of the potentialspecies do succeed. Some have beneficial effects. More commonly they devastateelements of the environment.
Below are some of the recent invaders that have entered the Great Lakesecosystem and some information about their development in that system.
Sea Lamprey:
Description: it is a long eel-like fish with a raspy, disc-shaped mouth,ringed with horny teeth that cut through the prey's flesh and hold on, suckingthe victim's blood.
Sighted: It was identified in Lake Ontario in 1835 and had spread to allthe Great Lakes by 1946. It entered through the Erie Canal.
Impact: There are no natural predators. The lamprey infiltration has severelyreduced the number of lake trout and some other fish species.
Control: A lampricide (TFM) is a selective poison that kills the lampreylarvae in the spawning streams before their return to the lake. There hasbeen a 90% reduction of lamprey in the upper lakes through use of TFM.
Bythotrephes Cederstroemi
Description: A large (1cm) crustacean form of zooplankton that feeds onother crustaceans and larval fish. It grinds the prey with its mouth partsbefore sucking the contents. It does not swim, but travels up and down inthe water column, and is carried from place to place by currents.
Sighted: It was discovered in 1984 in Lake Huron, probably brought in ona ship and dumped out with the bilge water. It is a widespread, fresh water"water flea" and is usually found in nutrient-poor, fresh waterlakes in Europe.
Impact: Unknown. It may disrupt the food chain by competing with the nativezooplankton for food or it may be a new food source for fish. Young fishtend not to eat it because of the large spines. It is becoming a pest tosport anglers because large numbers cling to fishing line and can snarlreels when pulled in.
Control: Uncertain. It is frequently part of the yellow perch diet.
Zebra Mussel:
Description: A marine, bivalve shellfish that spreads rapidly and has atolerance for different salinity levels.
Sighted: It was established in Lake St. Clair by 1985 and in Lake Erie by1988. It is widespread in Europe and Russia and was probably dumped outwith the bilge water on a ship. It attaches to metal items.
Impact: Because of population increases, it clogs the waterways, drinkingsupplies and intake pipes into power plants and factories.
Control: Heat treatments have had some success.
White Perch:
Description: a 7-inch marine fish that reproduces very rapidly in the GreatLakes. There was a 1000% increase in the number of these fish caught between1978 and 1985.
Sighted: First seen in 1953 in Lake Erie. It is native to the marine estuariesalong the northeastern Atlantic Coast. It was not found above Niagara Falls.
Impact: It may compete with the yellow perch for food and is fast becominga commercially harvested fish.
Control: Commercial fishing.
Other Invaders:
The carp, goldfish and alewife are exotic species that have had damagingimpacts. Coho salmon, rainbow smelt, brown trout, chinook salmon and rainbowtrout in the Great Lakes are exotics that may be regarded as beneficial.Exotic fish that do not appear to have had a dramatic impact on the lakes'ecosystem are the oriental weather fish, mosquito fish, kokanee and marginalmadtom.