Introduction: Students create a model of a watershed and observe how the contours of the land determine the flow of surface water. Students investigate the physical characteristics of a watershed and the effects of human land-use decisions on the watershed.
Level: Grades 5-8
Time: 60-90 minutes

Prior Knowledge Required

Students should be familiar with the water cycle, including terms such as hydrosphere, evaporation, precipitation, surface runoff, transpiration, condensation, and runoff.

Background Information

A watershed is all the land that drains runoff (from precipitation) into a body of water, such as a brook, river, lake, or ocean. The boundary of a watershed is the ridgeline of high land that surrounds it, like the edge of a bowl. 

Anticipated Student Preconceptions/Misconceptions

Many students think of the word "shed" and imagine a structure (as in a shed in someone's back yard). In this case, the word relates to the verb to shed, as in what happens to the hair of a dog or cat in warmer weather. You may explain this in a slightly humorous way to break the ice at the beginning of the lesson. 

Frameworks Connections

MA Earth and Space Science, Grades 3-5.

10. Describe how water on earth cycles in different forms and in different locations

12. Give examples of how the surface of the earth changes due to slow processes such as erosion and weathering

Materials Needed

2 pieces of 8.5 x 11 paper per student or group 

Student Sheets

water-based markers

spray bottles, water

Pre-Activity Preparation

Cover desks/tables with plastic bags or craft paper to soak up water. Create a crumpled paper watershed to use as a model.

Guiding Question

What is the role of a watershed in the water cycle, and its role in shaping the landscape?

Objectives

Students will be able to:

*Define what a watershed is.

*Describe how rainwater and snowmelt carries rocks, soil, and possibly pollutants through the process of erosion.

Activity

  1. Have students clear their desks, since their desks will get wet during the activity.
  2. Review vocabulary (see Prior Knowledge section).
  3. Ask: what happens to rain, sleet, or snow after it falls as precipitation? Where does it go? Answers should include the concept that some rain goes into the ground and some runs downhill. 
  4. Pass out Student Sheets, one sheet of 8.5 x 11 paper, and markers.
  5. Guide the students, according to their abilities, through the Student Sheet instructions.

Assessment

The short answers on the Student Sheet serves as an assessment of student learning.

Adapting the Activity for Other Grades

Younger students: You can work through the instructions on the Student Sheet as a class, giving instructions orally and demonstrating the steps as necessary.

Older students: Students can read and follow the instructions on the Student Sheet at their own pace, while you monitor their progress. Throughout the activity, provide assistance when necessary. Give students the choice to add features such as homes, schools, stores, etc., and have them make observations of how rainfall and erosion effect the built environment. For 8th graders, challenge students to predict what effect rising global temperatures might have on watersheds.

Print the entire lesson plan: Crumpled Paper Watershed.

Partnership

The Tsongas Industrial History Center is an education partnership between the University of Massachusetts Lowell School of Education and the National Park Service at Lowell National Historical Park.

  • UMass Lowell
  • National Park Service