My son is in second
grade, and each day when he comes home from school, one of the first things I
do is check his backpack to see what the teacher has sent home. There is
homework, of course, and often a notice from the school, and usually there is a
sheaf of papers representing work recently completed in class. Needless to say,
as this is work designed for 7- and 8-year olds, for me, it’s mostly review.
But every so often I too get to learn something from the Second Grade
curriculum.
In March, Abel
brought home some worksheets about the water cycle. One night he had to cut out
pictures of each phase of the cycle, and glue them to another page in the
proper order. They had covered this in class earlier that day, so Abel
understood the concepts. I suspect my memory is faulty, but I couldn’t recall
learning about the water cycle myself until adulthood. I was so pleased that
second graders were already learning basic earth science!
I’m sure I’m not the
only one whose memories of Earth Science have grown hazy. Thus I offer this
quick primer.
There are four
phases to the water cycle: condensation, precipitation, accumulation and
evaporation.
• Condensation, aka
Forming Clouds - There is water vapor in the air. When it rises and meets
cooler air, it turns into water droplets that form clouds.
• Precipitation, aka
Water Falling to the Earth – The clouds gather more and more water as they are
moved by the wind. This liquid is constantly forming and evaporating within the
clouds, and when the conditions are right, it will fall to earth as rain, snow,
sleet or hail.
• Accumulation, or
Forming Bodies of Water – The water that falls to the earth via precipitation
collects either as surface water (oceans, rivers, lakes, puddles) or groundwater
(filtered through the land, and stored within the ground).
• Evaporation, or
Forming Water Vapor – The warmth of the sun converts both surface water and
groundwater to water vapor. These tiny droplets are carried up into the sky by
rising warm air. As they reach the cooler air, condensation begins, and the
cycle continues.
To drive these
concepts home, Abel’s school brought in the North and South Rivers Watershed
Association (NSRWA) for a program known as “Water All Around You.” The NSRWA
set up six stations in the school cafeteria, each one addressing a different aspect
of the water cycle.
There was a station
at which students answered the question “Where in the watershed are you?” A
watershed is an area of land in which all of the water that falls will drain to
a specific place. For example, Abel’s elementary school is within the South
River watershed, so all the rain that falls within that area eventually drains
to the South River. The students looked at topographic maps of the town and
learned how and where the water flows after it falls from the sky.
They also learned
about water quality – finding out about what causes pollution, as well as the
natural processes within the earth that clean the water, and the manmade
processes (wastewater treatment plants) that are equally essential. Through a
see-through acrylic groundwater simulator, they saw how contamination from
something like a faulty septic system might flow through the land and into the
groundwater. They even got to create mini filtration systems, with plastic
bottles and coffee filters, to see first-hand how swamp water can be filtered
clean.
In addition, they
learned how water flows over the land. Using a model of a storm drain, parent
volunteers demonstrated how things like motor oil, fertilizer, road salt,
animal waste, and cigarette butts all get washed into the road and eventually
flow, untreated, into the nearest body of water.
Abel’s favorite
station was the taste test. He and his classmates sampled tap water, distilled
water, and bottled water, to see how they varied in flavor. They made note of
their observations and then discussed which water source would be the safest to
drink. As for taste, the general consensus was that Marshfield water tasted
best.
A final station
educated the second graders about managing water quantity, and explained to
them how they could conserve water in their everyday lives. They were asked to
figure out how many household tasks they could complete,
using 65 gallons of water per day (the state-recommended maximum consumption,
to ensure that there is enough water for public safety and household usage).
Practicing their math skills, the students found that they couldn't water their
lawns, which can take thousands of gallons a day.
The NSRWA offers “Water All Around You” to towns that
participate in its Greenscapes program, which educates citizens, young and old,
about water conservation. To date, more than 12,000 of students across the
South Shore have participated, either at the second grade or fifth grade level.
The program is a success because so many local towns have participated.
NSRWA Executive
Director Samantha Woods says, "We need to change
our water consciousness. The majority of our citizens don't know where their
water comes from, what is the most common source of water pollution or what the
term ‘watershed’ means. Upcoming generations will be faced with more water
challenges than ever before. ‘Water All Around You’ is meant to remedy this
lack of knowledge by bringing water to the classroom and when possible to get
children into their watershed. Our goal is to ensure that every child in the
South Shore region, at least once in their school career, learns what a
watershed is, how we can protect it and where their own water comes from."
by Kezia Bacon
March 2014
Kezia Bacon's articles
appear courtesy of the North and South Rivers Watershed Association, a local
non-profit organization devoted to the preservation, restoration, maintenance
and conservation of the North and South Rivers and their watershed. For
membership information and a copy of their latest newsletter, contact NSRWA at
(781) 659-8168 or visit www.nsrwa.org. To browse 15 years of Nature (Human and
Otherwise) columns, visit http://keziabaconbernstein.blogspot.com
