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What is the Water Like in Our River?
Learning Set 1- Page 1
   L   E   A   R   N   I   N   G   S   E   T   1  :   A    C   L   O   S   E   R   L   O   O   K   A   T   O   U   R   R   I   V   E   R
 
LEARNING SET 1:A CLOSER LOOK AT OUR RIVER
CONTENTS
Science Understanding for Teachers Page 3Lesson 1: What is Water Quality Page 10Teaching Strategy: The Driving Question Board Page 13Lesson 2: What Can We Find At Our River? Page 14Lesson 3: How Can We Ask Good Questions? Page 19
What is the Water Like in Our River?
Learning Set 1- Page 2
 
SCIENCE UNDERSTANDING FORTEACHERS
Introducing Students to the Quality of Water in Their River
Learning Set One introduces the driving question “What is the Water like in Our River?” and createsthe context for inquiry. Sharing a common experience, students use a river walk, , or a virtual tourto make observations and develop questions about their river and its water quality. In this section,students observe the fluvial and floodplain ecosystems associated with their river. Studentobservations are directed through teacher input and student worksheets.
River Walk Information
 Marking Your Territory 
River observations will be more meaningful to the students if the boundaries of the study area areclearly defined. This will keep students focused and facilitate discussion. Chose a site that is as largeas feasibly possible while ensuring legal, safe, and easy access. Site boundaries should be welldefined, fixed (e.g. bridges, road crossings, buildings, etc.) and easy to distinguish from site maps.Maps aid in the initial survey and serve as a reference for future investigations. Giving the students abase map will help orient them to the area. During the river walk or video students add their ownobservations to the map. This will help facilitate student ownership of the project as they collectand depict their own data. Their maps should detail watershed drainage patterns, land use,vegetation, pollution sources, and other features important to water quality. It may be necessary forstudents to make more than one map to minimize clutter and confusion. Maps should be kept in aproject file and updated as needed.
Physiography 
While on the river walk, pay particular attention to the
physiography
of the watershed. Thephysiography is the physical shape of the land. It determines how the water flows across the
watershed
, the land area that drains or seeps water into your river. Take note of 
topographic
 
features
such as hills, valleys, and flat areas that may affect the way that water is drained or“shed”. For instance, more water moves over land faster on steeply sloping terrain than on gentlysloping terrain with the same soils. Have students add the topographic features of the study site totheir maps.
Fluvial Ecosystem
When students are looking at the plant and animal communities within the river, they are observing a
fluvial ecosystem
. A fluvial ecosystem is a complex community of organisms functioning as anecological unit within the environment of moving water. Plant and animal life within the ecosystemare immediately impacted by the quality of water in the river.
What is the Water Like in Our River?
Learning Set 1- Page 3
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