INVESTIGATING WATERSHED DYNAMICS IN THE CLASSROOM USING MY WORLD GIS

The Watershed Dynamics project at Northwestern University presents a new set of educational materials addressing water resource availability. Students in grades seven through twelve ask questions such as: Where does your water come from? Do you always have enough or is the supply limited? What factors affect the quantity and seasonal availability of the water where you live? How does change in landcover affect streamflow? As part of GLOBE’s Earth System Science Project (ESSP) Initiative, the Wa¬tershed Dynamics project offers students the opportunity to conduct investigations on watershed behavior for local, regional, and national scales, using large scale scientific meteorological and hydrological datasets. Analyses are done using My World GIS™, a geographic information system specifically designed for educational use. Two units of study have been developed. In the first, students investigate the inter-relationships between precipitation, evaporation and surface runoff. Emphasis is placed on water availability in different regions of the country and how these variables change throughout the year. In the second unit, students look at land cover change over time and analyze the effect it has on streamflow. In this session we will outline the existing curriculum as well as the response we have received from teachers about its effectiveness.