Cascadia Conservation District

Person testing water quality with device

What’s in that H20? (Quality)

What's in that H20? (Quality)

Kids In The Creek

The What’s in that H2O? (Quality) station addresses water quality and its importance for a healthy watershed. Students predict the outcome and then test the creek’s chemical properties to verify their conjectures.

NGSS: HS-LS2-6, HS-LS2-7, HS-LS4-6, HS-LS4-5, HS-ESS2-5, HS-ESS3-1WA SCIENCE Academic Learning Requirements (EALRs): 1.1, 1.2, 1.3,2.1, 2. 3.1

Objectives:
Students will be able to:
  • Describe the hydrologic cycle
  • List the effects of turbidity, pH, temperature, stream dynamics and dissolved oxygen (DO) on the aquatic ecosystem
  • Test the health of the local stream
  • Identify human activities and natural phenomena that impact water quality

Concepts:

  • The connection of water chemistry to stream health
  • Human actions that influence clean water
  • Point and non-point source pollution
  • Ecology

For Teachers:

Classroom Pre-work Activities:
  • Let That Water Breathe and Chill (PDF) – Students identify properties of dissolved oxygen (DO) and temperature, understand the factors that can change a waterway’s DO and temperature, and apply their knowledge by testing the DO and temperature of a local stream to determine its health.
  • The pH7 Scale: Life’s Good Note (PDF) – Students understand the pH scale by testing the pH of common products, and find connections between pH and wildlife.
  • It’s a Dirty Water Thing (PDF) – Students identify potential sources of increased turbidity and predict results of an experiment on sediment levels of a nearby creek.
Field Day Materials

For Activity Leaders:



"Rivers and rocks and trees have always been talking to us, but we've forgotten how to listen."
- Michael Roads