Middle and High School Curricula
Watershed Awareness using Technology and Environmental Research for Sustainability (WATERS)
The WATERS curriculum is a free 10-lesson Meaningful Watershed Educational Experience unit which includes online, classroom, and field activities that utilize universal design for learning features to create a student-centered, place-based, and accessible curriculum for teaching watershed concepts and water career awareness. Visit the WATERS curriculum page to preview the unit. Create an account and start using the curriculum with your students.
Watershed Modeling STEM Mini-Unit
This mini-unit was designed for middle school students to learn systems thinking and geospatial analysis skills in the context of place-based problem-solving for watershed science. It consists of two interactive lessons where students use online GIS-based modeling tools to develop an understanding of stormwater dynamics within a watershed. Download the mini-unit teacher guide
Watershed Modeling STEM Lesson One: Effects of Land Cover and Soils in Watersheds
What can you do to improve water in the lakes, rivers, and streams in your watershed?
Students will identify how land cover, rainfall totals, and soil texture affect evapotranspiration, runoff, and infiltration, and will explain the impact of land cover and soil texture on the health of the watershed. Download the student worksheet
Watershed Modeling STEM Lesson Two: Modeling Improvements to My Schoolyard
How can I improve my watershed… starting with my own schoolyard?
Students will model possible changes in land cover and conservation practices on their watershed and describe the impact of these changes. They will design a watershed plan for their schoolyard that maximizes the health of the watershed by implementing conservation practices and land cover changes. Download the student worksheet
Teaching Environmental Sustainability – Model My Watershed (TES-MMW) Five-Lesson Unit
Four TES-MMW activities and an optional pre-activity for high school environmental science are available in the Innovative Technology in Science Inquiry (ITSI) portal.
Water SCIENCE Four-Lesson Unit
Find this middle school unit at our project partner’s (Concord Consortium) STEM Resource Finder.
Navigate a Watershed
The River Continuum Concept was the first unified hypothesis about how streams and their watersheds work, and it established Stroud Water Research Center as a pioneer in innovative research. The Navigate a Watershed digital learning object brings the River Continuum Concept to life and demonstrates how the physical and biological systems within watersheds work together to create resilient, interconnected ecosystems.
College Curriculum
See Earth-focused Modules and Courses for the Undergraduate Classroom, Unit 7.1 – Model My Watershed in Carleton College’s InTeGrate portal.
Please note: the following lesson plans are in development. More lessons will be added as they are developed.
Monitor My Watershed Lab Series
- Introduction to Online Data Analysis: Teacher Guide | Student Activity
- Temperature Patterns: Teacher Guide | Student Activity
