Point Source Pollution
Non-Point Source Pollution
Best Management Practices (BMPs)

Land Use

Water Pollution
System

The student will:

• distinguish between point and non-point source pollution
• analyze how human actions can influence the watershed
• recognize that everyone contributes to and is responsible for a river or lake's water quality
• identify Best Management Practices to reduce pollution
  

Preparation Time:  40-50 Minutes

Activity Time: 40-50 Minutes

• Large piece of paper (poster, cardstock, or flip-chart) * (preparation needed *see link below)
• Colored pencils
• Small items (pencil, post-it pad, paper clip, eraser etc...)

Sum of the Parts.docx 

Project WET (pg 267)

W= Students will understand how it feels to live downstream from pollutants; their evaluations will consist of teacher feedback.

H= Students will participate in a simulation in which they role play land owners. 

E=Students will experience the concentration of pollution as students who live "downstream"  keep receiving more and more pollutants.

R=Students will express their feelings as they realize that living downriver can be unpleasant.  The goal is to help them realize that they can affect others

E=Students will participate in discussions about how they will care for their properties and the watershed

T=Students will work in groups to completet the activity; extensions can be provided for enrichment

O: Teacher will set up the simulation; students will independently pursue the activity to arrive at the appropriate conclusions

Warm Up:

    Determine student knowledge about watersheds by asking them to name serveral major North American rivers (e.g., Mississippi, Colorado) then major state rivers (e.g., Susquehanna, Ohio, Delaware).  Where do these rivers originate and end? 

Activity:

1.  Inform students that they have just inherited a piece of riverfront property and a million dollars.  Have them list ways they could use tha land and money.

2.  Pass out "pieces" of property and drawing pens and pencils.  Explain that the blue is water and the blank space is land they own. They have one million dollars to develop their land as they wish.  They can farm or ranch, build resorts, homes, factories, parks, shopping centers or what ever they like.

3.  When students have completed their drawings, ask them to look in the upper left-hand corner of their property for a number.  Explain that each piece is actually a part of a puzzle.  Starting with number one, have students assemble their pieces.  They will construct the stream pathway and adjacent land area in proper order. (The ones should face each other, with the twos next to them, and so forth.)

4.  Have students describe how they developed their land and how they used water.  They should identify any of their actions that polluted or added materials to the waterway.  Have students represet each of their contributions to the river with an item from their desks (e.g., pen, pencil, sticky note, bookmark, eraser).

5.  Tell students to take their item(s) and line up in the same order as their pieces of river front property. They are going to pass their pollution pieces downstream. Have them announce what kind of pollutant they are holding before they pass it on (point source or non-point source and where it is coming from).  the ones will pass their items to the twos, the twos will pass everything to the threes, and so on until the last students are holding all the items.

Wrap Up:  After all the items have reached the final students, discuss the activity.  How did those students toward the middle or the end of the river feel?  what about their property use plans?  Could students downstream be affected by students upstream?  Could upstream users alter the water quality of those downstream? Tell students to collect their own items. 

Make sure students can distinguish between point and non-point source pollution

-          analyze how human actions can influence the watershed

-          recognize that everyone contributes to and is responsible for a river or lake's water quality

-         identify Best Management Practices to reduce pollution

Return to discussion of major PA rivers and discuss land use and how that may impact the water quality down stream.  We all live downstream!

Have students:

  express their opinions about individual contributions to total water quality

  write a paragraph identifying what they can do to protect water quality

  discriminate between point and nonpoint source pollutants

Upon completing activity, for further assessment have students:

   design a community that uses Best Management Practices that allow for minium contribution of pollutants.

Background Information:Sum of the Parts.docx

PA Watersheds:  http://www.dep.state.pa.us/dep/deputate/watermgt/wc/subjects/wsnotebks/shedhome.htm

PA Water Atlas:  http://www.pawaterplan.dep.state.pa.us/statewaterplan/docroot/WaterAtlasLinks.aspx

Adapted from Project Wet.  This program is available from the Office of Environment and Ecology, PA Department of Education