Watery Earth Web Links

Our writers recommended these independent websites for our teachers.

General Water Information

The Fragile Fringe: A Guide for Teaching about Coastal Wetlands

This USGS sponsored site includes background information for teachers as well as activities that focus on the vital ecological role of coastal wetlands. Includes sections on wetlands loss, the Barrier Islands and Mississippi Delta. Though activities cover all grade levels, ones for elementary students are identified. Includes a glossary. ( http://www.nwrc.usgs.gov/fringe/ff_index.html )

Kirsten Findell’s Water Quotes and Poetry

Dr. Findell works in The Climate Dynamics and Prediction group at The Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Lab, which is a global climate modeling center run by The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Use the material here to supplement the poetry and proverbs in the student reference book. ( http://www.gfdl.noaa.gov/~klf/h2oquotes.html )

Quotations About Water

The Quote Garden, a commercial site, provides a number of famous authors’ thoughts about water. Use the material here to supplement the poetry and proverbs in the student reference book. ( http://www.quotegarden.com/water.html )

River of Words

River of Words’ multidisciplinary, hands-on approach to education nurtures students’ creative voices through instruction and practice in art and poetry. This site features some amazing examples of student art and poetry, a source of inspiration for language arts and art extensions. Don’t miss the thoughtful and moving contributions by the young Afghan refugees! ( http://www.riverofwords.org/ )

Water Quotes – Pausing to Think

This site, part of the Northwest Kansas Groundwater Management District Number Four’s webpage, lists water related quotations and poetry throughout history and from many cultures. Use the material here to supplement the poetry and proverbs in the student reference book. ( http://www.gmd4.org/quotes.html )

Water Science for Schools

This kid-friendly portion of the USGS website offers information on many aspects of water and includes pictures, data and maps. Parts of the web site are interactive, allowing students to give opinions and test their water knowledge. Also includes a glossary of water terms. ( http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/ )

Teaching Resources – Water (Environmental Protection Agency)

Lists a variety of teacher resources covering a wide range of water topics. (http://www.epa.gov/teachers/water.htm)

Water, Hydrology, and Macroinvertabrates

For student enrichment, GLOBE water investigations help students understand the natural environment and to what extent human activities are affecting the quality of water. An additional activity involves identification of Macroinvertebrates in water samples, which can be a valuable indicator of pollution levels. (http://www.globe.org.uk/activities/water/watert.htm)

Oceans Alive!

Learn all about the global seas on this website. Topics include: the water planet, oceans in motion, life in the sea, and scientist at sea. (http://www.mos.org/oceans/)

USGS Water Data for the Nation

The pages on this website provide access to water-resources data collected at approximately 1.5 million sites in all 50 States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. (http://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis)

Rivers and Coasts

Information about rivers and coasts, including what happens when the two meet, can be found on this website. (http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/riversandcoasts/mainmenu.shtml)

Journey to El Yunque

Students see how a hurricane can affect the water, carbon and nitrogen cycles in a tropical environment. (http://www.elyunque.net/english/resources.html)

Water Is a Resource

Is the Oasis Vanishing?

This is a transcript of the PBS show “Think Tank.” Host Ben Wattenberg is joined by Peter Gleick, President of the Pacific Institute for Studies in Development, Environment, and Security in Oakland, California, and author of The World’s Water, a biennial report on freshwater resources; and Peter Rogers, professor of city and regional planning and environmental engineering at Harvard University and author of America’s Waters. The guests discuss the issues of the Earth’s limited water resources. ( http://www.pbs.org/thinktank/transcript1106.html )

Living Waters at the World Wildlife Fund

This extensive site provides information and links about WWF’s freshwater program. Contents include information about problems and solutions pertaining to water resources, fact sheets, news stories, and a photo gallery. ( http://www.panda.org/about_wwf/what_we_do/freshwater/index.cfm )

UNICEF: Water, Environment, and Sanitation

This site provides an outstanding overview of the water and sanitation issues confronting over two billion people around the world. Though it highlights the work of UNICEF to improve water supplies and sanitation for communities worldwide, the site also provides statistics, links to resources, news articles about child-focused projects, and real-life stories about children and water. (http://www.unicef.org/wesindex.html )

Water in Africa

This short teaching unit, “Barrels to Buckets: Acess to Water,” facilitates students’ understandings of daily water use through reading stories from Peace Corps Volunteers who served in Kenya (East African Region) and Ghana (West African Region). The lessons are excellent extension activities appropriate for several of the Watery Earth lessons. (http://www.peacecorps.gov/wws/educators/lessonplans/lesson.cfm?lpid=1986 )

Water on Tap: What You Need to Know

This site contains a downloadable version of this EPA booklet. Topics include the following:Where does your drinking water come from? How do you know if your drinking water is safe? How can you protect it? What can you do if there’s a problem with your drinking water? This is a comprehensive and useful reference tool for teachers and parents. ( http://www.epa.gov/safewater/wot/index.html )

Water Treatment Process

This EPA-sponsored site for students follows a drop of water from the source through the treatment process. Students can click on a graphic of a typical water treatment facility and learn more about that step in the process. ( http://water.epa.gov/learn/kids/drinkingwater/watertreatmentplant_index.cfm )

USGS Education: Science Resources

This Web site contains selected USGS educational resources that may be useful to educators in primary school grades. Scroll to the bottom of the page for water resources. (http://education.usgs.gov/common/primary.htm#groundwater)

Geological Society of America – Teacher Resources Water

Lesson plans and list of lesson plan links about water can be found on this website. (http://www.geosociety.org/educate/lessonplans/i_water.htm)

Water Follows a Cycle

Earth Guide Diagrams: Water Cycle

This interactive website allows students to manipulate the water cycle to learn where water exists, how it moves, and how it changes form. (http://earthguide.ucsd.edu/earthguide/diagrams/watercycle/)

StudyJams! – Water Cycle

Water is constantly moving, but where does it go? Watch this three minute video and get the full story on the water cycle. (http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/studyjams/water_cycle/)

The Water Cycle (Environmental Protection Agency)

This fun, interactive website allows students to learn how water moves through the water cycle. (http://www.epa.gov/ogwdw000/kids/flash/flash_watercycle.html)

Droplet and the Water Cycle

A fun, interactive website that challenges students to help a drop of water avoid pitfalls and predators while they navigate through several challenging levels of the water cycle.(http://kids.earth.nasa.gov/droplet.html)

The Groundwater Foundation’s Kids Corner

This page is part of the Foundation’s larger website. It contains sections for students and teachers that include informational articles as well as activities and games. Information includes a basic explanation of groundwater and how it fits into the water cycle. ( http://www.groundwater.org/kc/kc.html )

Major Rivers of North America

This page at WorldAtlas.com has a map and descriptions of surface water in rivers in North America. There are also links to maps of other world regions showing surface water. ( http://www.graphicmaps.com/webimage/countrys/nariv.htm )

National Atlas of the United States

This federal government website provides an interactive format for creating maps that display various types of data. For example, it’s possible to draw a map that shows dams and aquifers, and then click on a symbol to identify a specific feature. A useful tool for a social studies extension or as a resource for several Watery Earth lessons. ( http://nationalatlas.gov/mapmaker )

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Taking Care of Water Resources

The Environmental Protection Agency’s Student Center on Water

As the site’s introduction states, “here you can learn how water is polluted, treated, and protected.” This web page displays an extensive list of links to other sites, each with a short description. Some of these link lead to other government sponsored sites, others are non-governmental. This is a useful jumping off point for further research about protecting and conserving water resources. ( http://www.epa.gov/students/water.html )

Especially for Kids , Office of Response and Restoration

This National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) sponsored website offers students links and activities about understanding and mitigating the effects of oil and hazardous materials in our waters and along our coasts. ( http://response.restoration.noaa.gov/kids/kids.html )

Give Water a Hand

This site helps young people team up with educators, natural resource experts and committed community members to study water issues and take action. Includes links to other helpful water web sites. ( http://www.uwex.edu/erc/gwah/index.html )

H 2OUSE Water Saver Home

This site provides a wealth of information about conserving water in the home. It features a virtual tour of various rooms in the house, highlighting ways water is used and can be conserved in each room. It also offers a “Water Budget Calculator” to help you calculate how much water you use at home, a garden guide with information about low water use plants, and lists the top 5 actions you can do to save water around the house. Sponsored by the California Urban Water Conservation Council. ( http://www.h2ouse.org/ )

International Rivers Network

This organization supports local communities working to protect their rivers and watersheds. The website includes links to their “International Day of Action” and other projects. A good website for teachers looking for more information about rivers and dams. ( http://www.irn.org/ )

100 Tips for Conserving Water

This practical and detailed list is created and sponsored by the Cascade Water Alliance. It focuses mainly on ways to save water around the home and garden. (http://www.ci.tukwila.wa.us/pubwks/watertips.pdf )

Water Use It Wisely

In addition to a “100+ Ways to Conserve,” this site features links to conservation organizations and local water authorities and a couple of “water-wise” games. ( http://wateruseitwisely.com/index.php )

WaterShed Action

The Center for Global Environmental Education and the WaterShed Partners sponsor this website that includes downloadable fact sheets on several topics including how trash affects fish and wildlife, what happens to pollutants that spill into the street, and the impacts of erosion on water quality. Each fact sheet includes a link to a service learning project, which might suggest ideas for the Protecting Water Resources Project. Though the fact sheets are written above grade-level, both teachers and students will find that essential information enriches several of the Watery Earth unit’s lessons. (http://cgee.hamline.edu/watershed/action/background/fact_sheets.htm )

Aquifer Virtual Field Trip

On this virtual field trip, students learn amazing things about water. They learn about aquifers, how their drinking water gets to them, what other kids have to do around the world to get their water, and ideas for helping to protect this precious resource. (http://www.spokaneaquifer.org/kids/vfte/)

Down the Drain

This Internet-based collaborative project will allow students to share information about water usage with other students from around the country and the world. Based on data collected by their household members and their classmates, students will determine the average amount of water used by one person in a day. They will compare this to the average amount of water used per person per day in other parts of the world. (http://www.k12science.org/curriculum/drainproj/)

Surf Your Watershed

Use this website to find your local watershed . Once you locate your watershed, click on the first link, “citizen-based groups at work in this watershed,” to find a listing of organizations that are working to protect water quality. (http://cfpub.epa.gov/surf/locate/index.cfm)

For Students – Earth911.com

This website provides information and activities for students about environmental topics. Don’t forget to check out our glossary. (http://earth911.com/for-students/)

Project WET – Worldwide Water Education

The mission of Project WET is to reach children, parents, educators and communities of the world with water education. (http://www.projectwet.org/)

Glaciers

NOVA Online | Everest | The Anatomy of a Glacier

Learn all about the anatomy of a glacier on this website sponserd by Nova.(http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/everest/earth/glacier.html)

Glaciers

This interactive website allows students to adjust mountain snowfall and temperature to see a glacier grow and shrink. Students use scientific tools to measure thickness, velocity and glacial budget. (http://phet.colorado.edu/en/simulation/glaciers)

Fastest Glacier

This video segment adapted from NOVA scienceNOW features western Greenland’s Jakobshavn Glacier, dubbed the world’s fastest-flowing glacier. Scientists attempt to explain why this glacier is moving at a rate that far exceeds the average speed of glaciers and is contributing to a rise in global sea level. (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/teachers/earth/fastest-glacier.html)

Watery Earth Web Links

General Water Information

Water Is a Resource

Water Follows a Cycle

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Taking Care of Water Resources

Glaciers

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