In seventh grade science, we are learning about the water cycle. More specifically, we are focused on watersheds, which are areas of land that act as a road for rainfall, streams, and small rivers that flow into large bodies of water, including the ocean. To further understand watersheds, our classes crumpled up pieces of paper and flattened them out, still leaving large bumps or ridges in the paper. Then, we drew with a blue marker on all the ridges (the highest points on the paper) and sprayed the paper with water. The water caused the marker to drip down the ridges, and we discovered that water always finds a way to the bottom of the paper. The marker dripping resembled water trickling down mountains and into valleys. We then drew houses, factories, and farms in different colors on another piece of paper and repeated the experiment. We observed that the colors from the houses, factories, and farms mixed with the blue-colored freshwater runoff and caused the freshwater to become polluted. This was an impactful, fun, and hands-on way to understand watersheds. We all had a blast!
– Mika Elsner, seventh grade student
