Mapping Watersheds & Estuaries

Introduction—Mapping Watersheds & Estuaries

Summary: In these activities, students use remote sensing imagery to explore and classify natural and human derived land uses in watershed ecosystems. The activity from Estuary Education focuses on the San Francisco Bay Estuarine Research Reserve, and students trace the extent of its watershed using Google Earth. In the TIDES activity, students use GIS and orthographic photos of Charleston, Oregon to explore connections and land use. In both activities, students investigate human impacts on watershed and estuaries. Extend these mapping and monitoring techniques for use on a local watershed and estuary.

Concepts to teach: Cycles, productivity, interconnections, land use, remote sensing imagery, human impacts

Goals: Students will be able to:

• Effectively use and interpret remote sensing images.
• Explain how agricultural ares, industrial sites, landfills and sewage treatment plants affect water quality in a watershed.

Standards:
H.2L.2

Specific Objectives:

1. Identify the processes in the watershed that affect conditions in the estuary and explain some specific examples
2. Describe and demonstrate several ways of visualizing and mapping large ecosystems.
3. Apply understanding of changes in the watershed and the resulting effects on the estuary to explain real-life situations regarding land use and weather in watersheds
4. Understand how water quality factors are affected by natural and man-made sources of pollution and contamination.

Activity Links and Resources:

• Estuary and the Watershed:  From the NOAA/NERR Estuary Education website.
  • Summary for Mapping Watersheds and Estuaries
  • Tutorial: Using Google Earth to Explore Estuaries
• TIDES “Mapping Watershed, Habitat & Uses” lessons from the South Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve
  • OCEP Remote Sensing and GIS: An introduction to the world of Mapping Your Watershed
• EPA Surf Your Watershed find a variety of information about your local watershed. Type in your zip code to discover stream flow data from USGS, watershed assessments, and even demographic information.
• Mapping the Connection—This topic guide in OCEP Module 2 focuses on how watersheds are connected to the ocean.

Assessment:

• Apply mapping techniques to a local watershed and estuary.
• Additional assessments included in the Estuary Education module and OCEP summaries.