Various
classroom curricula focusing on different water issues are available
to teachers throughout Santa Barbara County. There is a small fee
associated with obtaining most
of these materials. Ordering information is listed for each curriculum
guide.
Mountains
to the Sea Watershed Curriculum (4th-8th)
Water Activities Manual
for Santa Barbara County (6th-8th)
Lesson
Plans from the California Foundation for Agriculture in the Classroom
(K-12th)
The
Streamside Community (3rd)
Cotton
and the Water Connection (4th-6th)
Alfalfa
Lesson Plan (4th-6th)
Ground Water Education (7th-12th)
Project Water Science (7th-12th)
Turning the Tide on Trash: Marine
Debris Curriculum
Curriculum
Adapted for Santa Barbara County
Mountains
to the Sea Watershed Curriculum (4th-8th)
A comprehensive watershed education program introduces both teachers
and students to our local watershed by studying the journey of water
from up in the mountains all the way down to the sea. The suggested
curriculum, in-class presentations, field trips and additional resources
cover a variety of topics including the water cycle, runoff, and
the connection between our local creeks and the ocean. A variety
of handouts, posters and experiments are also included. For more information, please contact Fray Crease at (805) 568-3546.
Water
Activities Manual for Santa Barbara County (6th-8th)
This manual is designed especially for Santa Barbara County. It
gives general information about water as well as specialized information
on our unique water supply situation. Reading units are complemented
by activities, worksheets, experiments, and field trip suggestions.
Maps and tables give students a close-up view of water use and supply
in our county. Free to Santa Barbara County teachers; 1991, 114 pages. Supplies are currently depleted. Revised manuals will be available in fall 2008. Please
call Len Fleckenstein at (805) 568-3440.
Other
Curriculum Guides
Lesson
Plans from the California Foundation for Agriculture in the Classroom
(K-12th)
The California
Foundation for Agriculture in the Classroom (CFAITC)
offers a number of lesson plans focusing on various agricultural
issues. Lessons and units are correlated to the frameworks for California
Public Schools and have been written, field tested and reviewed
by educators. Cooperative learning, individual and group problem
solving and critical thinking activities encourage students to "construct"
their own knowledge about agricultural concepts while developing
skills in science, mathematics, English/language arts, history/social
science, health/nutrition and the visual and performing arts. For
more information, including downloadable lesson plans, or to order
print copies, please contact CFAITC at (800) 700-AITC or www.cfaitc.org.
The
Streamside Community (3rd)
"The
Streamside Community" focuses on riparian plants and animals
as a method to reinforce the concept of community and the theme
of systems and interaction. The program involves adopting a watershed,
and then making a field trip to the site to study plant adaptations
and amphibian populations, and undertake a restoration project.
$41.00; 1992, 71 pages. To order, go to http://www.adopt-a-watershed.org.
Cotton
and the Water Connection (4th-6th)
Lessons
in this unit are designed to encourage students to critically digest
media representations of irrigated agriculture, and form and defend
value judgments as to the allocation of California’s finite
water resources. The lessons and objectives offer many opportunities
to address existing curricular objectives and educational standards.
The unit consists of eight lessons covering developed water, California
climate and topography and irrigation, drainage and salinity. Each
unit includes a copy of the California Farm Water Coalition's (CFWC)"Farm
Water Works" video, a sample cotton boll, cotton seeds, black
line masters for overhead transparencies and a series of color photos
depicting the stages of cotton cultivation. Hands-on group activities
include constructing and testing models of different irrigation
methods, planting cotton seeds and watching them germinate and playing
"Cotton Family Feud." The unit is free to educators. To
order, call CFWC at (916) 441-7723 or visit http://www.farmwater.org/water_facts/cotton.html.
Alfalfa
Lesson Plan (4th-6th)
This lesson was designed as a cooperative interaction activity for
use in grades 4-6 and is aimed at teaching students how alfalfa
uses water resources and the value of alfalfa production to our
economy and environment. Information on the development of alfalfa
production in California, how this crop uses state water resources,
and how alfalfa production benefits both consumers and the environment
is presented. Students will learn about alfalfa, play the "Cut
Hay" card game and make an alfalfa mobile to take home and
share with their families. Included is a listing of the correlating
content standards for each grade. To get a copy of this lesson plan
from the California Farm Water Coalition, call CFWC at (916) 441-7723
or visit http://www.cfwc.com/.
Ground
Water Education (7th-12th)
This package offers lesson plans and materials that focus on groundwater,
aquifers, and groundwater pollution. Laboratory sessions, classroom
activities, reproducible worksheets, overhead masters and background
information is included in the Teacher's Guide. The California Ground
Water poster is also included. $25.00; 1995, package format. To
order, please call (916) 444-6240 or go to: http://www.water-ed.org/store/itemdetail.asp?id=87.
Project
Water Science (7th-12th)
This package is a collection of water education materials designed
as a water chemistry unit of study. The hands-on activities focus
on water quality, water and the environment, and water and people.
Materials include the Layperson's Guide to Drinking Water, a Water
Fact Card, the California Water Map, and the California Waterways
poster. $25.00; 1995, package format. To order, please call (916)
444-6240 or go to: http://www.water-ed.org/store/itemdetail.asp?id=87.
Turning
the Tide on Trash: Marine Debris Curriculum
This learning guide on marine debris
from the EPA presents a "How to use...," section, matrices
of activities by learning skill and by subject, and a litter survey
called "Let's Talk Trash." Each unit has several activities
included, each with a subject activity, an objective, vocabulary
list, materials needed, learning skills to be developed by the activity,
and an estimated time to complete the activity. To download a copy,
or for more information, please visit the EPA's
website.
