Name: _______________________
Hour: _____
Part 2: Conservation Practices in My Watershed and Schoolyard
Map of your local watershed. Follow these procedures to create a
local watershed map using Model My Watershed model below.
a) Launch the Model My Watershed Application in the Collect Data I/Model section
below. (Click the ITSI button to log on.)
b) In the “Search” field, type in the address of your school.
In the "Layers" control box "Basemaps" tab select “Satellite with Roads.”
c) Select "Get Started" to create your local watershed map.
d) Click the drop down bar labeled “Select by Boundary” and select “USGS
Subwatershed Unit (HUC-12)" to identify the watershed (also referred to as a
drainage basin) your school is located in.
e) Zoom out to see the entire watershed. Watershed boundaries are shown with a thin
red line. As you hover different watersheds the name of the watershed appears
next to your pointer.
f) Click on the location of your school. Land, soil, and other data about
your watershed are now presented on the left side of the screen.
g) Within the highlighted region you may need to continue to zoom in or out to see
features.
Examine the USGS subwatershed unit (HUC-12) boundary map that includes your
school. Your teacher will project your watershed map on the classroom screen.
Participate in a class discussion locating and identifying the following features on
your watershed map.
1. Your school’s location on the map.
2. Natural and man-made features on the map such as streams, lakes, forested areas,
farms and open spaces, residential areas, businesses, or industrial areas, etc.
1. Where are your tributary streams in your watershed?
2. What is the name of your watershed and what is the total area of it in square kilometers?
3. Can you now name the streams in your local area that flow into or out of your schoolyard or which
stream has water flow into it from your schoolyard?
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4.
Upstream Watershed
Neighbor
Conservation Practice
Impact on Watershed
Downstream Watershed
Neighbor
Conservation Practice
Impact on Watershed
5. Summarize from your table above how your neighbors are affecting your watershed. (Hints: Do they
have pervious or impervious areas that increase infiltration or runoff? Do they have conservation
practices that increase infiltration?)
6. Give your community watershed a grade. How would you rank it on a scale of A to F (where A is very
healthy because of the use of conservation practices, and F is very unhealthy)? Explain your reasons for
the grade.
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7. New uses of land for housing, business, and farms are designed and built by urban planners, engineers,
and landscape architects. If you were an urban planner why would it be important to promote green
sustainable buildings and conservation practices?
At Home Activity - Investigate your home, yard, and neighborhood
Your home is part of the watershed.
Make sketch pictures of the outside of your home & yard/neighborhood.
You can also place the address of your home into Model My Watershed and Zoom in.
8. Draw your sketch here:
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9. Describe what impact your home has on the health of the watershed.
10. Describe features in your neighborhood that might improve or hurt the health of your watershed.
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