Wash This Way! Activity Source: American Chemical Society. Adapted with permission. People interact with Earth’s water (hydrosphere) in a variety of ways. We depend upon water for survival, but we also need it to keep clean and help avoid spreading disease. On our ever-changing Earth, the supply of fresh water can be limited for some humans. We need good techniques to make the best use of the fresh water we do have. [Read More]

Water Filtration Activity Source: Nebraska Earth Systems Education Network, School of Natural Resources, By Kimberly Flessner Objective: Each group will design a water filtration system and present to the class why they picked their design. Materials: 1 or 2 2-liter bottles scissors 1 250ml beaker filtration materials (examples: soil, gravel, potting soil, cotton balls, scrap material, charcoal, sand, woodchips, Styrofoam packing, charcoal briquettes) screening rubber bands Bunsen burner or heat source for evaporation “polluted water” (tap water with salt, food coloring, sand, and dish soap added to it) Procedure: Each group of 2 or 3 need to design an idea for a filtration system. [Read More]

Water Quality, Dissolved Oxygen, and Phosphorous Activity Source: Source: American Association of Petroleum Geologists. Adapted with permission. Tap water from the kitchen has very different properties from water in a stream or a pond, even if they might appear similar. Water quality refers to the physical and chemical properties of water that make it suitable for a particular use based on biological, physical, and chemical characteristics. A fish might live in sedimentrich water at the bottom of a lake, but you would not want to drink it! [Read More]

Water: A Never-ending Story Activity Source: Live From Earth And Mars Approximate time frame: 2 weeks. Background Water on earth is used over and over. The water cycle, the continuous movement of water from ocean to air and land then back to the ocean in a cyclic pattern, is a central concept in meteorology. In the water cycle, the sun heats the Earth’s surface water, causing that surface water to evaporate (gas). [Read More]

What-a-Cycle Activity Source: Adapted with permission by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Water moves from Earth’s surface to the atmosphere and then returns to the surface. This process is nearly always depicted in water cycle diagrams by arrows drawn in a circular direction. However, the actual path water may take in its cycle is far more complicated. In this activity, you will discover multiple cycles by acting as water molecules and traveling through parts of the overall water cycle. [Read More]

Why Settle at Mesa Verde Traditional geologic maps — sometimes crisscrossed with lines, blotted with colors, and marked with strike and dip symbols — have been used for at least 200 years to depict the geologic makeup of the Earth. Consider the map and other images of Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado shown here. Each provides a different perspective on the geologic makeup of the area. President Theodore Roosevelt created the 52,485-acre Mesa Verde National Park in 1906 to recognize and protect sites of natural and historical significance. [Read More]