High school students may be familiar with the idea that they live in a watershed. They may even have engaged in individual community or school projects, such as stream clean ups or water testing, that benefit or relate to their watershed. Yet, in most cases, students have not explored how the watershed works or identified how the various parts—different land uses and types, different stakeholders—contribute to the whole.
Understanding a watershed as a whole provides a real-world basis for systems thinking and deeper ecological understanding. It also offers a venue for students to identify and explore different levels and kinds of engagement in science, activism, and policy.
As an introduction to this toolkit, students will view and discuss the video The Source of Life that follows the journey of water from an area of rural Colombia to its capital city, Bogotá. They use the video as a jumping off point to explore the issues facing the watershed in which they live and to identify ways they can become involved in protecting their water along its journey. The toolkit provides online resources for understanding watersheds, connecting to local watershed resources, engaging in watershed activities in the classroom, and identifying opportunities for watershed activism. It also includes a list of suggested projects that can make use of the resources.