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Conservation
Education The Hamilton County Soil and Water Conservation District offers free programs to any school/group located within Hamilton County. The District believes that conservation education extends to all ages and that students can develop an understanding of conservation at an early age and hopefully carry those lessons with them throughout their lives.
The Education Specialist or Assistant from the District can bring many hands-on activities into your classroom. Programs are available on a wide range of topics and are designed to help students meet
the new state science standards.. Each program is 30 minutes to 1
hour in length depending on the class schedule. Presentations are best suited for 30 students or less. The Hamilton County Soil and Water Conservation District provides this service free of charge to all schools/groups in Hamilton County.
Watersheds
Grades K-12
Using a 3-dimensional model, students can very easily
see the relationships between human activity and the environment and what we can do to help protect local
water quality. They will understand the concept of a watershed and learn the difference between point and
non-point sources of pollution.
Groundwater
Grades 4-12
Students will get to see the movement of groundwater through a model depicting the layers of the
soil, including a confined and unconfined aquifer. They will realize how groundwater pollution can affect them and ways we
use to attempt to clean-up groundwater
contamination.
Soil Formation
Grades 3-6
Students will learn what six major components are needed to make soil and why it takes over 100 years to make an inch of topsoil. They will also learn how food is related to soil and some practices they can use to help protect the soil. Soil horizon is brought into the classroom as a visual.
Erosion
Grades 3-6
Activity will demonstrate the process of erosion and how human impact can increase or decrease the amount of erosion that occurs. Students will work in groups to perform an erosion experiment and learn how erosion can be minimized.
Worms
Grades K-6
Students will discover the world of worms, what they eat, how they survive and why they are vital to the health of our environment. Worm bin will be brought into the classroom to discuss worms.
Water Cycle
Grades 3-6
Through adapted Project WET game, students will become a molecule of water and travel through their own water cycle. Along the way, they will understand the concepts of evaporation, condensation, precipitation and transpiration.
Local Fossils and Geology
Grades 4-8
Students will discover what life was like in Cincinnati 450,000,000 years ago and why it is so special. Locally collected fossils will be used to show what life was like in the Ordovician sea.
Splish-Splash Story Board
Grades Pre K - 2
Using a storyboard, students will be able to follow a drop of water through the water cycle. Along the way, they will begin to understand the concepts of evaporation, condensation and precipitation. Students will then be able to
color their own water cycle picture.
Topographic Maps
Grades 5 - 10
Students will learn what contour lines are, how to read a topographic map and how maps are developed. Working in teams, students will make their own topographic maps from models brought into the classroom. This
program works best over a two-day period.
Many other topics and activities can be custom designed for your classroom's needs. Please call to find out what else the District can do for your students.
Pre/Post Presentation Activities
Watersheds
Make your own watershed with your students in a baking pan!
http://www.teachingtools.com/H2O/Activity-Watershed.htm
Map your own watershed near you school or home.
http://bcn.boulder.co.us/basin/learning/mappingteacher.html
Groundwater
Learn about groundwater by making an edible earth parfait.
YUMMY!
http://www.groundwater.org/kc/activity4.html
Build an “Aquifer in a Cup”
http://www.epa.gov/safewater/kids/grades_k-3_thirstin_builds_an_aquifer.html
Soil
Experiment to show how plants grow in polluted soil.
http://teacher.scholastic.com/lessonrepro/lessonplans/pollutedsoil.htm
Great background information on soil formation, composition and
physical and chemical properties.
http://organiclifestyles.tamu.edu/soilbasics/index.html
Erosion
Build a hill with sand and gravel and blow on it to demonstrate
wind erosion.
http://home.earthlink.net/~sinetag/bp/Pages/soil.html
Using rocks, water and large jars, see how water can erode
rocks.
http://www.uen.org/Lessonplan/preview.cgi?LPid=2692
Worms
Investigate the parts of an earthworm.
http://www.naturewatch.ca/english/wormwatch/programs/lp1.html
The Adventures of Herman: The Autobiography of Squirming’ Herman
the worm. GREAT SITE!!!!
http://www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/worms
Water Cycle
USGS Water information.
http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/watercycle.html
Make a water cycle in your classroom.
http://www.fhsu.edu/kga/lp/5/swihart.html
Create an environment in a bottle to learn more about the water
cycle.
http://www.msichicago.org/ed/env/envsample.html
Fossils/Geology
Make your own fossil print with plaster of paris and clay.
http://www.desertmuseum.org/education/6-9_Prehistoric_6.pdf
Topo Maps
Great topographic mapping activity using sliced potatoes to
determine elevations.
http://www.boquetriver.org/adoptpotato.html
Students look at a topographic map section of Lessen Volcano and
answer 10 questions.
http://www.cerritos.edu/colbath/topo1.htm
Misc.
Great site for all kinds of water information for students and
teachers.
http://www.epa.gov/safewater/kids/index.html
TEACHER RESOURCES
Many teacher workshops are offered throughout the year. Topics vary, please see the
newsletter section
for more detailed information. Specially designed programs can also be presented for your school or group. If
you would like to receive personal updates and e-mail
announcements on upcoming workshops, please e-mail Gwen Roth at
gwen.roth@hamilton-co.org
Below are several
conservation related exercises that can be downloaded and printed:
OTHER OPPORTUNITIES
POSTER CONTEST
It’s time to
get creative!! The Hamilton County Soil and Water Conservation
District is sponsoring a poster contest for students.
The theme for the 2009 poster contest is “Dig It! The
Secrets of Soil”, which corresponds with the National
Association of Conservation District’s Stewardship Week April
26th – May 2nd”. (For more
information see www.nacdnet.org).
The
contest is open to
Hamilton
County
students in the following grade divisions:
K – 2, 3 – 5, 6 – 8, and 9 – 12.
Any medium (such as crayons, watercolors, markers), or other
methods of writing, printing, or drawing may be used to create a
flat or 3-D effect. Prints or photos are not permitted.
The child must demonstrate an understanding of the theme
and incorporate the title “Dig It! The Secrets of Soil” into
the poster.
The back of the poster should include the following:
student’s name, age, grade level, teacher’s name and
e-mail address, school name, address and phone number.
The sponsoring teacher should only submit a maximum of five
posters.
The posters must
be delivered by Friday, March 13, 2008 at
4:00 p.m. to our office at
29 Triangle Park Drive, Suite 2901
, to the attention of Cheryl Reinke Peck.
Winners from each
grade level category will receive $25 and sponsoring teachers
receive a $25 gift certificate. All posters become the property of
Hamilton County Soil and Water Conservation District.
_________________________________________________
2009 Essay Contest
The
Hamilton County Soil and Water Conservation District is sponsoring
an essay contest for students.
The theme for the 2009 essay contest is “Dig It! The
Secrets of Soil”, which corresponds with the National
Association of Conservation District’s Stewardship Week.
(For more information see www.nacdnet.org).
The
contest is open to
Hamilton
County
students in the following grade divisions:
3 – 5, 6 – 8, and 9 – 12.
The student must identify soil conservation practices in
their community. The student should describe the usefulness and
importance of protecting soil for future generations in their
area. The student should be encouraged to consider the role they
play in the different aspects of agriculture and also how their
community is affected by the soil conservation there.
Essays
must:
-
Be titled “Dig It! The Secrets of Soil”
-
Be 300 – 500 words
-
Be presented on standard 8 ½” X 11” paper
-
Be the work of the individual student
-
Be typed on the computer
Essays will be judged on content and writing skills.
The essay should include the
following: student’s
name, age, grade level, teacher’s name and e-mail address,
school name, address, and phone number.
The sponsoring teacher should submit a maximum of five
essays.
The essays must be received by Friday, March 13, 2009 to our office at
29 Triangle Park Drive, Suite 2901
,
Cincinnati
,
Ohio
45246
, Attention: Cheryl Reinke Peck.
Winners from each grade level category will receive a $25
gift certificate and sponsoring teachers receive a $25 gift
certificate. All essays become the property of Hamilton County
Soil and Water Conservation District.
The District offers several events throughout the year. Please refer to the
newsletter section for more
information, as well as the following program.
Envirothon
The Envirothon is a
competitive, outdoor, academic event for high school students. The
goals of the event are to promote greater awareness of natural
resources, to heighten understanding of the relationships between
living and non-living components of out environmental and to
increase students interest in environmental issues. The
Envirothon tests students' knowledge of soils, forestry, wildlife,
aquatic ecology and a current environmental issue. In addition,
the Envirothon encourages cooperative decision-making and team
building. Students compete with teams from the 18 county southwest
region in early May. Study materials are provided to you through
the SWCD and coaching assistance is available from our District
office.
2005 Envirothon
This year four teams from 2
Hamilton County high schools participated in the Area IV
Envirothon and while none of them took home the top prize (a trip
to the State Envirothon in NE Ohio) we all had a great time. This
year, Loveland H.S. and Sycamore H.S. sent two teams each to
participate. In all, over 100 teams from the 18-county SW Ohio
area participated. The winning teams were: Northmont H.S.,
Cedarville H.S., Franklin H.S. and Fort Laramie H.S. The top
finishing team from Hamilton County was Sycamore H.S. team #2,
with a 13th place finish!!! Congratulations to all our
teams. Hope to see everyone again next year in Shelby County!!
Exciting New Curriculum…
An exciting new curriculum on local water quality issues will
be available this fall for K-12 teachers! Some of you may have
recently heard about the newly formed Hamilton County Storm Water
District. The Storm Water District is
administered by the Hamilton County Engineers and comprises 44 of
the 49 jurisdictions in Hamilton County. It was formed to help
improve water quality throughout the county and to meet the new
NPDES (National Pollution
Discharge Elimination System) Phase II regulations of the Clean
Water Act.
Our Soil and Water Conservation District has been contracted by
the SW District to help with the public education and outreach
components of the program. One of the teaching tools our Soil and
Water Conservation District has developed is a curriculum designed
specifically for Hamilton County focusing on storm water issues.
It includes activities illustrating point and
non point sources of pollution and local water quality issues. The
curriculum is divided into 6 sections; Watersheds, Non Point
Source Pollution, Urban, Rural, Effects and Action. Each section
is divided into four grade levels (K-2, 3-5, 6-8, 9-12). All
activities have been
correlated to the new state science standards.
Beginning this winter, teachers throughout Hamilton County will
have the chance to attend one of several workshops given to
introduce the curriculum and teach select activities from the
curriculum. We hope that with the development and introduction of
this new curriculum, the students, teachers and other residents of
Hamilton County will become better-informed citizens and
eventually change their actions to promote healthy water quality.
If you are interested in finding out more about the curriculum
or if you are interested in attending an upcoming
workshop, please contact Gwen at 772-7645 x14 or gwen.roth@hamilton-co.org.
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