Watershed Concepts

Our awesome Watershed Concepts project educates young students about the global ocean, water cycle and Everglades watershed, and helps them to better understand their connection to, and impacts on, Biscayne Bay and the marine ecosystem. Through a two-part, hands-on, interactive program, students role play as the seven ocean regions of the world, and pollution circulating in the ocean currents, learning that each is connected to form one world ocean. This broad perspective then centers on South Florida and Biscayne Bay, with an initial discussion about the continual movement of water on, above and below the surface of the Earth. Using our EnviroScape model (representing a coastal community), students pollute the model with motor oil (soy sauce), litter (colored sprinkles), fertilizer and pesticides (ice tea mix), domestic animal poo (coffee grounds), etc., to highlight the environmental impacts on land created through human behavior and activities. With water spray-bottles in hand, students create a rain storm and observe the flow of pollution through the watershed, into storm drains, and out to the bay and ocean. Following a moment of reflection, students brainstorm alternative solutions to reduce or even eliminate pollution at the source, recognizing that for every action there's a reaction, and that they have the AWESOME power to create change.

Подкрепен от Miami, FL (October 2021)