LESSON

CONCEPT
REVIEW

The ______ Walk

The purpose of this activity is to examine differing types and structures of activities within
the context of the inquiry cycle and see how these might be used to support inquiry
process skills and content learning in an inquiry-based curriculum unit.

The following example lesson is representative of other lessons of this type. Please review
this lesson to address the following questions, which you will then post in this discussion
thread:

1. Briefly describe what you think the primary focus of this TYPE of lesson is (in the
context of the inquiry cycle). Don’t focus on the content of this lesson specifically, but
the type of thinking and learning that this type of lesson encourages.
2. What are the critical components of this type of lesson? What seems to need to be
included in the lesson to make it work?
3. When would this type of lesson seem to work best in the learning cycle?
4. What aspects of instruction with this type of lesson might a teach need to consider
regarding pacing, media, grouping, assessment, materials, or other aspects of
teaching?
5. What three things might you suggest to a teacher who is considering using this type of
lesson?
LESSON 2:
WHAT CAN WE FIND AT OUR RIVER?

OVERVIEW AND OBJECTIVES

Learning Objective
Using observations and evidence obtained from their river experience, students will apply
characteristics of water quality and formulate a hypothesis regarding the water quality in their river.

Assessment Criteria
Students’ hypotheses’ of their river’s water quality will be supported by evidence obtained during
observations of their experience and are testable.

Purpose
Students will have an opportunity to observe a local river. Observations are made of the topography,
living organisms, natural and human-made constructions, and human influenced physical characteristics
of the river.

There are three alternatives for this session:

• Take a river walk.

• Watch a river video
• Go through the virtual tour.

Taking the river walk is preferable, allowing students to experience first hand the natural world that
exists in their urban community. However, if taking a walk is not feasible, watching a river video or
virtual tour is a good alternative. It is also highly recommended that you build a classroom river tank.
A river tank allows students to see the many processes involved in a river system, present additional
observation opportunities and is useful for getting students excited about rivers. It can also be used
later during the macroinvertebrate identification, and can be referred to throughout the unit.

PREPARATION
Set-up
River Walk, video, or virtual tour options

For the virtual tour, have the computers ready and become familiar with the observations the students
could possibly make.

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For the video option, sign out a VCR and monitor. If feasible, create a video yourself of a river walk.
have someone assist in taping you as you go to your river and point out important indicators of water
quality.

If taking the river walk, be sure permission slips are in, transportation is arranged for and extra adults
have been contacted to assist in supervision.

Video

If you are unable to take students to your local river, you may want to see if it is possible to take the
river to your students using a self-made video recording. This is probably the best alternative to an
actual visit in that the video would be made by you or your students, and would feature a local site
that students may be familiar with, and ideally, would become familiar with later in the unit when
visiting the site for the water quality testing activities. To do this, we recommend that you visit the
site at least once prior to the recording of the session, so that you can identify features of the water,
river, and local land that may be important for students to understand with respect to the driving
question. Possible strategies might include recording the site yourself and narrating as you go with
questions you would pose to students about the site, or my having someone record you with a
videocamera as you point our and narrate aspects of what the camera is seeing for your students. This
approach can also be useful in that you and/or students would be able to revisit the site by watching
the video again, and ongoing preparation is not needed (you can use the video in future years as is).
Otherwise, if you do take students on the river walk, and have access to a videocamera, we would
recommend that you record aspects of your walk and river site visit, so that you and/or students can
review the visit again as needed to understand local phenomena.

River tank

You might want to set up the tank a few weeks prior to the beginning of the project if possible. In the
model river, the 10 gallon aquarium serves as a pool and the trough serves as the riffle. (See Teacher
Resources for set up.) You should only introduce the tank at this point, but refer to it later in the unit.

Virtual Tour

The virtual tour is an opportunity for students to see a river site and all of the various features of a site
if they are unable to visit an actual site at this point in the unit. This should not be viewed as a first
step, but rather, an alternate learning experience should it not be possible to visit the river site first
hand, or to create a video of a local site within your watershed. The virtual tour provides
opportunities for students to revisit the river often and make connections between classroom activities
and the real world. The virtual tour sites are shown on the Investigate the State website (http://
www.investigatethestate.org).

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Learning Set 1- Page 15
Special Considerations
• Signed permission notes if taking a river walk
• River video that you buy or make yourself
• If using the virtual tour reserve computer time or make arrangements for computers to be ready
in your classrooms.
• Extra time might be needed if creating the river tank

Materials
• River video or virtual tour (if not doing the walk) river video/walk
• Observation Sheet
• Butcher paper
• Markers
• River tank -10 gal aquaria -1 meter plastic trough or rain-gutter with cap for one end -1
submersible circulating aquaria pump with filter and screen -flexible pvc or rubber tubing, 2-3
cm in diameter -Sunny window or Florescent plant growth lights
• Student Worksheet/Watershed Virtual Tour
• Student Worksheet/River Observations
• student Reader/Closer Look At Our River

Time
Two fifty-minute periods.

INSTRUCTIONAL SEQUENCE
Riverwalk or Video of River Walk
Review the key points from the previous activity. Review the class’ ideas about the following two
questions:

• What is water quality?

• How can you determine water quality?

Explain to class that today we are starting our investigation by making observations from a river video,
virtual tour or walk. Distribute river observation worksheets and maps according to your choice of river
experience. Describe what observations to make, for instance, at varying elevations observable at the
river.

The class watches a video or walks along your local river. If walking, you may wish to take a
videocamera with you to record the walk for later use or review by students.

Prior to and during the walk or video, prompt students to make observations about various aspects of
the river that they might not otherwise consider, such as the following. As students make observations
have them record their observations on their maps, Student Worksheet/River Observations or journals.

• Flow of the river (direction and speed)

• Size of the river (depth and breadth)
• Shape of the river (Straight, bends, etc.)
• Vegetation near the river (type, amount, relative health, etc.)
• Banks of the river (size, shape, what is on the banks, etc.)
• Any man-made features near the river
• Local sites and land use near the river
• Animals or organisms living in or near the river
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Learning Set 1- Page 16
As the video or walk unfolds stop so the students can make notes of their observations.

Students share observations

Small groups share their initial hypothesis, to the driving question, and critique the responses based on
the description of evidence included in the responses, such as natural and man-made constructions and
physical characteristics of the river.

Debrief of the River Walk or Video Observation

Review the driving question.

Explain to class that today we are continuing our investigation by reviewing our river observations and
developing a hypothesis to our main question

Pass out observation sheets and river map from previous day, or the journals in which the students took
notes.

Within each small group have students share and compare their maps and observation sheets. Have
each group share their comparisons and observations with the whole class, and provide feedback on
characteristics of quality observations .

Explain that observations are just one type of evidence and might not show the entire picture (some
water jars were misleading)

Have students use their “Student Worksheet/What is the Quality of Water?” or journal notes to
compare the water from the river with the other 4 “water quality jars” from Lesson 1. Students
complete the information for jar 5 - the river water.

Ask the groups to formulate an initial conclusions to the driving question in the form of a hypothesis. If
your students are not familiar with the idea of a hypothesis take time to go over or review what makes
a good hypothesis and why they are important and useful in science.)

Remind them it is an investigation, and in order to confirm our hypothesis we will have to gather
evidence. Some prompts to help facilitate this discussion may include:

• What evidence of nature (living and non-living) did you observe?

• What answers on your worksheets did you use as evidence?
• How does the river water compare to the other 4 jars?
• What evidence is there that people have affected the river?

HOMEWORK
Describe family extension assignment. (Optional) Students walk along their local river with their
parents or guardians. Students make general observations of what they see, hear, and smell. Have all
involved record their observations.

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Learning Set 1- Page 17
Safety Note: Be Careful!
While taking the students to their own river can be an invaluable learning experience, it can also be
very dangerous. Be certain to take proper precautionary measures for yourself and the students.

Avoid contact with River water. Although the water might be cleaner than it has been in the past, many
rivers are still unsafe for human contact due to heavy loadings of untreated sewage and stormwater
pollutants. Hence, it is important to wear protective clothing, such as impermeable waders when
entering the stream and latex gloves when taking samples. Make certain that each student uses a pair
of disposable, latex gloves when taking river water samples. Note that some students are allergic to
latex. These students can use rubber gloves.

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