AN ACTIVITIES GUIDE FOR TEACHERS

U.S. Department of the Interior
U.S. Geological Survey

Outreach Product

By Debra H. Foster, Tatianna N. Batorfalvy, and Laura Medalie

Introduction
Water-use data are collected and compiled every 5 years by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the State of Vermont Agency of Natural Resources. This activities guide was created to bring this information to educators of upper elementary and middle school students throughout the State. The activities in this guide book encourage the development of skills that are recommended by the Vermont Department of Education Framework of Standards.

How to Use this Guidebook
The following pages and the accompanying map poster were developed by the USGS to teach students in Vermont about the watershed they live in, how watershed boundaries are determined, and how water is used in the 16 largest watersheds in the state. The watershed map on the poster shows topographic relief and major rivers and lakes. Watersheds are named for the major river draining each watershed. The town map included on the poster shows town boundaries, watershed boundaries, and major rivers and lakes. Using both maps, tables 1and 2, and activities 1-4, students will learn about water use in their town and State. The page "Helpful Hints for Educators" contains suggestions and answers for each activity.

Several of the activities included in this guide book are designed for educators to use in a classroom setting where more time can be spent on water-use questions and discussions. Some of the activities are suggested as general guidelines to provide the flexibility often needed in classrooms. These activities can be used to supplement an existing water resources curriculum and are not meant to be inclusive on the topic of water use. The data are from USGS Water-Resources Investigations Report 97-4178, titled "Estimated Water Withdrawals and Use in Vermont, 1995".

As a supplement to this guide book, the USGS poster titled "Water: The Resource that gets Used and Used for Everything" would be useful to illustrate the various water uses. The colorful poster is drawn with cartoon-like characters and can be used with the graphics in Activity 2 to illustrate the six water-use categories. Ordering instructions for this poster can be found in the section "U.S. Geological Survey Educational Resources."
 

Table of Contents
Introduction
     How to Use this Guidebook
     Skills Used by Students
     Mission of the U.S. Geological Survey
     Acknowledgments
Water Use
Purpose of Water-Use Data
Water-Use Definitions
Water-Use Categories
Selected Water-Resources References
U.S. Geological Survey Educational Resources
     GEO CENTER
     Posters
         Water Posters
         Water Jeopardy Game
Other Water-Resources Educational Materials
How Much is a Million Gallons of Water?
Helpful Hints for Educators
Activities
   1. Identify your Watershed
       Challenge Questions .
   2. Water-use Categories Word Match
   3   Water use in Vermont in 1995
   4. Water-Use Word Search
Useful USGS Web Sites

Tables
1. Population by watershed in Vermont 1995
2. Water use by category in major watersheds in Vermont in 1995

Poster
Poster of major watersheds and town boundaries in Vermont (in map jacket)

DOWNLOAD OPTIONS:

Adobe Acrobat PDF format The guidebook of text and activities (without the poster) is available in PDF format. This document requires the free Adobe Acrobat Reader.

1. If you do not have the Acrobat Reader installed on your computer, first visit the Adobe web site.

2. Click here to open the Water Use in Vermont PDF file (size 316 KB)

3. Then, you could print a copy and/or save the file to your computer.

LizardTech DjVu format The entire guidebook plus the watershed poster is available as a DjVu file. This document requires the free DjVu browser plug-in from LizardTech.

1. To obtain the free LizardTech plug-in for your computer, click on one of the following options: Macintosh | Windows | UNIX

2. Then, click here to open the Water Use in Vermont DjVu file.

3. The DjVu plug-in automatically adds options to your browser that allow you to view, print, and/or save the file.

Hints for printing the watershed poster: The map measures 29" x 37", so a large-format printer (plotter) is required to print the poster at full size. Go to the last page of the document (page 20) and use the printer button in the plug-in toolbar. Choose a large-format printer, set the page size to E sheet or another size which accomodates 29" x 37", print the page range "from 20 to 20", and set the radio button to "Orig. Size". (The poster may also be printed to any page size using the "fit to page" option.)

CONTACT INFORMATION

If you have questions about this product, please contact Debra Foster:
E-mail: dhfoster@usgs.gov
Phone: 603-226-7837