The KIDS Report is a biweekly publication produced by K-12 students as a resource to other K-12 students. It is an ongoing, cooperative effort of 15 classrooms from around the world. Teachers assist and provide support; however, students select, evaluate and annotate all resources included in every issue of the KIDS Report.

The KIDS Report is published with a generous grant from John and Tashia Morgridge and with the support of the General Library System of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. This issue of KIDS, dated January 4, 2000, was written and produced by Karen Grindall's class of the Portage Path School of Technology in Akron, Ohio.

In This Issue

• Watershed: Game
• EPA Wetlands
• Fresh Water
• Surfing Your Watershed
• Watershed
• Fun Factory
• Earth Alert
• Water Science For Schools

Watershed: Game http://www.epa.gov/OWOW/index.html The Watershed Game is fun while you are learning about watersheds. In the beginning you can use the novice level. When you go to the intermediate level you can test your knowledge about the watershed. In the beginning of the intermediate level you can chose from four environments. You can even use virtual reality on some of the pictures to understand what a particular environment looks like. Answer the questions and then find out your score; with this score you can learn what would happen in the environment based on the decisions that you made. We like to play this Watershed game because it is fun and it makes you think of the environmental consequences of your actions. Reviewed by Ashlee and Rabi

EPA Wetlands http://www.epa.gov/OWOW/watershed/ Wetlands are an important part of the watershed and if they are damaged it causes trouble for all of us. At this site you can learn about different types of wetlands. It also gives you information about damage to wetlands and the effects of this damage. You might want to go here to learn wetland basics. Reviewed by Megan and Allecia

Fresh Water http://www.mobot.org/MBGnet/fresh/index.htm There are many kinds of water sources we have to take care of. At this fresh water site you can learn about ponds, rivers and streams and how they fit into the watershed. It gives a good description and graphic on the water cycle and how clouds form. Did you know that only 1% of the water on the earth is fresh water? What role do plants and creatures play in maintaining the water we depend on? Well, you can find out at this site. You can also find out what happens when we let fresh water become polluted. When you use this site you can use one page to help you identify the small creatures that live along the edge of the river, stream or pond with the footprints they give. Then you can finish with a challenging game to put pieces of the environment together. Reviewed by Dezmond and Rabi

Surfing Your Watershed http://www.epa.gov/students/surf_your_watershed.htm Do you know what watershed you live in? This site will help you not only find out but to learn information about how clean your neighborhood watershed is. Then maybe you can make a difference in your watershed. All you have to do is type in your zip code and it gives your watershed on your state map and then a closer map of your area of the state. You can get real time data--very recent science data--about your watershed to find out how clean your water is. If you go to the bottom of this page you can click to find out just where your drinking water comes from by entering the name of the county you live in. When the information comes up it will not only give you a map but many other hot links to explore about your drinking water area. Reviewed by Ashlee and Allecia

Watershed http://www.epa.gov/students/americas_wetlands.htm When you enter this site you get many choices; we recommend that you start with America's Wetlands to find out about the different kinds of wetlands that form a watershed. Did you know that wetlands are on every continent except Antarctica? After you find out about the kinds of wetlands, you can move on to information about wetlands and nature. You will find nature's supermarket, which is the food chain in a wetland part of the watershed. Then move to the next section to find ways that you and I affect the watershed and wetlands and how we can do a better job. The pictures are set so that you can enlarge them and take a closer look to be able to understand the different environments. This site is a good place to learn about our watersheds and the many elements that affect them. Reviewed by Megan and Ashlee

Fun Factory http://www.esw.co.uk/funfactory Did you know that you are using the same water that Christopher Columbus, Cleopatra the queen of Egypt and Einstein used? Water is never newly made - we keep recycling it. At this site you can find several fun ways to learn about water. First, click into the games and puzzles section and chose from nine games to tickle you brain. When you push the third button called workshop you can learn about water in relationship to nature and leisure. Each one of these areas gives you quizzes and places to learn new information about how to best use water. Reviewed by Dezmond and Allecia

Earth Alert http://www.discovery.com/news/earthalert/earthalert.html Our watersheds are always affected by the weather and how the weather on one part of the earth interacts with another part of our earth. This site, by Discovery Channel, shows a daily map of unusual weather throughout the earth. Check this daily to make predictions about what will happen in different watersheds of the world. Reviewed by Rabi and Megan

Water Science For Schools http://wwwga.usgs.gov/edu/ Now that you know where your water comes from let's find out how water is used. At this site you can find out many facts about where our water comes from and how well we use it. You will find out how much water there is on our earth, the difference between surface water and ground water (important distinctions to the use of water in your town). Did you know that the raindrops that fall into your watershed are different sizes and shapes? Find some really fascinating facts about water when you visit this fun site. Oh, and make sure you visit the Activity Center where you can vote for your favorite body of water. Reviewed by Dezmond and Megan

To Top of Page

To subscribe to the KIDS Report, send email to: listserv@cs.wisc.edu with the following message: subscribe kids Yourfirstname Yourlastname

These Internet resources were evaluated on the basis of Site Selection Guidelines that the students developed. Questions and comments can be sent to the facilitating teacher at Portage Path School of Technology, Ms. Karen Grindall, at kgrindal@akron.k12.oh.us

2000 Copyright by the Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System. Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of the entire KIDS Report provided this paragraph, including the copyright notice, is preserved on all copies.

Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the University of Wisconsin-Madison.