Wednesday, October 27, 2021

Advice from Owlie –What’s a watershed?

Q: Dear Owlie,

I recently learned a little bit about what a watershed is! I found it so interesting to learn about, but I am having a little trouble fully understanding them. Do you know of any activities I can do at home to help me understand watersheds better? Thanks Owlie!

Sincerely,

                                                          Watershed Wonderer


A: Dear Watershed Wonderer,

I am so happy that you learned what a watershed is and want to know more! For our friends who may not be too sure what a watershed is, it is any area of land that drains into a lake, river, or ocean! Watersheds also include all of the people, houses, farms, roads, factories, animals, mountains, and deserts. Here at the Chino Creek Wetlands and Educational Park, we are part of the Santa Ana River Watershed.

We have an At Home Activity that teaches all about watersheds. Our Enviroscape activity is a perfect way for you to learn all about watersheds and make your own! It can be found here, on our YouTube page.

This activity will guide you through how pollutants, anything that is added to the environment and can be harmful, move through our watersheds.

To do this activity, you will need:

  • Aluminum foil
  • Different sized cups
  • A medium sized plastic container
  • 2 different colored Kool-Aid mixes
  • Chocolate sprinkles
  • A spray bottle
  • Markers
  • Paper towels

You can find a printout of a watershed to color and label on our website if you would like to follow along this way instead.

Did you know that everything that we do impacts our watershed? That’s why it is so important to pick up our trash and keep harmful chemicals out of our water to keep it clean!

I hope you have lots of fun doing this activity and learning about watersheds!

Talk to you all soo(HOO)n!

Owlie