Hands-On- Science

The mission of the Educational and Outreach Program at the Illinois State Water Survey (ISWS) is to promote stewardship of Illinois' natural resources, foster public understanding and support of environmental programs, and nurture interest in the sciences. The primary goals of the Program are to provide information about water and atmospheric resources to the public, develop a new generation of good stewards who respect natural resources, and entice students to become scientists. The staff at ISWS is working to achieve these goals by participating in various educational and outreach activities. Provided below is our growing list of links to educational sites on the ISWS Web site and the web abroad. Many water topics are covered.

Rain Check Network - Think about the weather. How much rain fell in your backyard during the last storm? Is this month wetter or drier than the last? Don't know? Use a rain gauge and find out! The Rain Check Network web site will let you request a free raingage, and then use it to enter rain amounts into our Rain Check Network database. You can also search the database for results entered by yourself and others, and sort the results by zip code, date, city, and more. The results contain entries from many U.S. cites and states.
 
http://www.sws.uiuc.edu/hilites/stfair/raingage/

ISWS Speakers Bureau - Do you have a question about water resource or climate issues? Would you like to find a speaker for your classroom or community group? Are you a stakeholder in a watershed area and need further information? The Illinois State Water Survey employs individuals with many talents and educated in far-reaching specialties. These staff members are eager to share their interests and knowledge with the public.
 
http://www.sws.uiuc.edu/chief/speakersbureau.asp

pH in Your Rain (Earth Day 2004) - We all know what rain is, but what is acid rain? Acid rain comes from air pollution. When it rains, raindrops remove pollutants from the air. These pollutants may come from car and truck exhausts, power plants, forest fires, or even volcanoes ...
 
http://nadp.sws.uiuc.edu/earthday/

Illinois Water Cycle - The ISWS water cycle diagram depicts water moving through the atmosphere and on and under the surface of the earth. Another term for the water cycle is hydrologic cycle. Water moves downward as precipitation, into the soil and through the unsaturated zone as infiltration, and through the saturated zone to shallow and deep aquifers as recharge; laterally on the surface as surface runoff to lakes, wetlands, streams, and rivers and underground as groundwater flow; upward as evapotranspiration from lakes, wetlands, streams, and rivers, plants, soil, and groundwater, and as groundwater discharge to surface waters; and laterally aloft as atmospheric moisture, where condensation forms clouds.
 
http://www.sws.uiuc.edu/docs/watercycle/

On-line Weather Resources for Kids - A collection of climate and weather links for teachers and students. Links include live weather radar, weather warnings and forecasts, flood information, and much more.
 
http://www.sws.uiuc.edu/hilites/stfair/raingage/resources.asp

Inside Rain (National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) Publication for Teachers) - Inside Rain is the second package in NSTA's Teach With Databases series, which guides students and teachers in using databases to ask and answer questions in science. Inside Rain activities support the National Science Education Standards and have Internet extensions through the NSTA sciLINKS program. The package contains Teach With Databases: Database Basics (an NSTA skills book), an integral part of the Teach With Databases series. It also includes and introduces the National Atmospheric Deposition Program 1997 Wet Deposition (the NADP map report), and Inside Rain: A Look at the National Atmospheric Deposition Program.
 
http://nadp.sws.uiuc.edu/nsta/about.htm
http://nadp.sws.uiuc.edu/nsta/info.htm

Educational Links Developed by The National Atmospheric Deposition Program (NADP) - A great list of precipitation and acid rain educational links as assembled by the Central Analytical Laboratory at NADP. This list contains lesson plans aimed at teachers, and also activities for children themselves.
 
http://nadp.sws.uiuc.edu/cal/Educational_Information.htm

Nitrogen in the Nation’s Rain (Brochure) - Nitrogen is a macronutrient that is essential for all living things. Fossil fuel combustion, animal husbandry practices, nitrogen fertilizer production and application, and other human activities add substantial amounts of nitrogen compounds to the atmosphere every year. Higher airborne nitrate and ammonium concentrations from these activities increase the wet and dry deposition rates of nitrogen. Increased atmospheric deposition can affect natural and agricultural systems. Information on nitrogen deposition, such as that collected by the NADP, is important to regulators, policymakers, and land managers responsible for the protection of air and water quality in natural and managed ecosystems.
 
http://nadp.sws.uiuc.edu/lib/brochures/nitrogen.pdf

Hydrological Charts - Kids, you can color your own hydrological cycle! Download this coloring page and then look at the finished version if you want help choosing colors. Remember to stay within those lines!
 
You can also take a quiz about the hydrological cycle. Study this information first and when you are ready to take the quiz, just print this quiz form and fill in the blanks. HINT: Pay close attention to the information on the bottom of the study page. It just might show up on the quiz!

Contact: Mary Hagen LeFaivre

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