Categories
Amazing Wildlife Ecology

What are aquatic macroinvertebrates? Their role in food webs and use as bioindicators!

These tiny critters may seem unremarkable, or even “icky”. However, aquatic macroinvertebrates play important roles in aquatic ecosystems.

Categories
Activity ideas Earth Science

Water’s Weird Properties: 5 water molecule activities to try with your students!

Water. It covers over 70% of the earth’s surface and even makes up about 60% of the human body. But did you know that water has some incredible properties that make it different from other liquids? This is due to water molecules’ unique molecular structure. If you are studying water in your classroom, here are a few fun water molecule activities to help your students discover some of water molecules’ weirder properties.

Categories
Earth Science

How do gaining and losing streams differ? Groundwater-stream interactions explained

Before we can learn about groundwater-surface water interactions, we must understand the water table. The water table is the level at which the pore spaces are filled entirely with water. The water table is not a flat plain, but rather, a three-dimensional surface.

Categories
Activity ideas Earth Science

Stream Measurements: how to measure water flow with your students as a river field trip activity!

Hydrologists collect stream measurements to ensure we are not using our water resources too quickly or in unsustainable ways. With a few household items, you can collect river measurements too!

Categories
Earth Science

River channel types: identify straight, meandering, braided, and anastomosing channels

Different rivers naturally have different planforms – and that’s a good thing! You will find healthy streams and rivers with a variety of different natural planforms – no one planform is necessarily better than the others. What is best is for a river to be in as close to its natural state as reasonably possible.

Categories
Earth Science

Glaciers: how they form, types of glaciers, and why glaciers are important

A glacier is a large, dense ice mass made from compacted snow that slowly moves under its own weight over a long period of time. Unlike seasonal snowpack, glacial ice does not fully melt in summer. Although glaciers move slowly, often just centimeters per day, they may cover great distances over many years. There are […]

Categories
Earth Science

Common Water Features: examples (with links!) and descriptions!

About common water features Before diving into definitions and examples of some common water features, let us ask: “what is a water feature?” Water features are any waterbody or waterway found on the earth’s surface! Water features come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes! For example, some water features are lotic (flowing, like […]

Categories
Earth Science Sustainability and Conservation

Snow Hydrology: why and how do scientists study snow?

What is snow hydrology? Snow hydrology is the study of snow’s role in the water cycle. Snow hydrologists study snowfall, melting, and everything that happens to snow in between! Many snow hydrologists are interested in the ways snow impacts our water resources. They may use data to make predictions about the water supply. Why is […]

Categories
Amazing Wildlife Sustainability and Conservation

Aquatic Insects: identification, examples, and use as bioindicators

If you flip over a few rocks in the shallow water at any healthy pond or stream, you’re sure to see a few aquatic insects! Many aquatic insects are the larvae or nymphs of well-known flying insects, like dragonflies and mayflies! They begin their lives in the water, then emerge from the surface of the […]

Categories
Earth Science

Mountains and the Water Cycle: the rain shadow effect explained

A short bonus post here! After writing two posts about the water cycle (how it works and how humans effect it), I still felt like there was more to write. I owed it to the wonderful mountains where I live, to touch on the important role of mountains in the water cycle. In this mini […]