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Welcome to the West Virginia Watershed Dynamics Project Web Site

West Virginia Watershed Dynamics is a cooperative educational project between West Virginia middle and high school science teachers, West Virginia University, the West Virginia GLOBE Program, and the National Science Foundation.  The project will use geospatial technology to teach watershed science, the geography of the hydrologic cycle. The project is funded by a two year grant to Drs. Landenberger and Warner (WVU Geology & Geography), and Dr. Rye (Human Resources and Education). 

To participate in the project, teachers will take a two course sequence through West Virginia University.  The first section, offered on-campus at WVU, is schedule for June 14-19, 2009.  Stipends, equipment, and room and board are provided by the project.  See below for details.

Geospatial technology - GIS (Geographic Information Systems), GPS (Global Positioning Systems), and Remote Sensing (satellite imagery and aerial photographs) - is a very powerful set of integrated tools that allow teachers and their students to explore and study a wide range of disciplines in a highly engaging, powerful, and exciting way. 

West Virginia Watershed Dynamics

The project is designed to support West Virginia science teachers in implementing GLOBE's 'Watershed Dynamics ' Earth System Science Project.  A WVU announcement is posted here.  Teachers and their students who participate in West Virginia Watershed Dynamics will map and study their local watershed to gain an understanding of how land use and land cover influence local water quantity and water quality. The project is designed to meet the state's CSO's in science, technology, and geography, and is aligned with the 21st Century Skills initiative.  Teacher are provided with a stipend, on-campus room and board, software, and all necessary equipment. 

Stream sampling at the watershed Dynamics Workshop, August, 2008

To participate in the project, teachers will take a two course sequence through the West Virginia University Department of Geology & Geography, and Human Resources and Education.  In the summer of 2009, Dr. Rick Landenberger will teach a week long on-campus course covering the hydrologic science and geospatial technology content and skills required to implement the project. Teachers will be certified in GLOBE, and will return to their classrooms in the fall to guide their students through a student-based inquiry project focusing on their local watershed. 

Teachers will be supported remotely using the on-line e-Campus network, and will post their projects to the project web site.  This is the second section of the course sequence, and will be taught by Dr. Jim Rye in the Department of Human Resources and Education. The second half of the sequence is designed to support teachers in developing and implementing the project's exciting, cutting edge science and technology content.  Specific course requirements are listed here.  

Watersheds

A watershed, also call a "drainage basin", is an area of the Earth's surface that drains into a stream or river. Watersheds can be outlined on a map, and are commonly mapped, studied, and analyzed using computers, satellite images, and other high technology tools.  West Virginia lies on the eastern continental divide; the northern, western and southern counties drain into the Ohio and Mississippi river systems, and the eastern panhandle and eastern Potomac Highlands drain into the Potomac River system. Within each of these larger river systems there are many smaller watersheds. 

Land uses such as forest, agriculture, housing developments, and urban areas, acting together with climate and topography, determine the discharge rate, physical properties, and chemical composition of water in the watershed.  Therefore land uses and the physical characteristics of the watershed are important factors in determining how watersheds function.  A significant part of the West Virginia Watershed Dynamics Project involves learning how to use geospatial tools and technology to understand the physical, cultural, and ecological characteristics of  your local watershed. To check the latest discharge rates and flood watches from the USGS river gages in West Virginia, click here (find the nearest gage to your location, and click on the point locations on the map to the see the current stage, hydrograph, and discharge forcast).



The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Watershed Site

Geospatial Technology - Digital Mapping, and More!

Geospatial technology - GIS (Geographic Information Systems), GPS (Global Positioning Systems), and Remote Sensing (satellite imagery and aerial photographs) - are a very powerful suite of tools that allow teachers and their students to explore and study a wide range of disciplines in a highly engaging, powerful, and exciting way.  'Geospatial' refers to the Earth in spatial (geographic) terms, thus geospatial technologies are the technical tools used to explore and understand Earth's physical, biological, and cultural geography. 

Geospatial technology is a rapidly growing field not only in the U.S., but internationally as well. Google Maps is an example of geospatial technology, and has effectively raised our awareness of the power and excitement of computer-based mapping.

A good place to start is to locate the USGS topographic map of your area using the on-line USGS Map Locator.
Updated Monday, March 6th, 2008