Rivers, Lakes, Seas, Bays, Ponds and Estuaries
The River Resource is a new site and not as graphical as others...
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The Great-Lakes project is a particularly interesting application of telecommunications in network science. To those of us who do not live in this region the environment appears to be uniform; in fact, many different ecologies border the Great Lakes region. A classroom has initiated a study of weather and water quality data and requesting that other classrooms also send real soil samples from diverse locations within this region. Such a telecommunications project will reveal a rich survey of micro-ecologies in this one region, encompassing many square miles, and, thereby, illustrates the newer, regional approach to geographic studies rather than the more conventional state-by-state study.
Great Lakes net offers many resources to supplement this study. The two sites should be viewed as a combo for replicating this approach for other areas in the world. A similar ecosystem of the Gulf of Mexico has just been placed online.
NCSA's Cyberia (via Expo) offers RiverWeb, a wonderful in-depth study of the Great Mississippi. Participation in this online project requires a sustaining commitment from a classroom.
Bridging the Watershed is a joint project between the National Park Service on the Potomac River and schools. Watersheds are crucial river and regional geographic concepts. This project could be easily replicated for your area.
For about 50 years canals connected fresh water rivers and salt water portals. Learn about the history of canals, especially for transportation,at The Canal Age.
Water on the Web, sponsored for high school students by NSF, surfaces Remote Underwater Sampling Stations' data with visualization tools. 4 Minnesota lakes is the body of interest. Students can observe seasonal and weather changes, like storms.
Chesapeake Bay has received attention not only for its ecology but also for its nearness to our nation's capital Washington, D.C. This site illustrates the plants and animals of typical baylands as well as those unique to Chesapeake. The illustrations are excellent.
Simulate any of these ecosystems via Bottle Biology, a project to build and decompose soil and biological systems, or you can try the Bucket Project from K12 Science. The focus is macroinvertebrates in a pond.
The study of estuaries helps students understand the composition and role of bays in geography.
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Exploration of these ecologies is especially instructive to students who live in very different environments. Telecommunications allows them to travel in ways they cannot accomplish themselves.
