Teacher Guide for the Karst Movie

May be used with a small group of students with the teacher at a classroom computer, or with an entire class using a Smart board or projector.

Grade Levels: 5-9
Subject Areas: Communication Arts, Natural Science
Duration
In small groups15-20 minutes in front of computer; 5 minutes at desk to complete evaluation. When used with a full class, this lesson takes one 50 minute class period. Allow additional class time for the introductory or follow-up reading.
Objectives
To introduce or reinforce classroom study of karst topography and the management of nonpoint source (NPS) pollution. To use and evaluate an Internet based learning tool.
Show-Me Standards (Missouri)
Process:
Goal #1.5-comprehend and evaluate written, visual, and oral presentations.
Content:
Science #8- impact of human activity on resources and the environment
Communication Arts #3-comprehending and evaluating nonfiction materials
Communication Arts #5-comprehending and evaluating multimedia presentations
Communication Arts #6-participating in informal discussions of issues and ideas.

Materials: You can print the Student Worksheet for handouts.

Background: There is a recommended reading list on the Karst Resources page. See Tech Tips for Teachers for how to print handouts from the Atlas.

Preparation:
• Open your Web browser and connect to the Internet. The Karst Movie address is http://www.watersheds.org/earth/karstmovie.htm. Bookmark this page, or add to Favorites, so you can bring it up quickly.
• Go through the screens of the movie yourself to get familiar with the navigation. Click on all the buttons and arrows.
• Do not use the back button on your browser to navigate; it will take you completely out of the movie. Use the menus and arrows at the bottom of the movie window to move through the different screens.
• Listen to the sound effects throughout the movie. Adjust the sound to a comfortable level. Take particular note of the sound effects for the forest, the septic tank, the cows, and the car on the Nonpoint Source Pollution page. Be sure you know how to reduce or mute the sound level when you want to.

Procedure:

1. Ask the students to identify familiar features of the landscape in the opening screen.
2. Click on Karst Features>View with Cutaway. Explain what a ‘cutaway’ is. Ask the students to identify familiar karst features of the landscape. What is happening to the water flow?
3. Click on the arrow in the lower right corner. Buttons appear on each karst feature. Now that they are located, let the students name any more they recognize. Click on the buttons for the features’ names and definitions. Ask students to talk about karst features in their area, or ones that they have visited.
4. Now click on Main Menu to go back to the first screen, and click on Nonpoint Source Pollution(NPS). As students take in the scene, review the definition of nonpoint source pollution: Widespread runoff containing substances that are harmful to water quality; contamination that does not originate from one specific location.
5. Ask the students to identify potential contributors to NPS depicted. When they have named all they can, click on Answer and check for ones they haven't named. Each button will explain how a source may contribute to NPS. Ask students for their experience with any of these contributors.
6. Click on View with Cutaway to reveal more possibilities.
•What now becomes more obvious?
The sinkhole dump, the septic tank, the pipe draining waste into the creek.
•How is the pipe different from the other contributors?
It is point source pollution; pollutants can be traced to a particular source. We cannot see the source here, but we could follow the pipe.
•Ask again for experience with these contributors. Have they seen a sinkhole used as a dump? Has anyone had a septic tank cleaned, or helped to install one?
7. Click on the arrow in the lower right corner. Give the students a chance to suggest answers to the question.
Click through the answers.
• What is the significance of the well in the illustration?

For older grades:
8. Ask the students ways they know about that help to manage NPS from the different contributors. What are the best management practices? What personal experience do they have with any of these practices?

Extensions:
1. Have the students make lists of potential causes of NPS that they see on the way to and from school, and/or around the school.
2. Have them plot the examples on a local map, such as a county map.
3. Have students select a contributing cause of nonpoint source pollution and write reports on the best management practices. Use What to about NPS as a starting point.

Copyright © Bryant Watershed Project, Inc. All rights reserved. May be printed for classroom use.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region VII, through the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, has provided partial funding for this project under Section 319 of the Clean Water Act.
Find this lesson plan online at: http://www.watersheds.org/teacher/karstguide.htn