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7th grade · Science · Unit 16 of 18

Watersheds & Oceans

How people help and harm groundwater, rivers and oceans.

What your child practices

Practices how human activity helps or harms groundwater and surface water in a watershed (aquifers such as the Edwards and the Ogallala, runoff, pollution, conservation) and how people depend on and affect ocean systems, using Gulf Coast examples.

Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) teks student expectation: 7.11(A); 7.11(B) · human effects on groundwater, surface water and ocean systems

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. A watershed is all the land that drains into one river or lake.
  2. An aquifer is an underground layer of rock that holds water, such as the Ogallala or the Edwards.
  3. Runoff can carry pollution. Wetlands filter water and slow floods.

Example: What is an underground layer of rock that holds usable water called? People pump water up from it for farms and towns. Answer: an aquifer

Watersheds & Oceans in Texas

In the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS), this is unit 16 of 18 in 7th grade Science, after Solar System Tour and before Asexual & Sexual Reproduction.

Gradelings describes a child's practice on this unit as Beginning, Approaching, Meeting or Exceeding (Four practice steps). That reflects practice, not a report-card mark: the teacher decides the mark.

Source: Texas Education Agency (TEA)

Sample questions

A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.

  1. Question 1

    Rainwater that flows over land into streams is…

    • evaporation
    • transpiration
    • groundwater
    • runoff

  2. Question 2

    Farmers in the Texas Panhandle pump irrigation water from the…

    • Ogallala Aquifer
    • Gulf
    • Rio Grande delta
    • Edwards Aquifer

  3. Question 3

    Water stored underground in rock layers is called…

    • groundwater
    • condensation
    • humidity
    • runoff

  4. Question 4

    Oil spills harm ocean systems because oil…

    • helps fish breathe
    • adds oxygen
    • coats animals and poisons food webs
    • cleans beaches

  5. Question 5

    An underground layer of rock that holds usable water is an…

    • delta
    • atmosphere
    • aquifer
    • estuary

  6. Question 6

    Why does pollution upstream matter to people downstream?

    • Pollution disappears in rivers
    • Water flows uphill
    • Water carries the pollution down the watershed
    • It only affects fish upstream

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