Flow Down! Can Managing Forests Help Maintain Water Supplies in the Face of Climate Change?

Article Middle School 1 Classroom Period Climate

The scientists in this study wanted to figure out how forest management, climate change, and streamflow interact. First, the scientists wanted to identify if forest management could affect streamflow. Second, the scientists wanted to identify types of forest management that would help protect against extreme precipitation changes that may occur as the climate changes.

English

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Natural IQ Climate Change - Vol. 1 No. 1

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Glossary

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bicarbonate
(bī kär bə nāt): A type of acid that is developed from carbon.
clear-cut
(klēr kət): A forestry procedure that removes all of the trees in a stand of timber.
control
(kǝn trōl): A variable factor that has been kept constant and which is used as a standard of comparison to the experimental component in a controlled experiment.
coppice
(kä pəs): Forest originating mainly from shoots or root suckers rather than seed.
deciduous
(di si jǝ wǝs): Having parts, like leaves, that fall off or shed seasonally or at a certain stage of development in the life cycle.
evaporation
(i va p(ə-) rā shən): The process of converting water into vapor or fumes.
evapotranspiration
(i va pō tran spə rā shən): Loss of water from Earth by evaporation from Earth’s surface and by transpiration from the leaves of plants.
excessive
(ik se siv): Going beyond what is usual, proper, necessary, or normal.
groundwater
(grau̇nd wȯ tǝr): Water within the earth, especially that which supplies wells and springs.
hypothesis
(hī pä thǝ sǝs): An assumption or idea that is proposed for the sake of argument so that it can be tested to see if it might be true.
hypothesize
(hī pä thǝ sīz): To make an assumption or idea that is proposed for the sake of argument so that it can be tested to see if it might be true.
intercept
(in tǝr sept): To take or seize on the way to or before arrival.
land cover
(land kə vər): Data that documents how much of a region is covered by forests, wetlands, impervious surfaces, agriculture, and other land and water types, like wetlands or open water. Definition from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA).
mean
(meen): The average in a set of numbers.
prescribed burn
(pri skrībed bərn): Controlled fires used to improve forest habitat.
simulate
(sim yǝ lāt): To make an imitation (or copy or model) by one system or process of the way in which another system or process works.
streamflow
(strēm flō): The movement of water in streams, rivers, and other channels.
successional vegetation
(sək se shən əl ve jə tā shən): Plants, trees, and shrubs that naturally replace other plant life over time.
transpiration
(tran(t)s pə rā shən): The process by which plants give off water vapor through the stomata in their leaves.
variable
(ver ē ə bəl): (1) A factor, trait, or condition that can be changed or controlled; (2) a quantity that may assume any one of a set of values.
watershed
(wȯ tǝr shed): A region or area bounded on the edge by a dividing ridge and draining ultimately to a particular watercourse or body of water.

Standards addressed in this Article:

Social Studies Standards

Global Connections
People, Places, and Environments
Science, Technology, and Society
Time, Continuity, and Change

Note To Educators

The Forest Service's Mission

The Forest Service’s mission is to sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of the Nation’s forests and grasslands to meet the needs of present and future generations. For more than 100 years, our motto has been “caring for the land and serving people.” The Forest Service, an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), recognizes its responsibility to be engaged in efforts to connect youth to nature and to promote the development of science-based conservation education programs and materials nationwide.

What Is the Natural Inquirer?

Natural Inquirer is a science education resource journal to be used by students in grade 6 and up. Natural Inquirer contains articles describing environmental and natural resource research conducted by Forest Service scientists and their cooperators. These scientific journal articles have been reformatted to meet the needs of middle school students. The articles are easy to understand, are aesthetically pleasing to the eye, contain glossaries, and include hands-on activities. The goal of Natural Inquirer is to stimulate critical reading and thinking about scientific inquiry and investigation while teaching about ecology, the natural environment, and natural resources.

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Meet the Scientists

Introduces students to the scientists who did the research. This section may be used in a discussion about careers in science.
What Kinds of Scientist Did This Research?

Introduces students to the scientific disciplines of the scientists who conducted the research.
Thinking About Science

Introduces something new about the scientific process, such as a scientific habit of mind or procedures used in scientific studies.
Thinking About the Environment

Introduces the environmental topic being addressed in the research.
Introduction

Introduces the problem or question that the research addresses.
Method

Describes the method the scientists used to collect and analyze their data.
Findings & Discussion

Describes the results of the analysis. Addresses the findings and places them into the context of the original problem or question.
Reflection Section

Presents questions aimed at stimulating critical thinking about what has been read or predicting what might be presented in the next section. These questions are placed at the end of each of the main article sections.
Number Crunches

Presents an easy math problem related to the research.
Glossary

Defines potentially new scientific or other terms to students. The first occurrence of a glossary word is bold in the text.
Citation

Gives the original article citation with an internet link to the original article.
FACTivity

Presents a hands-on activity that emphasizes something presented in the article.

Science Education Standards

You will find a listing of education standards which are addressed by each article at the back of each publication and on our website.

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Education Files

Project Learning Tree

If you are a Project Learning Tree-trained educator, you may also use the following activity as an additional resource: “Field, Forest and Stream.”