Lab Kits available from City of Lubbock Water Education

The City of Lubbock Water Education Department would like to offer our Scout units continuous usage of the lab kits listed below as a source of additional education and fun information for our youth.

Major Rivers
https://www.twdb.texas.gov/conservation/education/kids/MajorRivers/index.asp- They have many of these kits available.

Watershed Tour

Grades 4-8. For your STEM curriculum. Introduce students to stream and river ecosystems through a classroom-based tour of a virtual watershed. Designed for teachers who are unable to visit a steam with their students. Your students will learn about stream ecology, water quality issues, and their own connection to a watershed. Through a week-long series of hands-on TesTabs® tablet tests, games, and activities, students will test four sites along a river continuum - from the headwaters to the mouth of the river as it enters the estuary - to study how the river changes and how human activities can influence water quality. Includes lecture materials, illustrated handouts, teacher’s tips, test procedures, TesTab® reagents, data sheets, and games. TesTab® reagents and test tubes for 30 students in groups.

Reading River Sediments - A Simulated Mineral Exploration Activity

Grades 7-12. This kit provides a series of hands-on activities that allows students to use key earth science concepts by conducting a mineral exploration which simulates real-life economic, social, and issue-oriented problems. The activities are designed to introduce and use topographic maps, learn about rock types, erosion, and river dynamics. The kit is based on the understanding that as water works along the earth’s surface and through the ground, it picks up small amounts of the minerals found in the rocks and sediments. Certain minerals will ionize and then travel along in the moving water and later react chemically with the surface of river sediments. The closer the section of river is to a deposit of a mineral, the greater the amount of it will be detectable on the river sediments. Since it is impractical to take a class out to the field to obtain samples, simulated sample river sediments are provided in the kit, along with detailed topographic maps of a river system in a mountainous region. The necessary testing solutions and apparatus are also provided. Each sample site can be tested at a minimum of 50 individual times.

Making and Interpreting Topographic Maps

Grades 6-12. This activity provides students with a basic understanding of topographic maps and how to interpret them. Students conduct a hands-on investigation using the Lab-Aids Topographic Model to construct contour lines and create a topographic map of an area. The activity illustrates the relationship between the contour lines on a topographic map and the actual shape of the land. Designed for six groups of 4, or at most five, students. WARNING: Choking Hazard.  Small Parts. Not for children under 3 yrs.

Groundwater Table

Grades 5-12. An excellent tool for any earth science or environmental science teacher, this transparent plastic tray can be used on an overhead projector or on a tabletop. Use the included pump to move colored dye throughout the model to demonstrate groundwater concepts such as aquifers, sinkholes, caverns, geysers, and hot springs. Includes self-contained groundwater table, water pump (120V AC), tubing, eyedropper, and teacher’s guide. Minor assembly required.

To request materials/presentations please complete this Water Education Request Form or contact the City of Lubbock Water Education Department directly at watereducation@mylubbock.us.