Click to listen to episode (5:14)
Sections below are the following:
Transcript of Audio
Audio Notes and Acknowledgments
Image
Extra Information
Sources
Related Water Radio Episodes
For Virginia Teachers (Relevant SOLs, etc.)
Unless otherwise noted, all Web addresses mentioned were functional as of 7-24-20.
TRANSCRIPT OF AUDIO
From the Cumberland Gap to the Atlantic Ocean, this is Virginia Water Radio for the week of July 27, 2020.
MUSIC – ~ 9 sec – instrumental
This week, we feature music named for a plant that you could encounter on an outing to almost any watery or dry habitat in Virginia; and if that encounter involved touching the plant, you’d want to find some soap and clean water promptly. Have a listen to the music for about 30 more seconds, and see if you know this widespread and wisely avoided plant.
MUSIC - ~30 sec – instrumental
If you guessed Poison Ivy, you’re right! You’ve been listening to part of “Concerning Toxicodendron radicans Part II,” by Andrew and Noah VanNorstrand, on the 2007 album “A Certain Tree.” Toxicodendron radicans is the scientific name for Poison Ivy, one of four species in the Toxicodendron genus found in Virginia, according to the Flora of Virginia. The other species are Poison Oak, Poison Sumac, and Western Poison Ivy, the latter known only from two Blue Ridge counties. Poison Oak, Poison Sumac, and Poison Ivy have interesting water-related habitat differences: Poison Oak’s typical habitat is dry and rocky or sandy, most commonly in Virginia’s Coastal Plain; Poison Sumac’s typical habitat is wet, including swamps, bogs, and other wetlands, again usually in the Coastal Plain; while Poison Ivy is found in many kinds of dry and wet habitats, and is common throughout Virginia.
Poison Ivy and Poison Oak both have leaves with a characteristic three leaflets, but Poison Sumac leaves have 7 to 13 leaflets.
The species share the characteristic oil, called urushiol, that can cause a red, itchy skin inflammation. Direct contact with leaves, stems, and roots can transfer the oil onto one’s skin, clothes, tools, and pets, and very small amounts of the oil can cause skin reactions. Oil on a surface can remain active for months, or even years, according to some sources. Burning these plants can release the oil which, if inhaled, can cause severe respiratory reactions.
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health recommends the following treatment for skin exposure to the oil:
“Immediately [wash] skin with rubbing alcohol, specialized washes for poison plants, degreasing soap (such as dishwashing soap), or detergent, and lots of water.
Rinse frequently so that [the] wash solutions [don’t] dry on the skin and further spread the [oil].
[And] Scrub under [the] nails with a brush.” The Institute recommends getting emergency medical help in case of a severe reaction, such as swelling or difficulty breathing, or if a person has had a severe reaction previously.
Poison Ivy, Oak, and Sumac are native Virginia plants and have their ecological place; but here’s to outings where your place and theirs don’t mix. Thanks to Andrew VanNorstrand for permission to use this week’s music, and we close with about 20 more seconds of “Concerning Toxicodendron radicans Part II.”
MUSIC - ~20 sec – instrumental
SHIP’S BELL
Virginia Water Radio is produced by the Virginia Water Resources Research Center, part of Virginia Tech’s College of Natural Resources and Environment. For more Virginia water sounds, music, or information, visit us online at virginiawaterradio.org, or call the Water Center at (540) 231-5624. Thanks to Ben Cosgrove for his version of “Shenandoah” to open and close the show. In Blacksburg, I’m Alan Raflo, thanking you for listening, and wishing you health, wisdom, and good water.
AUDIO NOTES AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
“Concerning Toxicodendron radicans Part II,” on the 2007 album “A Certain Tree,” is copyright by Andrew and Noah VanNorstrand and Great Bear Records, used with permission. Information about Andrew and Noah VanNorstrand is available online at http://www.andrewandnoah.com/andrewandnoah/dev/ and at https://andrewandnoah.bandcamp.com/.
Click here if you’d like to hear the full version (2 min./22 sec.) of the “Shenandoah” arrangement/performance by Ben Cosgrove that opens and closes this episode. More information about Mr. Cosgrove is available online at http://www.bencosgrove.com.
IMAGES
Poison Ivy, Montgomery County, Va., July 26, 2020.
Poison Oak, Jacksonville, N.C., April 26 2020. Photo by user terrio5toe, made available on iNaturalist at https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/43706143
(as of 7-27-20) for use under Creative Commons license
“Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0.” Information about this Creative
Commons license is available online at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/.
Poison Sumac, Isle of Wight County, Virginia, September 4, 2012. Photo by Tim Hammer, made available on iNaturalist at https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/36947155 (as of 7-27-20) for use under Creative Commons license “Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0.” Information about this Creative Commons license is available online at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/.
EXTRA INFORMATION ABOUT CONTACT WITH POISON IVY, OAK, AND SUMAC
The following information is from “NIOSH Fact Facts: Protecting Yourself from Poisonous Plants,” from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, accessed online at https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/2010-118/default.html, 7/27/20.
“Any person working outdoors is at risk of exposure to poisonous plants, such as poison ivy, poison oak, and poison sumac. When in contact with skin, the sap oil (urushiol) of these plants can cause an allergic reaction. Burning these poisonous plants produces smoke that, when inhaled, can cause lung irritation. [People] may become exposed through [the following ways]:
Direct contact with the plant;
Indirect contact (touching tools, animals, or clothing with urushiol on them);
Inhalation of particles containing urushiol from burning plants.
Symptoms of Skin Contact
Red rash within a few days of contact;
Swelling;
Itching;
Possible bumps, patches, streaking or weeping blisters NOTE: Blister fluids are not contagious.
First Aid
If you are exposed to a poisonous plant:
Immediately rinse skin with rubbing alcohol, poison plant wash, or degreasing soap (such as dishwashing soap) or detergent, and lots of water. Rinse frequently so that wash solutions do not dry on the skin and further spread the urushiol. Scrub under nails with a brush.
Apply wet compresses, calamine lotion, or hydrocortisone cream to the skin to reduce itching and blistering (oatmeal baths may relieve itching).
An antihistamine may help relieve itching. NOTE: Drowsiness may occur.
In severe cases or if the rash is on the face or genitals, seek professional medical attention.
Call 911 or go to a hospital emergency room if you have a severe allergic reaction, such as swelling or difficulty breathing, or have had a severe reaction in the past.
Protect Yourself
Wear long sleeves, long pants, boots, and gloves. Wash exposed clothing separately in hot water with detergent.
Barrier skin creams, such as lotion containing bentoquatum, may offer some protection.
After use, clean tools with rubbing alcohol or soap and lots of water. Urushiol can remain active on the surface of objects for up to 5 years. Wear disposable gloves during this process.
Do not burn plants or brush piles that may contain poison ivy, poison oak, or poison sumac.
Inhaling smoke from burning plants can cause severe allergic respiratory problems.”
SOURCES USED FOR AUDIO AND OFFERING MORE INFORMATION
Jim Dunphy, “Poison Ivy, Oak, and Sumac Information Center,” online at https://poisonivy.aesir.com/view/welcome.html.
Mayo Clinic, “Poison Ivy Rash,” online at https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/poison-ivy/symptoms-causes/syc-20376485.
Amy Painter, Help a Virginia Tech science superhero put an end to poison ivy, Virginia Tech News, 10/23/17.
Texas Department of Insurance/Division of Workers’ Compensation, “Poison Ivy, Oak, and Sumac FactSheet,” online (as a PDF) at https://www.iwu.edu/physical-plant/tailgate/grounds-tailgate/april-poison-ivy-oak-sumac.pdf).
U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)/National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), “Poisonous Plants,” online at https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/plants/default.html.
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)/Natural Resources Conservation Service Plants Database:
“Toxicodendron,” online at https://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=TOXIC;
“Eastern Poison Ivy,” online at https://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=tora2;
“Atlantic Poison Oak,” online at https://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=TOPU2;
“Poison Sumac,” online at https://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=TOVE.
Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation/Natural Heritage Division, online at https://www.dcr.virginia.gov/natural-heritage/.
Virginia Native Plant Society, online at http://vnps.org/.
A.S. Weakley, J.C. Ludwig, and J.F. Townsend, Flora of Virginia, Bland Crowder, ed. Copyright by the Foundation of the Flora of Virginia Project, Inc., Richmond. Botanical Research Institute of Texas, Fort Worth, 2012.
RELATED VIRGINIA WATER RADIO EPISODES
All Water Radio episodes are listed by category at the Index link above (http://www.virginiawaterradio.org/p/index.html). See particularly the “Plants” subject category.
FOR VIRGINIA TEACHERS – RELATED STANDARDS OF LEARNING (SOLs) AND OTHER INFORMATION
Following are some Virginia Standards of Learning (SOLs) that may be supported by this episode’s audio/transcript, sources, or other information included in this post.
2013 Music SOLs
SOLs at various grade levels that call for “examining the relationship of music to the other fine arts and other fields of knowledge.”
2010 Science SOLs
Grades K-6 Earth Resources Theme
4.9 – Virginia natural resources, including watersheds, water resources, and organisms.
Grades K-6 Life Processes Theme
4.4 – basic plant anatomy and processes.
Grades K-6 Living Systems Theme
2.5 – living things as part of a system, including habitats.
6.7 – natural processes and human interactions that affect watershed systems; Virginia watersheds, water bodies, and wetlands; health and safety issues; and water monitoring.
Life Science Course
LS.4 – organisms’ classification based on features.
LS.11 – relationships between ecosystem dynamics and human activity.
Biology Course
BIO.8 – dynamic equilibria and interactions within populations, communities, and ecosystems; including nutrient cycling, succession, effects of natural events and human activities, and analysis of the flora, fauna, and microorganisms of Virginia ecosystems.
Virginia’s SOLs are available from the Virginia Department of Education, online at http://www.doe.virginia.gov/testing/.
Following are links to Water Radio episodes (various topics) designed especially for certain K-12 grade levels.
Episode 250, 1-26-15 – on boiling, for kindergarten through 3rd grade.
Episode 255, 3-2-15 – on density, for 5th and 6th grade.
Episode 282, 9-21-15 – on living vs. non-living, for kindergarten.
Episode 309, 3-28-16 – on temperature regulation in animals, for kindergarten through 12th grade.
Episode 333, 9-12-16 – on dissolved gases, especially dissolved oxygen in aquatic habitats, for 5th grade.
Episode 403, 1-15-18 – on freezing and ice, for kindergarten through 3rd grade.
Episode 404, 1-22-18 – on ice on ponds and lakes, for 4th through 8th grade.
Episode 406, 2-5-18 – on ice on rivers, for middle school.
Episode 407, 2-12-18 – on snow chemistry and physics, for high school.
Episode 483, 7-29-19 – on buoyancy and drag, for middle school and high school.
Episode 524, 5-11-20 – on sounds by water-related animals, for elementary school through high school.
Episode 531, 6-29-20 – on various ways that animals get water, for 3rd and 4th grade.
Tuesday, July 28, 2020
Tuesday, July 21, 2020
Episode 534 (7-20-20): Groundwater Issues and Innovation in Eastern Virginia
Click to listen to episode (5:05)
Sections below are the following:
Transcript of Audio
Audio Notes and Acknowledgments
Image
Sources
Related Water Radio Episodes
For Virginia Teachers (Relevant SOLs, etc.)
Unless otherwise noted, all Web addresses mentioned were functional as of 7-17-20.
TRANSCRIPT OF AUDIO
From the Cumberland Gap to the Atlantic Ocean, this is Virginia Water Radio for the week of July 20, 2020.
MUSIC – ~14 sec – instrumental
This week, that excerpt of “East Virginia,” performed by Timothy Seaman of Williamsburg, opens an episode about eastern Virginia groundwater and an ambitious groundwater-related project by the Hampton Roads Sanitation District, or HRSD.
We start with about 70 seconds of comments by David Paylor, the director of the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, or DEQ, during a January 18, 2017, meeting of the Virginia House of Delegate’s committee on Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources.
VOICE - ~68 sec – “...one of the most important issues that we have in the Commonwealth, and that’s making sure that we sustain our coastal groundwater resources…. By and large most of what I’ll say today is about the Potomac Aquifer. It is deep, thousands of feet down…and has a lot of water. It does not recharge in the same way that we think of groundwater recharging in the rest of the state. …So we have three issues with making sure that we don’t overuse our aquifer: we’ve got some declining water levels…; we have saltwater intrusion from pumping that’s reversed the flow of water; and we have subsidence, or land sinking. …The HRSD proposal has the potential to re-inject 100 million gallons per day into the aquifer, and it looks like it can work as it stands right now. That can deal with land subsidence, that can address saltwater intrusion, and it can also address availability of water. … But, as I said, groundwater moves slowly. So 25, 30 years before we begin to really see significant benefit, but we’ve got to start now.”
As Director Paylor noted, the Potomac Aquifer is a large, deep formation providing groundwater in Virginia’s Coastal Plain region; and this aquifer faces three major issues resulting from decades of withdrawals for human uses: reduced pressure, saltwater intrusion, and sinking land, also called subsidence. Natural recharge of the aquifer, which occurs near Virginia’s Fall Zone between the Piedmont and Coastal Plain regions, happens too slowly to replace what humans withdraw. One response to that in recent years has been reductions in the amount of groundwater withdrawals permitted by Virginia’s DEQ. Another response is the HRSD’s SWIFT project, short for Sustainable Water Initiative For Tomorrow. SWIFT’s concept is to take treated wastewater that would otherwise be discharged into area rivers, further treat the water so that it meets drinking water standards and matches chemical characteristics of Potomac Aquifer water, and then inject the water hundreds of feet deep into the aquifer. By its expected completion in 2032, the project would be adding 100 million gallons per day to the aquifer. Besides its predicted benefits of recharging the aquifer, SWIFT’s use of wastewater may also significantly reduce nutrient discharges into Chesapeake Bay tributaries.
SWIFT is a big, long-range idea for complicated water issues in Hampton Roads, and its progress is being watched by water professionals and communities well beyond eastern Virginia.
Thanks to Timothy Seaman for permission to use this week’s music, and we close with about 20 more seconds of “East Virginia.”
MUSIC - ~19 sec – instrumental
SHIP’S BELL
Virginia Water Radio is produced by the Virginia Water Resources Research Center, part of Virginia Tech’s College of Natural Resources and Environment. For more Virginia water sounds, music, or information, visit us online at virginiawaterradio.org, or call the Water Center at (540) 231-5624. Thanks to Stewart Scales for his banjo version of Cripple Creek to open and close this show. In Blacksburg, I’m Alan Raflo, thanking you for listening, and wishing you health, wisdom, and good water.
AUDIO NOTES AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The version heard here of “East Virginia,” from the 2006 album, “Jamestown: On the Edge of a Vast Continent,” is copyright by Timothy Seaman and Pine Wind Music, used with permission. More information about Timothy Seaman is available online at https://timothyseaman.com/en/. This music was used previously by Virginia Water Radio in Episode 496, 10-28-19.
The comments by Virginia Department of Environmental Quality Director David Paylor were excerpted from a Virginia Water Radio recording of the January 18, 2017, meeting of the Virginia House of Delegates’ Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources Committee in Richmond.
Click here if you’d like to hear the full version (1 min./11 sec.) of the “Cripple Creek” arrangement/performance by Stewart Scales that opens and closes this episode. More information about Mr. Scales and the group New Standard, with which Mr. Scales plays, is available online at http://newstandardbluegrass.com.
IMAGE
Map of the hydrogeology (water-related geology) of Virginia’s Coastal Plain, showing the location and thickness of the Potomac Aquifer relative to several other aquifers. Map from Randolph E. McFarland and Bruce T. Scott, “The Virginia Coastal Plain Hydrogeologic Framework,” U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1731, 2006, online at https://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/pp1731.
SOURCES
Used for Audio
James A. Bacon, “Saving the Potomac Aquifer,” Bacon’s Rebellion, 8/30/19, online at https://www.baconsrebellion.com/wp/saving-the-potomac-aquifer/.
Chuck Bailey, “Fall Zone,” College of William and Mary “The Geology of Virginia” blog, 8/8/16, online at http://geology.blogs.wm.edu/2016/08/08/fall-zone/.
Peter Chawaga, Virginia's Aquifer Recharge Project Receives Oversight Overhaul, Water Online, 3/7/19.
Katherine Hafner, HRSD is now injecting millions of gallons of treated wastewater into our aquifer, Norfolk Virginian-Pilot, 4/17/20.
Hampton Roads Sanitation District (HRSD), “James River Treatment Plant SWIFT Improvements,” online at https://www.hrsd.com/james-river-tp-swift-improvements.
HRSD, “SWIFT – Sustainable Water Initiative for Tomorrow,” online at https://www.hrsd.com/swift/. This is HRSD’s main Web site for the SWIFT project. The following sub-pages were consulted for this episode:
“The Potomac Aquifer—A Diminishing Resource,” online at https://www.hrsd.com/swift/potomac-aquifer-diminishing-resource;
“SWIFT FAQ,” online at https://www.hrsd.com/swift/faqs;
“SWIFT in the News,” online at https://www.hrsd.com/swift/news;
“What is SWIFT?” online at https://www.hrsd.com/swift/about.
Dave Ress, Virginia once feared some cities would run out of groundwater. But conservation efforts are working, [Newport News, Va.] Daily Press, 12/5/19.
Amanda Ruggeri, The ambitious plan to stop the ground from sinking, BBC, 12/1/17.
Rex Springston, New panel looks at why underground water is disappearing east of Interstate 95, Richmond Times-Dispatch, 8/18/15.
Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, Historic $100 Million in Funding Approved for Hampton Roads Water Improvement Projects, July 8, 2020, News Release.
Virginia Legislative Information System, 2019 Virginia General Assembly Senate Bill 1414, online at https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?ses=191&typ=bil&val=sb1414. This bill established an oversight committee for the SWIFT project. From the bill summary at this site: “The bill establishes a 10-member advisory board called the Potomac Aquifer Recharge Oversight Committee (the Committee), directing it to ensure that the SWIFT Project is monitored independently.”
Sarah Vogelsong, Hampton Roads wastewater-to-aquifer recharge project showing results, Bay Journal, 5/8/19.
For More Information about Eastern Virginia Water Resources
Randolph E. McFarland and Bruce T. Scott, “The Virginia Coastal Plain Hydrogeologic Framework,” U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1731, 2006, online at https://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/pp1731.
Virginia Legislative Audit and Review Commission (JLARC), “Effectiveness of Virginia’s Water Resource Planning and Management,” October 2016 (114 pages), available online at http://jlarc.virginia.gov/landing-water.asp.
Virginia Places, “Groundwater in Virginia,” online at http://www.virginiaplaces.org/watersheds/groundwater.html.
Virginia Water Resources Research Center, Virginia Water Central News Grouper: “Two Virginia Water Resources Studies Called for by 2015 General Assembly: 1) Eastern Virginia Groundwater Management Advisory Committee Convenes Aug. 18, 2015; 2) JLARC to Study Groundwater and Surface Water Planning and Management,” 8/17/15.
RELATED VIRGINIA WATER RADIO EPISODES
All Water Radio episodes are listed by category at the Index link above (http://www.virginiawaterradio.org/p/index.html). See particularly the “Groundwater” subject category.
FOR VIRGINIA TEACHERS – RELATED STANDARDS OF LEARNING (SOLs) AND OTHER INFORMATION
Following are some Virginia Standards of Learning (SOLs) that may be supported by this episode’s audio/transcript, sources, or other information included in this post.
2013 Music SOLs
SOLs at various grade levels that call for “examining the relationship of music to the other fine arts and other fields of knowledge.”
2010 Science SOLs
Grades K-6 Earth Patterns, Cycles, and Change Theme
3.9 – Water cycle, including sources of water, energy driving water cycle, water essential for living things, and water limitations and conservation.
Grades K-6 Earth Resources Theme
3.10 – impacts on survival of species, including effects of fire, flood, disease, and erosion on organisms; effects of human activity on air, water and habitat; and conservation and resource renewal.
4.9 – Virginia natural resources, including watersheds, water resources, and organisms.
6.9 – public policy decisions related to the environment (including resource management and conservation, land use decisions, hazard mitigation, and cost/benefit assessments).
Grades K-6 Living Systems Theme
6.7 – natural processes and human interactions that affect watershed systems; Virginia watersheds, water bodies, and wetlands; health and safety issues; and water monitoring.
Grades K-6 Matter Theme
6.5 – properties and characteristics of water and its roles in the human and natural environment.
Life Science Course
LS.11 – relationships between ecosystem dynamics and human activity.
Earth Science Course
ES.1 – current applications to reinforce science concepts.
ES.6 – renewable vs. non-renewable resources (including energy resources).
ES.7 – geologic processes, including plate tectonics.
ES.8 – influences by geologic processes and the activities of humans on freshwater resources, including identification of groundwater and major watershed systems in Virginia, with reference to the hydrologic cycle.
ES.10 – ocean processes, interactions, and policies affecting coastal zones, including Chesapeake Bay.
2015 Social Studies SOLs
Grades K-3 Economics Theme
2.8 – natural, human, and capital resources.
3.8 – understanding of cultures and of how natural, human, and capital resources are used for goods and services.
Virginia Studies Course
VS.1 – impact of geographic features on people, places, and events in Virginia history.
VS.10 – knowledge of government, geography, and economics in present-day Virginia.
Civics and Economics Course
CE.7 – government at the state level.
CE.8 – government at the local level.
CE.10 – public policy at local, state, and national levels.
World Geography Course
WG.2 – how selected physical and ecological processes shape the Earth’s surface, including climate, weather, and how humans influence their environment and are influenced by it.
WG.3 – how regional landscapes reflect the physical environment and the cultural characteristics of their inhabitants.
WG.18 – cooperation among political jurisdictions to solve problems and settle disputes.
Government Course
GOVT.8 – state and local government organization and powers.
GOVT.9 – public policy process at local, state, and national levels.
GOVT.15 – role of government in Va. and U.S. economies, including examining environmental issues and property rights.
Virginia’s SOLs are available from the Virginia Department of Education, online at http://www.doe.virginia.gov/testing/.
Following are links to Water Radio episodes (various topics) designed especially for certain K-12 grade levels.
Episode 250, 1-26-15 – on boiling, for kindergarten through 3rd grade.
Episode 255, 3-2-15 – on density, for 5th and 6th grade.
Episode 282, 9-21-15 – on living vs. non-living, for kindergarten.
Episode 309, 3-28-16 – on temperature regulation in animals, for kindergarten through 12th grade.
Episode 333, 9-12-16 – on dissolved gases, especially dissolved oxygen in aquatic habitats, for 5th grade.
Episode 403, 1-15-18 – on freezing and ice, for kindergarten through 3rd grade.
Episode 404, 1-22-18 – on ice on ponds and lakes, for 4th through 8th grade.
Episode 406, 2-5-18 – on ice on rivers, for middle school.
Episode 407, 2-12-18 – on snow chemistry and physics, for high school.
Episode 483, 7-29-19 – on buoyancy and drag, for middle school and high school.
Episode 524, 5-11-20 – on sounds by water-related animals, for elementary school through high school.
Episode 531, 6-29-20 – on various ways that animals get water, for 3rd and 4th grade.
Sections below are the following:
Transcript of Audio
Audio Notes and Acknowledgments
Image
Sources
Related Water Radio Episodes
For Virginia Teachers (Relevant SOLs, etc.)
Unless otherwise noted, all Web addresses mentioned were functional as of 7-17-20.
TRANSCRIPT OF AUDIO
From the Cumberland Gap to the Atlantic Ocean, this is Virginia Water Radio for the week of July 20, 2020.
MUSIC – ~14 sec – instrumental
This week, that excerpt of “East Virginia,” performed by Timothy Seaman of Williamsburg, opens an episode about eastern Virginia groundwater and an ambitious groundwater-related project by the Hampton Roads Sanitation District, or HRSD.
We start with about 70 seconds of comments by David Paylor, the director of the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, or DEQ, during a January 18, 2017, meeting of the Virginia House of Delegate’s committee on Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources.
VOICE - ~68 sec – “...one of the most important issues that we have in the Commonwealth, and that’s making sure that we sustain our coastal groundwater resources…. By and large most of what I’ll say today is about the Potomac Aquifer. It is deep, thousands of feet down…and has a lot of water. It does not recharge in the same way that we think of groundwater recharging in the rest of the state. …So we have three issues with making sure that we don’t overuse our aquifer: we’ve got some declining water levels…; we have saltwater intrusion from pumping that’s reversed the flow of water; and we have subsidence, or land sinking. …The HRSD proposal has the potential to re-inject 100 million gallons per day into the aquifer, and it looks like it can work as it stands right now. That can deal with land subsidence, that can address saltwater intrusion, and it can also address availability of water. … But, as I said, groundwater moves slowly. So 25, 30 years before we begin to really see significant benefit, but we’ve got to start now.”
As Director Paylor noted, the Potomac Aquifer is a large, deep formation providing groundwater in Virginia’s Coastal Plain region; and this aquifer faces three major issues resulting from decades of withdrawals for human uses: reduced pressure, saltwater intrusion, and sinking land, also called subsidence. Natural recharge of the aquifer, which occurs near Virginia’s Fall Zone between the Piedmont and Coastal Plain regions, happens too slowly to replace what humans withdraw. One response to that in recent years has been reductions in the amount of groundwater withdrawals permitted by Virginia’s DEQ. Another response is the HRSD’s SWIFT project, short for Sustainable Water Initiative For Tomorrow. SWIFT’s concept is to take treated wastewater that would otherwise be discharged into area rivers, further treat the water so that it meets drinking water standards and matches chemical characteristics of Potomac Aquifer water, and then inject the water hundreds of feet deep into the aquifer. By its expected completion in 2032, the project would be adding 100 million gallons per day to the aquifer. Besides its predicted benefits of recharging the aquifer, SWIFT’s use of wastewater may also significantly reduce nutrient discharges into Chesapeake Bay tributaries.
SWIFT is a big, long-range idea for complicated water issues in Hampton Roads, and its progress is being watched by water professionals and communities well beyond eastern Virginia.
Thanks to Timothy Seaman for permission to use this week’s music, and we close with about 20 more seconds of “East Virginia.”
MUSIC - ~19 sec – instrumental
SHIP’S BELL
Virginia Water Radio is produced by the Virginia Water Resources Research Center, part of Virginia Tech’s College of Natural Resources and Environment. For more Virginia water sounds, music, or information, visit us online at virginiawaterradio.org, or call the Water Center at (540) 231-5624. Thanks to Stewart Scales for his banjo version of Cripple Creek to open and close this show. In Blacksburg, I’m Alan Raflo, thanking you for listening, and wishing you health, wisdom, and good water.
AUDIO NOTES AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The version heard here of “East Virginia,” from the 2006 album, “Jamestown: On the Edge of a Vast Continent,” is copyright by Timothy Seaman and Pine Wind Music, used with permission. More information about Timothy Seaman is available online at https://timothyseaman.com/en/. This music was used previously by Virginia Water Radio in Episode 496, 10-28-19.
The comments by Virginia Department of Environmental Quality Director David Paylor were excerpted from a Virginia Water Radio recording of the January 18, 2017, meeting of the Virginia House of Delegates’ Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources Committee in Richmond.
Click here if you’d like to hear the full version (1 min./11 sec.) of the “Cripple Creek” arrangement/performance by Stewart Scales that opens and closes this episode. More information about Mr. Scales and the group New Standard, with which Mr. Scales plays, is available online at http://newstandardbluegrass.com.
IMAGE
Map of the hydrogeology (water-related geology) of Virginia’s Coastal Plain, showing the location and thickness of the Potomac Aquifer relative to several other aquifers. Map from Randolph E. McFarland and Bruce T. Scott, “The Virginia Coastal Plain Hydrogeologic Framework,” U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1731, 2006, online at https://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/pp1731.
SOURCES
Used for Audio
James A. Bacon, “Saving the Potomac Aquifer,” Bacon’s Rebellion, 8/30/19, online at https://www.baconsrebellion.com/wp/saving-the-potomac-aquifer/.
Chuck Bailey, “Fall Zone,” College of William and Mary “The Geology of Virginia” blog, 8/8/16, online at http://geology.blogs.wm.edu/2016/08/08/fall-zone/.
Peter Chawaga, Virginia's Aquifer Recharge Project Receives Oversight Overhaul, Water Online, 3/7/19.
Katherine Hafner, HRSD is now injecting millions of gallons of treated wastewater into our aquifer, Norfolk Virginian-Pilot, 4/17/20.
Hampton Roads Sanitation District (HRSD), “James River Treatment Plant SWIFT Improvements,” online at https://www.hrsd.com/james-river-tp-swift-improvements.
HRSD, “SWIFT – Sustainable Water Initiative for Tomorrow,” online at https://www.hrsd.com/swift/. This is HRSD’s main Web site for the SWIFT project. The following sub-pages were consulted for this episode:
“The Potomac Aquifer—A Diminishing Resource,” online at https://www.hrsd.com/swift/potomac-aquifer-diminishing-resource;
“SWIFT FAQ,” online at https://www.hrsd.com/swift/faqs;
“SWIFT in the News,” online at https://www.hrsd.com/swift/news;
“What is SWIFT?” online at https://www.hrsd.com/swift/about.
Dave Ress, Virginia once feared some cities would run out of groundwater. But conservation efforts are working, [Newport News, Va.] Daily Press, 12/5/19.
Amanda Ruggeri, The ambitious plan to stop the ground from sinking, BBC, 12/1/17.
Rex Springston, New panel looks at why underground water is disappearing east of Interstate 95, Richmond Times-Dispatch, 8/18/15.
Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, Historic $100 Million in Funding Approved for Hampton Roads Water Improvement Projects, July 8, 2020, News Release.
Virginia Legislative Information System, 2019 Virginia General Assembly Senate Bill 1414, online at https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?ses=191&typ=bil&val=sb1414. This bill established an oversight committee for the SWIFT project. From the bill summary at this site: “The bill establishes a 10-member advisory board called the Potomac Aquifer Recharge Oversight Committee (the Committee), directing it to ensure that the SWIFT Project is monitored independently.”
Sarah Vogelsong, Hampton Roads wastewater-to-aquifer recharge project showing results, Bay Journal, 5/8/19.
For More Information about Eastern Virginia Water Resources
Randolph E. McFarland and Bruce T. Scott, “The Virginia Coastal Plain Hydrogeologic Framework,” U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1731, 2006, online at https://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/pp1731.
Virginia Legislative Audit and Review Commission (JLARC), “Effectiveness of Virginia’s Water Resource Planning and Management,” October 2016 (114 pages), available online at http://jlarc.virginia.gov/landing-water.asp.
Virginia Places, “Groundwater in Virginia,” online at http://www.virginiaplaces.org/watersheds/groundwater.html.
Virginia Water Resources Research Center, Virginia Water Central News Grouper: “Two Virginia Water Resources Studies Called for by 2015 General Assembly: 1) Eastern Virginia Groundwater Management Advisory Committee Convenes Aug. 18, 2015; 2) JLARC to Study Groundwater and Surface Water Planning and Management,” 8/17/15.
RELATED VIRGINIA WATER RADIO EPISODES
All Water Radio episodes are listed by category at the Index link above (http://www.virginiawaterradio.org/p/index.html). See particularly the “Groundwater” subject category.
FOR VIRGINIA TEACHERS – RELATED STANDARDS OF LEARNING (SOLs) AND OTHER INFORMATION
Following are some Virginia Standards of Learning (SOLs) that may be supported by this episode’s audio/transcript, sources, or other information included in this post.
2013 Music SOLs
SOLs at various grade levels that call for “examining the relationship of music to the other fine arts and other fields of knowledge.”
2010 Science SOLs
Grades K-6 Earth Patterns, Cycles, and Change Theme
3.9 – Water cycle, including sources of water, energy driving water cycle, water essential for living things, and water limitations and conservation.
Grades K-6 Earth Resources Theme
3.10 – impacts on survival of species, including effects of fire, flood, disease, and erosion on organisms; effects of human activity on air, water and habitat; and conservation and resource renewal.
4.9 – Virginia natural resources, including watersheds, water resources, and organisms.
6.9 – public policy decisions related to the environment (including resource management and conservation, land use decisions, hazard mitigation, and cost/benefit assessments).
Grades K-6 Living Systems Theme
6.7 – natural processes and human interactions that affect watershed systems; Virginia watersheds, water bodies, and wetlands; health and safety issues; and water monitoring.
Grades K-6 Matter Theme
6.5 – properties and characteristics of water and its roles in the human and natural environment.
Life Science Course
LS.11 – relationships between ecosystem dynamics and human activity.
Earth Science Course
ES.1 – current applications to reinforce science concepts.
ES.6 – renewable vs. non-renewable resources (including energy resources).
ES.7 – geologic processes, including plate tectonics.
ES.8 – influences by geologic processes and the activities of humans on freshwater resources, including identification of groundwater and major watershed systems in Virginia, with reference to the hydrologic cycle.
ES.10 – ocean processes, interactions, and policies affecting coastal zones, including Chesapeake Bay.
2015 Social Studies SOLs
Grades K-3 Economics Theme
2.8 – natural, human, and capital resources.
3.8 – understanding of cultures and of how natural, human, and capital resources are used for goods and services.
Virginia Studies Course
VS.1 – impact of geographic features on people, places, and events in Virginia history.
VS.10 – knowledge of government, geography, and economics in present-day Virginia.
Civics and Economics Course
CE.7 – government at the state level.
CE.8 – government at the local level.
CE.10 – public policy at local, state, and national levels.
World Geography Course
WG.2 – how selected physical and ecological processes shape the Earth’s surface, including climate, weather, and how humans influence their environment and are influenced by it.
WG.3 – how regional landscapes reflect the physical environment and the cultural characteristics of their inhabitants.
WG.18 – cooperation among political jurisdictions to solve problems and settle disputes.
Government Course
GOVT.8 – state and local government organization and powers.
GOVT.9 – public policy process at local, state, and national levels.
GOVT.15 – role of government in Va. and U.S. economies, including examining environmental issues and property rights.
Virginia’s SOLs are available from the Virginia Department of Education, online at http://www.doe.virginia.gov/testing/.
Following are links to Water Radio episodes (various topics) designed especially for certain K-12 grade levels.
Episode 250, 1-26-15 – on boiling, for kindergarten through 3rd grade.
Episode 255, 3-2-15 – on density, for 5th and 6th grade.
Episode 282, 9-21-15 – on living vs. non-living, for kindergarten.
Episode 309, 3-28-16 – on temperature regulation in animals, for kindergarten through 12th grade.
Episode 333, 9-12-16 – on dissolved gases, especially dissolved oxygen in aquatic habitats, for 5th grade.
Episode 403, 1-15-18 – on freezing and ice, for kindergarten through 3rd grade.
Episode 404, 1-22-18 – on ice on ponds and lakes, for 4th through 8th grade.
Episode 406, 2-5-18 – on ice on rivers, for middle school.
Episode 407, 2-12-18 – on snow chemistry and physics, for high school.
Episode 483, 7-29-19 – on buoyancy and drag, for middle school and high school.
Episode 524, 5-11-20 – on sounds by water-related animals, for elementary school through high school.
Episode 531, 6-29-20 – on various ways that animals get water, for 3rd and 4th grade.
Monday, July 13, 2020
Episode 533 (7-13-20): An Introduction to the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation
Click to listen to episode (5:02)
Sections below are the following:
Transcript of Audio
Audio Notes and Acknowledgments
Images
Sources
Related Water Radio Episodes
For Virginia Teachers (Relevant SOLs, etc.)
Unless otherwise noted, all Web addresses mentioned were functional as of 7-10-20.
TRANSCRIPT OF AUDIO
From the Cumberland Gap to the Atlantic Ocean, this is Virginia Water Radio for the week of July 13, 2020.
MUSIC – ~11 sec – Lyrics: “It makes you different where you go.”
This week, that excerpt of “Rescue Me, Virginia,” by the Blue Ridge and Shenandoah Valley-based band, The Steel Wheels, opens an episode about a state agency focused on conservation and enjoyment of Virginia’s lands, waters, and creatures. Have a listen to the music for about another minute, and see if you know that agency. And here’s a hint: Conserving resources can help allow meaningful experiences to be re-created.
MUSIC - ~65 sec – Lyrics: “I love the West; Colorado is a promise I could keep. She’s younger and wild, but those aren’t the mountains calling me. Oh, I’m not from here, but this is where I want my roots to grow. And all the miles that I’ve traveled, it’s good to finally find myself at home. Oh, rescue me, Virginia, rescue me. Sing the songs from the ancients, wash me in the sea. Rescue me, Virginia, rescue me; oh, rescue me.”
If you guessed the Department of Conservation and Recreation, you’re right! That agency, known by the shorthand of DCR, began in 1926 as the State Commission on Conservation and Development, with a range of duties including water power, geology, forestry, and parks. By 1948 it had become the Department of Conservation and Development, and in the late 1980s it took on its current name. According to its Web site, the department is, quote, “the state's lead natural resource conservation agency” and seeks to protect “natural habitat, parks, clean water, dams, open space, and access to the outdoors.” The department includes six main areas: dam safety and floodplain management; outdoor recreational planning; soil and water conservation; land conservation; state parks; and natural heritage, that is, stewardship of the Commonwealth’s biodiversity. Its work ranges from managing Virginia’s state parks, to helping farmers manage nutrients in runoff, to developing the Virginia Outdoors Plan, to helping protect Virginia’s caves and other karst features.
DCR’s most recent strategic plan says that these and other department activities are intended to provide opportunities that enable and encourage Virginians to enjoy, protect, and restore their natural and cultural resources. Given life’s many stresses, opportunities like that amidst Virginia’s rich natural heritage may indeed feel like a rescue.
Thanks to The Steel Wheels for permission to use this week’s music, and we close with about 20 more seconds of “Rescue Me, Virginia.”
MUSIC - ~22 sec – Lyrics: “Rescue me, Virginia, rescue me. Oh, rescue me.”
SHIP’S BELL
Virginia Water Radio is produced by the Virginia Water Resources Research Center, part of Virginia Tech’s College of Natural Resources and Environment. For more Virginia water sounds, music, or information, visit us online at virginiawaterradio.org, or call the Water Center at (540) 231-5624. Thanks to Ben Cosgrove for his version of “Shenandoah” to open and close the show. In Blacksburg, I’m Alan Raflo, thanking you for listening, and wishing you health, wisdom, and good water.
AUDIO NOTES AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
“Rescue Me, Virginia,” from the 2015 album “Leave Some Things Behind,” is copyright by The Steel Wheels, used with permission. More information about this album is available online at https://stores.portmerch.com/thesteelwheels/music/leave-some-things-behind-cd-download.html. More information about The Steel Wheels is available online at https://www.thesteelwheels.com/, at https://www.facebook.com/thesteelwheels/, and in a July 2015 article at http://whurk.org/29/the-steel-wheels. This song was used previously by Virginia Water Radio in Episode 331, 8-29-16.
Click here if you’d like to hear the full version (2 min./22 sec.) of the “Shenandoah” arrangement/performance by Ben Cosgrove that opens and closes this episode. More information about Mr. Cosgrove is available online at http://www.bencosgrove.com.
IMAGES
The images below are courtesy of the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, accessed at the Department’s photo gallery online at https://www.flickr.com/photos/vadcr/.
Cliffs along the Potomac River in Westmoreland State Park, Westmoreland County. Specific URL for this photo was https://www.flickr.com/photos/vadcr/14443116802/in/album-72157603452651313/.
Fall colors in Grayson Highlands State Park, Grayson County. Specific URL for this photo is https://www.flickr.com/photos/vadcr/2223775818/in/album-72157603361868744/.
Rail fence at Staunton River Battlefield State Park, Charlotte and Halifax counties. Specific URL for this photo was https://www.flickr.com/photos/vadcr/2229854178/in/album-72157603482925029/.
SOURCES USED FOR AUDIO AND OFFERING MORE INFORMATION
Virginia Code, “Title 10.1. Conservation/Subtitle 1. Activities Administered by the Department of Conservation and Recreation, Chapter 1. General Provisions,” online at https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title10.1/chapter1/.
Virginia Department of Conservation and Development, Division of History, Records, 1927-1950. Accession 24806a-c, 25913 and 41571, State Records Collection, The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia. Accessed online at http://ead.lib.virginia.edu/vivaxtf/view?docId=lva/vi00960.xml.
Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR), online at https://www.dcr.virginia.gov/. Web sites for the major activities within the Department are the following:
Division of Dam Safety and Floodplain Management, online at http://www.dcr.virginia.gov/dam-safety-and-floodplains/;
Division of Natural Heritage (including biodiversity, natural preserves, caves and karst), online at https://www.dcr.virginia.gov/natural-heritage/;
Division of Planning and Recreational Resources, online at http://www.dcr.virginia.gov/recreational-planning/;
Division of Soil and Water Conservation, online at http://www.dcr.virginia.gov/soil-and-water/;
Division of State Parks, online at http://www.dcr.virginia.gov/state-parks/;
Office of Land Conservation, online at http://www.dcr.virginia.gov/land-conservation/.
Virginia DCR, “About DCR,” online at https://www.dcr.virginia.gov/aboutus.
Virginia DCR, “Brochure,” online (as a PDF) at https://www.dcr.virginia.gov/document/dcr-bro.pdf.
Virginia DCR, “2014-2016 Strategic Plan,” online (as a PDF) at https://www.dcr.virginia.gov/document/dcr-strat-plan.pdf.
RELATED VIRGINIA WATER RADIO EPISODES
All Water Radio episodes are listed by category at the Index link above (http://www.virginiawaterradio.org/p/index.html). See particularly the “Community/Organizations” subject category.
Following are links to other episodes with information related to the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR).
Episode 161, 5-13-13 – on Virginia’s state parks and National Kids to Parks Day.
Episode 320, 6-13-16 – on the 80th anniversary of Virginia state parks.
Episode 378, 7-24-17 – on water quality management in Virginia, including the role of the DCR.
FOR VIRGINIA TEACHERS – RELATED STANDARDS OF LEARNING (SOLs) AND OTHER INFORMATION
Following are some Virginia Standards of Learning (SOLs) that may be supported by this episode’s audio/transcript, sources, or other information included in this post.
2013 Music SOLs
SOLs at various grade levels that call for “examining the relationship of music to the other fine arts and other fields of knowledge.”
2010 Science SOLs
Grades K-6 Earth Resources Theme
6.9 – public policy decisions related to the environment (including resource management and conservation, land use decisions, hazard mitigation, and cost/benefit assessments).
Life Science Course
LS.11 – relationships between ecosystem dynamics and human activity.
Earth Science Course
ES.8 – influences by geologic processes and the activities of humans on freshwater resources, including identification of groundwater and major watershed systems in Virginia, with reference to the hydrologic cycle.
ES.10 – ocean processes, interactions, and policies affecting coastal zones, including Chesapeake Bay.
Biology Course
BIO.8 – dynamic equilibria and interactions within populations, communities, and ecosystems; including nutrient cycling, succession, effects of natural events and human activities, and analysis of the flora, fauna, and microorganisms of Virginia ecosystems.
2015 Social Studies SOLs
Grades K-3 Geography Theme
1.6 – Virginia climate, seasons, and landforms.
Grades K-3 Economics Theme
2.8 – natural, human, and capital resources.
Virginia Studies Course
VS.10 – knowledge of government, geography, and economics in present-day Virginia.
Civics and Economics Course
CE.7 – government at the state level.
CE.10 – public policy at local, state, and national levels.
World Geography Course
WG.2 – how selected physical and ecological processes shape the Earth’s surface, including climate, weather, and how humans influence their environment and are influenced by it.
WG.3 – how regional landscapes reflect the physical environment and the cultural characteristics of their inhabitants.
WG.4 – types and significance of natural, human, and capital resources.
Government Course
GOVT.8 – state and local government organization and powers.
GOVT.9 – public policy process at local, state, and national levels.
GOVT.15 – role of government in Va. and U.S. economies, including examining environmental issues and property rights.
Virginia’s SOLs are available from the Virginia Department of Education, online at http://www.doe.virginia.gov/testing/.
Following are links to Water Radio episodes (various topics) designed especially for certain K-12 grade levels.
Episode 250, 1-26-15 – on boiling, for kindergarten through 3rd grade.
Episode 255, 3-2-15 – on density, for 5th and 6th grade.
Episode 282, 9-21-15 – on living vs. non-living, for kindergarten.
Episode 309, 3-28-16 – on temperature regulation in animals, for kindergarten through 12th grade.
Episode 333, 9-12-16 – on dissolved gases, especially dissolved oxygen in aquatic habitats, for 5th grade.
Episode 403, 1-15-18 – on freezing and ice, for kindergarten through 3rd grade.
Episode 404, 1-22-18 – on ice on ponds and lakes, for 4th through 8th grade.
Episode 406, 2-5-18 – on ice on rivers, for middle school.
Episode 407, 2-12-18 – on snow chemistry and physics, for high school.
Episode 483, 7-29-19 – on buoyancy and drag, for middle school and high school.
Episode 524, 5-11-20 – on sounds by water-related animals, for elementary school through high school.
Episode 531, 6-29-20 – on various ways that animals get water, for 3rd and 4th grade.
Sections below are the following:
Transcript of Audio
Audio Notes and Acknowledgments
Images
Sources
Related Water Radio Episodes
For Virginia Teachers (Relevant SOLs, etc.)
Unless otherwise noted, all Web addresses mentioned were functional as of 7-10-20.
TRANSCRIPT OF AUDIO
From the Cumberland Gap to the Atlantic Ocean, this is Virginia Water Radio for the week of July 13, 2020.
MUSIC – ~11 sec – Lyrics: “It makes you different where you go.”
This week, that excerpt of “Rescue Me, Virginia,” by the Blue Ridge and Shenandoah Valley-based band, The Steel Wheels, opens an episode about a state agency focused on conservation and enjoyment of Virginia’s lands, waters, and creatures. Have a listen to the music for about another minute, and see if you know that agency. And here’s a hint: Conserving resources can help allow meaningful experiences to be re-created.
MUSIC - ~65 sec – Lyrics: “I love the West; Colorado is a promise I could keep. She’s younger and wild, but those aren’t the mountains calling me. Oh, I’m not from here, but this is where I want my roots to grow. And all the miles that I’ve traveled, it’s good to finally find myself at home. Oh, rescue me, Virginia, rescue me. Sing the songs from the ancients, wash me in the sea. Rescue me, Virginia, rescue me; oh, rescue me.”
If you guessed the Department of Conservation and Recreation, you’re right! That agency, known by the shorthand of DCR, began in 1926 as the State Commission on Conservation and Development, with a range of duties including water power, geology, forestry, and parks. By 1948 it had become the Department of Conservation and Development, and in the late 1980s it took on its current name. According to its Web site, the department is, quote, “the state's lead natural resource conservation agency” and seeks to protect “natural habitat, parks, clean water, dams, open space, and access to the outdoors.” The department includes six main areas: dam safety and floodplain management; outdoor recreational planning; soil and water conservation; land conservation; state parks; and natural heritage, that is, stewardship of the Commonwealth’s biodiversity. Its work ranges from managing Virginia’s state parks, to helping farmers manage nutrients in runoff, to developing the Virginia Outdoors Plan, to helping protect Virginia’s caves and other karst features.
DCR’s most recent strategic plan says that these and other department activities are intended to provide opportunities that enable and encourage Virginians to enjoy, protect, and restore their natural and cultural resources. Given life’s many stresses, opportunities like that amidst Virginia’s rich natural heritage may indeed feel like a rescue.
Thanks to The Steel Wheels for permission to use this week’s music, and we close with about 20 more seconds of “Rescue Me, Virginia.”
MUSIC - ~22 sec – Lyrics: “Rescue me, Virginia, rescue me. Oh, rescue me.”
SHIP’S BELL
Virginia Water Radio is produced by the Virginia Water Resources Research Center, part of Virginia Tech’s College of Natural Resources and Environment. For more Virginia water sounds, music, or information, visit us online at virginiawaterradio.org, or call the Water Center at (540) 231-5624. Thanks to Ben Cosgrove for his version of “Shenandoah” to open and close the show. In Blacksburg, I’m Alan Raflo, thanking you for listening, and wishing you health, wisdom, and good water.
AUDIO NOTES AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
“Rescue Me, Virginia,” from the 2015 album “Leave Some Things Behind,” is copyright by The Steel Wheels, used with permission. More information about this album is available online at https://stores.portmerch.com/thesteelwheels/music/leave-some-things-behind-cd-download.html. More information about The Steel Wheels is available online at https://www.thesteelwheels.com/, at https://www.facebook.com/thesteelwheels/, and in a July 2015 article at http://whurk.org/29/the-steel-wheels. This song was used previously by Virginia Water Radio in Episode 331, 8-29-16.
Click here if you’d like to hear the full version (2 min./22 sec.) of the “Shenandoah” arrangement/performance by Ben Cosgrove that opens and closes this episode. More information about Mr. Cosgrove is available online at http://www.bencosgrove.com.
IMAGES
The images below are courtesy of the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, accessed at the Department’s photo gallery online at https://www.flickr.com/photos/vadcr/.
Cliffs along the Potomac River in Westmoreland State Park, Westmoreland County. Specific URL for this photo was https://www.flickr.com/photos/vadcr/14443116802/in/album-72157603452651313/.
Fall colors in Grayson Highlands State Park, Grayson County. Specific URL for this photo is https://www.flickr.com/photos/vadcr/2223775818/in/album-72157603361868744/.
Rail fence at Staunton River Battlefield State Park, Charlotte and Halifax counties. Specific URL for this photo was https://www.flickr.com/photos/vadcr/2229854178/in/album-72157603482925029/.
SOURCES USED FOR AUDIO AND OFFERING MORE INFORMATION
Virginia Code, “Title 10.1. Conservation/Subtitle 1. Activities Administered by the Department of Conservation and Recreation, Chapter 1. General Provisions,” online at https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title10.1/chapter1/.
Virginia Department of Conservation and Development, Division of History, Records, 1927-1950. Accession 24806a-c, 25913 and 41571, State Records Collection, The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia. Accessed online at http://ead.lib.virginia.edu/vivaxtf/view?docId=lva/vi00960.xml.
Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR), online at https://www.dcr.virginia.gov/. Web sites for the major activities within the Department are the following:
Division of Dam Safety and Floodplain Management, online at http://www.dcr.virginia.gov/dam-safety-and-floodplains/;
Division of Natural Heritage (including biodiversity, natural preserves, caves and karst), online at https://www.dcr.virginia.gov/natural-heritage/;
Division of Planning and Recreational Resources, online at http://www.dcr.virginia.gov/recreational-planning/;
Division of Soil and Water Conservation, online at http://www.dcr.virginia.gov/soil-and-water/;
Division of State Parks, online at http://www.dcr.virginia.gov/state-parks/;
Office of Land Conservation, online at http://www.dcr.virginia.gov/land-conservation/.
Virginia DCR, “About DCR,” online at https://www.dcr.virginia.gov/aboutus.
Virginia DCR, “Brochure,” online (as a PDF) at https://www.dcr.virginia.gov/document/dcr-bro.pdf.
Virginia DCR, “2014-2016 Strategic Plan,” online (as a PDF) at https://www.dcr.virginia.gov/document/dcr-strat-plan.pdf.
RELATED VIRGINIA WATER RADIO EPISODES
All Water Radio episodes are listed by category at the Index link above (http://www.virginiawaterradio.org/p/index.html). See particularly the “Community/Organizations” subject category.
Following are links to other episodes with information related to the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR).
Episode 161, 5-13-13 – on Virginia’s state parks and National Kids to Parks Day.
Episode 320, 6-13-16 – on the 80th anniversary of Virginia state parks.
Episode 378, 7-24-17 – on water quality management in Virginia, including the role of the DCR.
FOR VIRGINIA TEACHERS – RELATED STANDARDS OF LEARNING (SOLs) AND OTHER INFORMATION
Following are some Virginia Standards of Learning (SOLs) that may be supported by this episode’s audio/transcript, sources, or other information included in this post.
2013 Music SOLs
SOLs at various grade levels that call for “examining the relationship of music to the other fine arts and other fields of knowledge.”
2010 Science SOLs
Grades K-6 Earth Resources Theme
6.9 – public policy decisions related to the environment (including resource management and conservation, land use decisions, hazard mitigation, and cost/benefit assessments).
Life Science Course
LS.11 – relationships between ecosystem dynamics and human activity.
Earth Science Course
ES.8 – influences by geologic processes and the activities of humans on freshwater resources, including identification of groundwater and major watershed systems in Virginia, with reference to the hydrologic cycle.
ES.10 – ocean processes, interactions, and policies affecting coastal zones, including Chesapeake Bay.
Biology Course
BIO.8 – dynamic equilibria and interactions within populations, communities, and ecosystems; including nutrient cycling, succession, effects of natural events and human activities, and analysis of the flora, fauna, and microorganisms of Virginia ecosystems.
2015 Social Studies SOLs
Grades K-3 Geography Theme
1.6 – Virginia climate, seasons, and landforms.
Grades K-3 Economics Theme
2.8 – natural, human, and capital resources.
Virginia Studies Course
VS.10 – knowledge of government, geography, and economics in present-day Virginia.
Civics and Economics Course
CE.7 – government at the state level.
CE.10 – public policy at local, state, and national levels.
World Geography Course
WG.2 – how selected physical and ecological processes shape the Earth’s surface, including climate, weather, and how humans influence their environment and are influenced by it.
WG.3 – how regional landscapes reflect the physical environment and the cultural characteristics of their inhabitants.
WG.4 – types and significance of natural, human, and capital resources.
Government Course
GOVT.8 – state and local government organization and powers.
GOVT.9 – public policy process at local, state, and national levels.
GOVT.15 – role of government in Va. and U.S. economies, including examining environmental issues and property rights.
Virginia’s SOLs are available from the Virginia Department of Education, online at http://www.doe.virginia.gov/testing/.
Following are links to Water Radio episodes (various topics) designed especially for certain K-12 grade levels.
Episode 250, 1-26-15 – on boiling, for kindergarten through 3rd grade.
Episode 255, 3-2-15 – on density, for 5th and 6th grade.
Episode 282, 9-21-15 – on living vs. non-living, for kindergarten.
Episode 309, 3-28-16 – on temperature regulation in animals, for kindergarten through 12th grade.
Episode 333, 9-12-16 – on dissolved gases, especially dissolved oxygen in aquatic habitats, for 5th grade.
Episode 403, 1-15-18 – on freezing and ice, for kindergarten through 3rd grade.
Episode 404, 1-22-18 – on ice on ponds and lakes, for 4th through 8th grade.
Episode 406, 2-5-18 – on ice on rivers, for middle school.
Episode 407, 2-12-18 – on snow chemistry and physics, for high school.
Episode 483, 7-29-19 – on buoyancy and drag, for middle school and high school.
Episode 524, 5-11-20 – on sounds by water-related animals, for elementary school through high school.
Episode 531, 6-29-20 – on various ways that animals get water, for 3rd and 4th grade.
Wednesday, July 8, 2020
Episode 532 (7-6-20): Weather Balloons are a Time-tested Tool Launched Twice Daily
Click to listen to episode (5:38)
Sections below are the following:
Transcript of Audio
Audio Notes and Acknowledgments
Images
Sources
Related Water Radio Episodes
For Virginia Teachers (Relevant SOLs, etc.)
Unless otherwise noted, all Web addresses mentioned were functional as of 7-3-20.
TRANSCRIPT OF AUDIO
From the Cumberland Gap to the Atlantic Ocean, this is Virginia Water Radio for the week of July 6, 2020. This is a revised version of an episode from March 2013.
MUSIC – ~12 sec - instrumental
This week, that excerpt of “Buy For Me The Rain,” performed by the Andrew and Noah VanNorstrand Band, opens an episode about a long-used and still vital tool for monitoring the atmospheric conditions related to rain and any other kind of weather. We start with a series of mystery sounds. Have a listen for about 20 seconds, and see if you know what time-tested measuring tool is being launched.
SOUNDS PLUS GUEST VOICE - ~18 sec - ‘There’s our parachute [and] our balloon; and we’re gonna head outside…. And there goes our balloon, and our sonde, on the way up [into] the stratosphere…. Do we still have the signal? Yes.”
If you guessed a weather balloon, you’re right! Twice each day, over 90 National Weather Service locations launch weather balloons carrying a radiosonde, a package of instruments to measure and transmit data on the upper atmosphere’s temperature, pressure, humidity, and winds. The Weather Service has making upper air measurements with balloons and radiosondes since the 1930s. The sounds you heard were from the 6 p.m. launch on February 28, 2013, at the Weather Service’s forecast office in Blacksburg, Virginia. To learn a bit more about weather balloons and their importance, have a listen to the following two-minute recording from that launch.
SOUNDS PLUS GUEST VOICE - ~1 min./54 sec. - “Hello, my name is Patrick Wilson…with the National Weather Service in Blacksburg, Va…. All right, we’re ready to start the upper-air balloon preparations here. I’ve got a latex balloon… Here’s the actual…sonde; it’s got a GPS sensor in the bottom of it. Right here’s the temperature sensor sticking out. We…have a humidity sensor right here…. This thing will also determine the wind; we’re able to figure it out by simply tracking the GPS. Every second this thing is sending us data; every second. Even though we have lots of other data—such as [from] airplanes, when you’re taking off and landing, they’re giving us [data from] instruments, they’re being like the weather balloon, except it’s going up and down in a glide path. [And] we have surface data; we have satellites that can infer the data from temperature and all those things. And yet, of all the types of information we use now for data, still the only, number-one way to get information about the atmosphere in three dimensions is these weather balloons. In fact, you all saw the advantage of that in [Superstorm] Sandy: we did upper air launches every six hours at requests of the [National] Hurricane Center, to figure out and narrow all the models and to say, it’s going to hit New Jersey, and be confident on it.… So I’m gonna let go, and it’s gonna take off, and I mean literally, take off. Ready? 3-2-1…. Well we’ve got the launch on the way and I’ll be heading back into the office to…monitor the flight. From here, it’ll be just watching the data and making sure everything’s working out before I send it off to Washington, D.C., and the models to crunch the numbers. Right now, there’s 92 other sites in the United States that are just doing what I’ve done right now. And all this data will be showing up in your weather forecast probably in the next few hours; doesn’t take that long.”
As noted in the segment you just heard, meteorologists continue to rely on measurements from balloon launches to make more accurate weather forecasts, adding the balloon data to information provided by radar, satellite photos, and other tools. The data from such tools, along with computer modeling and skilled human judgments, help us make sense of the complicated air and water masses constantly moving overhead.
Thanks to the National Weather Service office in Blacksburg for their help with this week’s episode. Thanks also to Andrew VanNorstrand for permission to use this week’s music, and we close with about 20 more seconds of “Buy For Me The Rain.”
MUSIC - ~19 sec – Lyrics: “Buy for me the rain my darling, buy for me the rain. Buy for me the rain, my darling, buy for me the rain.”
SHIP’S BELL
Virginia Water Radio is produced by the Virginia Water Resources Research Center, part of Virginia Tech’s College of Natural Resources and Environment. For more Virginia water sounds, music, or information, visit us online at virginiawaterradio.org, or call the Water Center at (540) 231-5624. Thanks to Stewart Scales for his banjo version of Cripple Creek to open and close this show. In Blacksburg, I’m Alan Raflo, thanking you for listening, and wishing you health, wisdom, and good water.
AUDIO NOTES AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This episode revises and replaces Episode 152, 3-11-13.
The sounds and guest voice in this episode were recorded during the February 28, 2013, 6 p.m. balloon launch by Patrick Wilson (then meteorologist intern, now meteorologist) at the Blacksburg, Virginia, National Weather Service forecast office. Thanks to Mr. Wilson for allowing Virginia Water Radio to record the launch and for his informative comments in 2013, and for his help with the 2020 update of the 2013 episode. Thanks also to David Wert, former meteorologist-in-charge at the Blacksburg office, for helping arrange the launch recording in 2013; and to Phil Hysell, warning coordination meteorologist at the Blacksburg office, for his help with the 2020 episode.
The recording of “Buy For Me The Rain” from the 2012 album “Andrew and Noah Band” on Great Bear Records is copyright by Andrew and Noah VanNorstrand, used with permission of Andrew VanNorstrand. The song was written by Steve Noonan and Greg Copeland (Warner-Tamerlane, BMI). More information about Andrew and Noah VanNorstrand is available online at https://andrewandnoah.bandcamp.com/.
Click here if you’d like to hear the full version (1 min./11 sec.) of the “Cripple Creek” arrangement/performance by Stewart Scales that opens and closes this episode. More information about Mr. Scales and the group New Standard, with which Mr. Scales plays, is available online at http://newstandardbluegrass.com.
IMAGES
Balloon ready for launch (upper photo), and launch site (lower photo), at the National Weather Service Forecast Office in Blacksburg, Virginia; date not identified. Photos courtesy of David Wert at that office in March 2013.
SOURCES
Used for Audio
National Weather Service, Blacksburg, Va., Forecast Office, online at https://www.weather.gov/rnk/. Staff listing is online at https://www.weather.gov/rnk/StaffListing.
National Weather Service, “Weather Balloon Instrument/Radiosonde Information,” online at https://www.weather.gov/upperair/radiosonde.
National Weather Service/Charleston, S.C., Forecast Office, “Weather Balloon/Upper Air Observations,” online at https://www.weather.gov/chs/upperair.
For More Information about Weather Balloons
A 3 min./8-sec. animated video on weather balloons, provided by the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow Network (CoCoRaHS), is available online at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pcLkkoR2LS4.
A 5-min./50-sec. video of a weather balloon launch by the National Weather Service Office for Dallas/Fort Worth, Tex., is available online at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-2-7S4OpbYk.
RELATED VIRGINIA WATER RADIO EPISODES
All Water Radio episodes are listed by category at the Index link above (http://www.virginiawaterradio.org/p/index.html). See particularly the “Weather/Climate/Natural Disasters” subject category.
FOR VIRGINIA TEACHERS – RELATED STANDARDS OF LEARNING (SOLs) AND OTHER INFORMATION
Following are some Virginia Standards of Learning (SOLs) that may be supported by this episode’s audio/transcript or by other information included in this post.
2013 Music SOLs
SOLs at various grade levels that call for “examining the relationship of music to the other fine arts and other fields of knowledge.”
2010 Science SOLs
Grades K-6 Earth Patterns, Cycles, and Change Theme
2.7 – Weather and seasonal changes affecting plants and animals.
Grades K-6 Interrelationships in Earth/Space Systems Theme
2.6 – identification of common storms and other weather phenomena.
4.6 – weather conditions, phenomena, and measurements.
Grades K-6 Matter Theme
6.6 – Properties of air (including pressure, temperature, and humidity) and structure/dynamics of earth’s atmosphere, including weather topics.
Earth Science Course
ES.11 – origin, evolution, and dynamics of the atmosphere, including human influences on climate.
ES.12 – weather and climate.
2015 Social Studies SOLs
Civics and Economics Course
CE.6 – government at the national level.
World Geography Course
WG.2 – how selected physical and ecological processes shape the Earth’s surface, including climate, weather, and how humans influence their environment and are influenced by it.
Government Course
GOVT.7 – national government organization and powers.
Virginia’s SOLs are available from the Virginia Department of Education, online at http://www.doe.virginia.gov/testing/.
Following are links to Water Radio episodes (various topics) designed especially for certain K-12 grade levels.
Episode 250, 1-26-15 – on boiling, for kindergarten through 3rd grade.
Episode 255, 3-2-15 – on density, for 5th and 6th grade.
Episode 282, 9-21-15 – on living vs. non-living, for kindergarten.
Episode 309, 3-28-16 – on temperature regulation in animals, for kindergarten through 12th grade.
Episode 333, 9-12-16 – on dissolved gases, especially dissolved oxygen in aquatic habitats, for 5th grade.
Episode 403, 1-15-18 – on freezing and ice, for kindergarten through 3rd grade.
Episode 404, 1-22-18 – on ice on ponds and lakes, for 4th through 8th grade.
Episode 406, 2-5-18 – on ice on rivers, for middle school.
Episode 407, 2-12-18 – on snow chemistry and physics, for high school.
Episode 483, 7-29-19 – on buoyancy and drag, for middle school and high school.
Episode 524, 5-11-20 – on sounds by water-related animals, for elementary school through high school.
Episode 531, 6-29-20 – on various ways that animals get water, for 3rd and 4th grade.
Sections below are the following:
Transcript of Audio
Audio Notes and Acknowledgments
Images
Sources
Related Water Radio Episodes
For Virginia Teachers (Relevant SOLs, etc.)
Unless otherwise noted, all Web addresses mentioned were functional as of 7-3-20.
TRANSCRIPT OF AUDIO
From the Cumberland Gap to the Atlantic Ocean, this is Virginia Water Radio for the week of July 6, 2020. This is a revised version of an episode from March 2013.
MUSIC – ~12 sec - instrumental
This week, that excerpt of “Buy For Me The Rain,” performed by the Andrew and Noah VanNorstrand Band, opens an episode about a long-used and still vital tool for monitoring the atmospheric conditions related to rain and any other kind of weather. We start with a series of mystery sounds. Have a listen for about 20 seconds, and see if you know what time-tested measuring tool is being launched.
SOUNDS PLUS GUEST VOICE - ~18 sec - ‘There’s our parachute [and] our balloon; and we’re gonna head outside…. And there goes our balloon, and our sonde, on the way up [into] the stratosphere…. Do we still have the signal? Yes.”
If you guessed a weather balloon, you’re right! Twice each day, over 90 National Weather Service locations launch weather balloons carrying a radiosonde, a package of instruments to measure and transmit data on the upper atmosphere’s temperature, pressure, humidity, and winds. The Weather Service has making upper air measurements with balloons and radiosondes since the 1930s. The sounds you heard were from the 6 p.m. launch on February 28, 2013, at the Weather Service’s forecast office in Blacksburg, Virginia. To learn a bit more about weather balloons and their importance, have a listen to the following two-minute recording from that launch.
SOUNDS PLUS GUEST VOICE - ~1 min./54 sec. - “Hello, my name is Patrick Wilson…with the National Weather Service in Blacksburg, Va…. All right, we’re ready to start the upper-air balloon preparations here. I’ve got a latex balloon… Here’s the actual…sonde; it’s got a GPS sensor in the bottom of it. Right here’s the temperature sensor sticking out. We…have a humidity sensor right here…. This thing will also determine the wind; we’re able to figure it out by simply tracking the GPS. Every second this thing is sending us data; every second. Even though we have lots of other data—such as [from] airplanes, when you’re taking off and landing, they’re giving us [data from] instruments, they’re being like the weather balloon, except it’s going up and down in a glide path. [And] we have surface data; we have satellites that can infer the data from temperature and all those things. And yet, of all the types of information we use now for data, still the only, number-one way to get information about the atmosphere in three dimensions is these weather balloons. In fact, you all saw the advantage of that in [Superstorm] Sandy: we did upper air launches every six hours at requests of the [National] Hurricane Center, to figure out and narrow all the models and to say, it’s going to hit New Jersey, and be confident on it.… So I’m gonna let go, and it’s gonna take off, and I mean literally, take off. Ready? 3-2-1…. Well we’ve got the launch on the way and I’ll be heading back into the office to…monitor the flight. From here, it’ll be just watching the data and making sure everything’s working out before I send it off to Washington, D.C., and the models to crunch the numbers. Right now, there’s 92 other sites in the United States that are just doing what I’ve done right now. And all this data will be showing up in your weather forecast probably in the next few hours; doesn’t take that long.”
As noted in the segment you just heard, meteorologists continue to rely on measurements from balloon launches to make more accurate weather forecasts, adding the balloon data to information provided by radar, satellite photos, and other tools. The data from such tools, along with computer modeling and skilled human judgments, help us make sense of the complicated air and water masses constantly moving overhead.
Thanks to the National Weather Service office in Blacksburg for their help with this week’s episode. Thanks also to Andrew VanNorstrand for permission to use this week’s music, and we close with about 20 more seconds of “Buy For Me The Rain.”
MUSIC - ~19 sec – Lyrics: “Buy for me the rain my darling, buy for me the rain. Buy for me the rain, my darling, buy for me the rain.”
SHIP’S BELL
Virginia Water Radio is produced by the Virginia Water Resources Research Center, part of Virginia Tech’s College of Natural Resources and Environment. For more Virginia water sounds, music, or information, visit us online at virginiawaterradio.org, or call the Water Center at (540) 231-5624. Thanks to Stewart Scales for his banjo version of Cripple Creek to open and close this show. In Blacksburg, I’m Alan Raflo, thanking you for listening, and wishing you health, wisdom, and good water.
AUDIO NOTES AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This episode revises and replaces Episode 152, 3-11-13.
The sounds and guest voice in this episode were recorded during the February 28, 2013, 6 p.m. balloon launch by Patrick Wilson (then meteorologist intern, now meteorologist) at the Blacksburg, Virginia, National Weather Service forecast office. Thanks to Mr. Wilson for allowing Virginia Water Radio to record the launch and for his informative comments in 2013, and for his help with the 2020 update of the 2013 episode. Thanks also to David Wert, former meteorologist-in-charge at the Blacksburg office, for helping arrange the launch recording in 2013; and to Phil Hysell, warning coordination meteorologist at the Blacksburg office, for his help with the 2020 episode.
The recording of “Buy For Me The Rain” from the 2012 album “Andrew and Noah Band” on Great Bear Records is copyright by Andrew and Noah VanNorstrand, used with permission of Andrew VanNorstrand. The song was written by Steve Noonan and Greg Copeland (Warner-Tamerlane, BMI). More information about Andrew and Noah VanNorstrand is available online at https://andrewandnoah.bandcamp.com/.
Click here if you’d like to hear the full version (1 min./11 sec.) of the “Cripple Creek” arrangement/performance by Stewart Scales that opens and closes this episode. More information about Mr. Scales and the group New Standard, with which Mr. Scales plays, is available online at http://newstandardbluegrass.com.
IMAGES
Balloon ready for launch (upper photo), and launch site (lower photo), at the National Weather Service Forecast Office in Blacksburg, Virginia; date not identified. Photos courtesy of David Wert at that office in March 2013.
SOURCES
Used for Audio
National Weather Service, Blacksburg, Va., Forecast Office, online at https://www.weather.gov/rnk/. Staff listing is online at https://www.weather.gov/rnk/StaffListing.
National Weather Service, “Weather Balloon Instrument/Radiosonde Information,” online at https://www.weather.gov/upperair/radiosonde.
National Weather Service/Charleston, S.C., Forecast Office, “Weather Balloon/Upper Air Observations,” online at https://www.weather.gov/chs/upperair.
For More Information about Weather Balloons
A 3 min./8-sec. animated video on weather balloons, provided by the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow Network (CoCoRaHS), is available online at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pcLkkoR2LS4.
A 5-min./50-sec. video of a weather balloon launch by the National Weather Service Office for Dallas/Fort Worth, Tex., is available online at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-2-7S4OpbYk.
RELATED VIRGINIA WATER RADIO EPISODES
All Water Radio episodes are listed by category at the Index link above (http://www.virginiawaterradio.org/p/index.html). See particularly the “Weather/Climate/Natural Disasters” subject category.
FOR VIRGINIA TEACHERS – RELATED STANDARDS OF LEARNING (SOLs) AND OTHER INFORMATION
Following are some Virginia Standards of Learning (SOLs) that may be supported by this episode’s audio/transcript or by other information included in this post.
2013 Music SOLs
SOLs at various grade levels that call for “examining the relationship of music to the other fine arts and other fields of knowledge.”
2010 Science SOLs
Grades K-6 Earth Patterns, Cycles, and Change Theme
2.7 – Weather and seasonal changes affecting plants and animals.
Grades K-6 Interrelationships in Earth/Space Systems Theme
2.6 – identification of common storms and other weather phenomena.
4.6 – weather conditions, phenomena, and measurements.
Grades K-6 Matter Theme
6.6 – Properties of air (including pressure, temperature, and humidity) and structure/dynamics of earth’s atmosphere, including weather topics.
Earth Science Course
ES.11 – origin, evolution, and dynamics of the atmosphere, including human influences on climate.
ES.12 – weather and climate.
2015 Social Studies SOLs
Civics and Economics Course
CE.6 – government at the national level.
World Geography Course
WG.2 – how selected physical and ecological processes shape the Earth’s surface, including climate, weather, and how humans influence their environment and are influenced by it.
Government Course
GOVT.7 – national government organization and powers.
Virginia’s SOLs are available from the Virginia Department of Education, online at http://www.doe.virginia.gov/testing/.
Following are links to Water Radio episodes (various topics) designed especially for certain K-12 grade levels.
Episode 250, 1-26-15 – on boiling, for kindergarten through 3rd grade.
Episode 255, 3-2-15 – on density, for 5th and 6th grade.
Episode 282, 9-21-15 – on living vs. non-living, for kindergarten.
Episode 309, 3-28-16 – on temperature regulation in animals, for kindergarten through 12th grade.
Episode 333, 9-12-16 – on dissolved gases, especially dissolved oxygen in aquatic habitats, for 5th grade.
Episode 403, 1-15-18 – on freezing and ice, for kindergarten through 3rd grade.
Episode 404, 1-22-18 – on ice on ponds and lakes, for 4th through 8th grade.
Episode 406, 2-5-18 – on ice on rivers, for middle school.
Episode 407, 2-12-18 – on snow chemistry and physics, for high school.
Episode 483, 7-29-19 – on buoyancy and drag, for middle school and high school.
Episode 524, 5-11-20 – on sounds by water-related animals, for elementary school through high school.
Episode 531, 6-29-20 – on various ways that animals get water, for 3rd and 4th grade.
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