Tuesday, February 22, 2022

Episode 617 (2-21-22): Ice on the River

CLICK HERE to listen to episode audio (4:37).

Sections below are the following:
Transcript of Audio
Audio Notes and Acknowledgments
Images
Extra Information
Sources
Related Water Radio Episodes
For Virginia Teachers (Relevant SOLs, etc.).


Unless otherwise noted, all Web addresses mentioned were functional as of 2-18-22.

TRANSCRIPT OF AUDIO

From the Cumberland Gap to the Atlantic Ocean, this is Virginia Water Radio for the week of February 21, 2022.  This revised episode from February 2018 is part of a series this year of winter-related episodes.

MUSIC – ~15 sec - Lyrics: “Mama, oh mama, it was out by the water’s edge.”

This week, that excerpt of “Waters Edge,” from the Harrisonburg and Rockingham County, Va.-based band, The Steel Wheels, sets the stage for going to a water body’s edge to explore freezing water.  Have a listen for about 15 seconds to the following mystery sounds, and see if you can guess what cold-water experience was taking place.   And here’s a hint: the speaker and the water were both running.

SOUNDS - ~15 sec

If you guessed, wading into an icy river, you’re right!  You heard me at the edge of the New River in Giles County, Va., on January 1, 2018, wading—very quickly!—into the partially iced-over river.  After nighttime temperatures in the teens or lower for several days, about half of the river’s surface in some locations on that New Year’s morning was covered in ice.

Rivers throughout Virginia will freeze during notably cold winter spells, but it’s not a routine occurrence.  River freeze-ups are really noteworthy in the tidal sections of the James, Rappahannock, and other Commonwealth rivers in the Chesapeake Bay watershed; in those sections, the water is somewhat salty, called brackish, so it has a lower freezing point.

When rivers do freeze, ice typically forms first at the river edges, where in slow currents surface water can lose heat to colder air while not being mixed with warmer water.  This border ice can also form in slower currents around rocks or other obstacles well away from shore.  In stronger currents that keep the water mixed, if the whole water column drops just below the freezing point, ice can form around tiny particles; this type of ice is called frazil.  Sometimes frazil gets transported to the river bottom and attaches there, forming what’s known as anchor ice.   If the water keeps losing heat to colder air, these and other kinds of ice can accumulate horizontally and vertically, eventually covering the river and perhaps filling much of its depth.

Ice may also be carried along by the current, particularly after warming temperatures break up a solid ice cover.   If these ice floes get blocked by natural or human-made structures, ice jams can occur.  Ice jams can block a river’s flow, leading possibly to upstream flooding.  And when an ice jam eventually breaks, it can suddenly release large amounts of water and ice, causing possible hazards downstream.

Thanks to Blacksburg friends for recording the New Year’s Day New River wade-in.  Thanks also to The Steel Wheels for permission to use this week’s music, and we close with about 15 more seconds of “Waters Edge.”

MUSIC - ~16 sec – Lyrics: “Mama, oh mama, it was out by the water’s edge.”

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 this episode.  In Blacksburg, I’m Alan Raflo, thanking you for listening, and wishing you health, wisdom, and good water.

AUDIO NOTES AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This Virginia Water Radio episode revises and replaces Episode 406, 2-5-18.

“Waters Edge,” from the 2013 album “No More Rain,” is copyright by The Steel Wheels, used with permission. More information about The Steel Wheels is available online at http://www.thesteelwheels.com/.  This music was used previously by Virginia Water Radio in Episode 529, 6-15-20.

The New River wade-in sounds were taken from a video recording on January 1, 2018, below McCoy Falls in Giles County, Va.  Thanks to Virginia Water Radio friends Sarah, John, and Alan for making the recording possible.

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

Virginia Water Radio host Alan Raflo in the New River in Giles County, Va., January 1, 2018.  Photo courtesy of John Imbur.

Ice on the New River at McCoy Falls in Montgomery County, Va., January 1, 2018.

Ice on Goose Creek in Loudoun County, Va., January 20, 2018.


Ice jam in the Potomac River near Washington, D.C., February 1918.  Photo from the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, accessed online at https://www.loc.gov/item/npc2008011359/, as of 2-22-22.  For more historic Potomac River ice photos in the Library of Congress, see https://www.loc.gov/photos/?q=Potomac+River+Ice.

EXTRA INFORMATION ABOUT ICE IN FLOWING WATER

The seriousness of the threats river ice can pose is highlighted in the following information from the National Weather Service, Chicago Forecast Office, “Volunteer River Ice Spotter Network,” online at https://www.weather.gov/lot/river_ice_spotter_network, accessed 2/17/22:

“The National Weather Service (NWS) Chicago/Rockford, IL, office uses information from volunteer spotters along area rivers to monitor the development of river ice which may lead to flooding.  Ice jams are often localized and may occur away from river gauges.  River ice spotters share important information such as extent of ice cover, ice cover trends, and location of ice jams which is very important for issuing timely warnings.

“River ice can be a serious problem during some winters.  Chronic ice jam locations on the Rock, Fox, and Kankakee Rivers have up to a 1-in-2 chance of experiencing an ice jam in any given year, and almost a 1-in-3 chance of experiencing ice jam flooding in a given year.” 

The Chicago office is one of several NWS offices that seek river ice spotters in winter.

SOURCES USED FOR AUDIO AND OFFERING MORE INFORMATION 

Kevin Ambrose, The Potomac River has a history of disastrous ice floes during a rapid thaw, Washington Post, January 10, 2018.

Spyros Beltaos, ed., River Ice Jams, Water Resources Publications LLC, Highlands Ranch, Colo., 1995.

Spyros Beltaos, ed., River Ice Breakup, Water Resources Publications LLC, Highlands Ranch, Colo., 2008. 

Tamara Dietrich, Arctic blast not enough to freeze James, York rivers, [Newport News, Va.] Daily Press, February 19, 2015.

Don M. Gray and Terry D. Prowse, “Snow and Floating Ice,” Chapter 7 of Handbook of Hydrology, David R. Maidment, ed., McGraw-Hill, Inc., New York, N.Y., 1993. 

Erica Leayman, Frozen Potomac River, Lakes Show Just How Cold It Is; From boats stuck on the ice to people skating on reflecting pools, here's a visual reminder of the bitter cold around the DC area, Old Town Alexandria [Va.] Patch, January 3, 2018.

National Weather Service, Blacksurg, Va., Forecast Office, “Observed Weather Reports/Preliminary Monthly Climate Data for Blacksburg,” online at https://www.weather.gov/wrh/climate?wfo=rnk.

National Weather Service, Chicago, Illinois, “River Ice Guide,” online (as a PDF) at https://www.weather.gov/media/lot/hydro/outreach/NWS_River_Ice_Guide_2020.pdf.

University of Minnesota-Duluth/Minnesota Sea Grant, “Lake and River Ice: Formation and Classification,” by John A. Downing, February 25, 2021, online at https://seagrant.umn.edu/news-information/directors-column/lake-river-ice-formation-classification. 

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 categories.

Following are links to several other winter-related episodes, including episodes (listed separately) on some birds that reside in Virginia typically only in winter.

Frost – Episode 597, 10-4-21.
Freezing and ice – Episode 606, 12-6-21 (especially for grades K-3).
Ice on ponds and lakes – Episode 404, 1-22-18 (especially for grades 4-8).
Polar Plunge® for Special Olympics – Episode 356, 2-20-17.
Snow physics and chemistry – Episode 407, 2-12-18 (especially for high school grades).
Snow, sleet, and freezing rain – Episode 613, 1-24-22.
Snow terms – Episode 612, 1-17-22.
Surviving freezing – Episode 556, 12-21-20.
Winter precipitation and water supplies – Episode 567, 3-8-21.
Winter weather preparedness – Episode 605, 11-29-21.
Water thermodynamics – Episode 610, 1-3-22.

Bird-related Episodes for Winter

Audubon Society Christmas Bird CountEpisode 607, 12-13-21.
American Avocet – Episode 543, 9-21-20.
Brant (goose) – Episode 615, 2-7-22.
Canvasback (duck) – Episode 604, 11-22-21.
Common Goldeneye (duck) – Episode 303, 2-15-16.
Green-winged Teal (duck) – Episode 398, 12-11-17.
Grebes (Horned and Red-necked) – Episode 233, 9-29-14.
Loons – Episode 445, 11-5-18.
Fall migration – Episode 603, 11-15-21.
Northern Harrier – Episode 561, 1-25-21.
Snow Goose – Episode 507, 1-13-20.
Tundra Swan – Episode 554, 12-7-20.
Winter birds sampler from the Chesapeake Bay area – Episode 565, 2-22-21.

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.

2020 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.”

2018 Science SOLs

Grades K-3 plus 5: Force, Motion, and Energy
5.3 – There is a relationship between force and energy of moving objects.

Grades K-5: Earth and Space Systems
K.9 – There are patterns in nature.
1.7 – There are weather and seasonal changes.
2.7 – Weather patterns and seasonal changes affect plants, animals, and their surroundings.
3.7 – There is a water cycle and water is important to life on Earth.
4.4 – Weather conditions and climate have effects on ecosystems and can be predicted.

Grades K-5: Earth Resources
3.8 – Natural events and humans influence ecosystems.
4.8 – Virginia has important natural resources.

Grade 6
6.6 – Water has unique physical properties and has a role in the natural and human-made environment.

Physical Science
PS.8 Work, force, and motion are related.

Earth Science
ES.8 – Freshwater resources influence and are influenced by geologic processes and human activity.
ES.12 – The Earth’s weather and climate result from the interaction of the sun’s energy with the atmosphere, oceans, and the land.

Chemistry
CH.6 – Phases of matter are explained by the kinetic molecular theory.

Physics
PH.3 – There are relationships among force, mass, and acceleration.

2015 Social Studies SOLs 

Grades K-3 Geography Theme
1.6 – Virginia climate, seasons, and landforms.

Virginia Studies Course
VS.10 – Knowledge of government, geography, and economics in present-day Virginia.

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.

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 (* indicates episode listed above in the “Related Water Radio Episodes” section).

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 404, 1-22-18 – on ice on ponds and lakes, for 4th through 8th grade.
*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.
Episode 539, 8-24-20 – on basic numbers and facts about Virginia’s water resources, for 4th and 6th grade.
*Episode 606, 12-6-21 – on freezing and ice, for kindergarten through 3rd grade.

Tuesday, February 15, 2022

Episode 616 (2-14-22): Uses of Water By and Against African Americans in U.S. Civil Rights History (Episode Three of the Series “Exploring Water in U.S. Civil Rights History”)

CLICK HERE to listen to episode audio (5:35).

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 2-11-22.

TRANSCRIPT OF AUDIO

From the Cumberland Gap to the Atlantic Ocean, this is Virginia Water Radio for the week of February 14, 2022.  This week’s episode –the third in a series of episodes on water in U.S. civil rights history—explores water access and use in African-American civil rights history.  The episode particularly focuses on a May 2018 essay, “The Role of Water in African American History,” written by Tyler Parry, of the University of Nevada-Las Vegas, for the blog Black Perspectives, published by the African American Intellectual History Society.  We set the stage with three water sounds related to different aspects of African American and civil rights history.  Have a listen for about 30 seconds and see what connections you think these sounds have to that history.  

SOUNDS – ~32 sec.

You heard Chesapeake Bay waves, children swimming at a public pool, and water coming out of a fire hose.  These represent three broad themes in African Americans’ relationships with water: 1) uses of natural water bodies for livelihoods, recreation, transportation, repression, and resistance; 2) access, or lack thereof, to officially segregated water facilities, as occurred with swimming pools, water fountains, river ferries, and other facilities prior to the federal Civil Rights Act of 1964; and 3) water used as a weapon against citizens demonstrating for civil rights, as in the use of fire hoses on demonstrators in Birmingham, Alabama; Danville, Virginia; and other places.  In his essay on water in African American history, Tyler Parry notes these and several other ways that, quote, “water was often present at key moment in the Black experience.  Here are some other examples from Dr. Parry’s essay: the location of African societies near water; the Atlantic transport of enslaved Africans to American colonies and then the United States; use of American waterways—including the James and other Virginia rivers—in the movement of enslaved people; rivers and other waters providing routes of escape from slavery; segregation of African Americans into areas susceptible to flooding; and the importance of water in culture and spiritual practices.

Viewing these examples collectively, Dr. Parry’s essay states, quote, “One finds that water holds a dual role in the history of Black culture and intellectual thought.  In one sense, water is an arena for resistance that liberates, nourishes, and sanctifies a people, but it can also be weaponized by hegemonic forces seeking to degrade, poison, or eliminate rebellious populations,” unquote.

Thanks to Tyler Parry for his scholarship on this topic and for assisting Virginia Water Radio with this episode.

We close with some music for the role of water in African American history.  Here’s a 50-second arrangement of “Wade in the Water,” an African American spiritual dating back to the time of slavery in the United States and connected to the history of the Underground Railroad and the modern Civil Rights Movement.  This arrangement was composed by and is performed here by Torrin Hallett, a graduate student at the Yale School of Music.

MUSIC - ~ 50 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 episode.  In Blacksburg, I’m Alan Raflo, thanking you for listening, and wishing you health, wisdom, and good water.

AUDIO NOTES AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Virginia Water Radio thanks Dr. Tyler Parry, University of Nevada-Las Vegas, for his help with this episode.

The sounds heard in this episode were as follows:
Chesapeake Bay waves on Kent Island, Md., recorded by Virginia Water Radio on June 22, 2010;
swimmers at Blacksburg Aquatic Center in Blacksburg, Va., recorded by Virginia Water Radio in July 2019;
fire hose sound recorded by user bigroomsound, made available for use by purchase on Pond5, online at https://www.pond5.com/sound-effects/item/5499472-watersprayfireman-hosevarious.

The arrangement of “Wade in the Water” (a traditional hymn) heard in this episode is copyright 2021 by Torrin Hallett, used with permission.  Torrin is a 2018 graduate of Oberlin College and Conservatory in Oberlin, Ohio; a 2020 graduate in Horn Performance from Manhattan School of Music in New York; and a 2021 graduate of the Lamont School of Music at the University of Denver.  He is currently a graduate student at the Yale School of Music.  More information about Torrin is available online at https://www.facebook.com/torrin.hallett.  Thanks very much to Torrin for composing this arrangement especially for Virginia Water Radio.  This music was used previously by Virginia Water Radio in Episode 566, 3-1-21, the introduction to Virginia Water Radio’s series on water in U.S. civil rights history.

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

Sculpture in Birmingham, Alabama’s, Kelly Ingram Park, recalling fire hoses being used on civil rights protestors in the 1960s.  Photo by Carol M. Highsmith, March 3, 2010.  Accessed from the Library of Congress, online at https://www.loc.gov/item/2010636978/, 2/15/22.

SOURCES

Used for Audio

Jeff Adelson, “
New Orleans segregation, racial disparity likely worsened by post-Katrina policies, report says,” Nola.com (New Orleans Times-Picayune and New Orleans Advocate), April 5, 2018.

Taylor Branch, Pillar of Fire: America in the King Years, 1963-65, Simon & Schuster, New York, 1998. 

ADDED 5-24-22: Jeremy Cox, Historically Black beach to be saved as Annapolis parkland,Bay Journal, April 1, 2022.

Waldo E. Martin, Jr., and Patricia Sullivan, Civil Rights in the United States, Vol. One, Macmillian Reference USA, New York, 2000.

Middle Passage Ceremonies and Port Markers Project, Transport on James River: “African Presence in Virginia,” undated, online at https://www.middlepassageproject.org/2020/04/29/african-presence-in-virginia/.  

National Civil Rights Museum (Memphis, Tenn.), “Jim Crow Water Dippers,” online at https://www.civilrightsmuseum.org/from-the-vault/posts/water-dippers.

Tyler Parry, “The Role of Water in African American History,” Black Perspectives, African American Intellectual History Society, May 4, 2018, online at https://www.aaihs.org/the-role-of-water-in-african-american-history/. 

James Patterson, Grand Expectations: The United States, 1945-1974, Oxford University Press, Oxford, England, and New York, N.Y., 1996.

Donald M. Sweig, “The Importation of African Slaves to the Potomac River, 1732-1772,” The William and Mary Quarterly, Vol. 42, No. 4 (October 1985), pages 507-524; online at https://www.jstor.org/stable/1919032?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents.

Virginia Commission to Examine Racial Inequity in Virginia Law, “Identifying and addressing the vestiges of inequity and inequality in Virginia’s laws,” November 15, 2020, online at https://www.governor.virginia.gov/racial-inequity-commission/reports/, as of August 2021.  As of February 2022, this report is no longer available at this URL.  A description of the project is available in a February 10, 2021, news release from then Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam, online at https://www.governor.virginia.gov/newsroom/all-releases/2021/february/headline-892615-en.html.

Victoria W. Wolcott, “The forgotten history of segregated swimming pools and amusement parks,” UB NOW, University of Buffalo, July 11, 2019.

Virginia Museum of History and Culture, “Civil Rights Movement in Virginia/Danville,” online at https://virginiahistory.org/learn/historical-book/chapter/danville.

Ed Worley, “Water fountains symbolize 1960s civil rights movement,” U.S. Army blog (unnamed), February 22, 2018, online at https://www.army.mil/article/200456/water_fountains_symbolize_1960s_civil_rights_movement.

Water Citizen LLC, “Until Justice Rolls Down Like Waters—Water & the Civil Rights Movement,” Water Citizen News, January 16, 2014, online at http://watercitizennews.com/until-justice-rolls-down-like-water-water-the-civil-rights-movement/. 

Howard Zinn, A People’s History of the United States, HarperCollins, New York, N.Y., 2003.

For More Information about Civil Rights in the United States

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), “The Civil Rights Movement in America,” online at https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/zcpcwmn/revision/1.

Georgetown Law Library, “A Brief History of Civil Rights in the United States,” online at https://guides.ll.georgetown.edu/civilrights.

Howard University Law Library, “A Brief History of Civil Rights in the United States,” online at https://library.law.howard.edu/civilrightshistory/intro. 

University of Maryland School of Law/Thurgood Marshall Law Library, “Historical Publications of the United States Commission on Civil Rights,” online at https://law.umaryland.libguides.com/commission_civil_rights.

U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, online at https://www.usccr.gov/.

U.S. House of Representatives, “Constitutional Amendments and Major Civil Rights Acts of Congress Referenced in Black Americans in Congress,” online at https://history.house.gov/Exhibitions-and-Publications/BAIC/Historical-Data/Constitutional-Amendments-and-Legislation/.

U.S. National Archives, “The Constitution of the United States,” online at https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/constitution.

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 “History” subject category.

This episode is part of the series, Exploring Water in U.S. Civil Rights History.  As of February 14, 2022, other episodes in the series are as follows:

Episode 566, 3-1-21 – series overview.
Episode 591, 8-23-21
– water symbolism in African American civil rights history.

Following are links to some other previous episodes on the history of African Americans in Virginia.

Episode 459, 2-11-19 – on Abraham Lincoln’s arrival in Richmond at the end of the Civil War.
Episode 128, 9-17-12
– on Chesapeake Bay Menhaden fishing crews and music.
Episode 458, 2-4-19
– on Nonesuch and Rocketts Landing in Richmond. 

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.

2020 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.”

2015 Social Studies SOLs

Grades K-3 History Theme
1.2 – Virginia history and life in present-day Virginia.

Grades K-3 Civics Theme
3.12 – Importance of government in community, Virginia, and the United States, including government protecting rights and property of individuals.
3.13 – People of America’s diversity of ethnic origins, customs, and traditions, under a republican form of government with respect for individual rights and freedoms.

Virginia Studies Course
VS.7 – Civil War issues and events, including the role of Virginia and the role of various ethnic groups.
VS.8 – Reconstruction era in Virginia, including “Jim Crow” issues and industrialization.
VS.9 – How national events affected Virginia and its citizens.

United States History to 1865 Course
USI.5 – Factors that shaped colonial America and conditions in the colonies, including how people interacted with the environment to produce goods and service.
USI.9 – Causes, events, and effects of the Civil War.

United States History: 1865-to-Present Course
USII.3 – Effects of Reconstruction on American life.
USII.4 – Developments and changes in the period 1877 to early 1900s.
USII.6 – Social, economic, and technological changes from the 1890s to 1945.
USII.8 – Economic, social, and political transformation of the United States and the world after World War II.
USII.9 – Domestic and international issues during the second half of the 20th Century and the early 21st Century.

Civics and Economics Course
CE.2 – Foundations, purposes, and components of the U.S. Constitution.
CE.3 – Citizenship rights, duties, and responsibilities.
CE.6 – Government at the national level.
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.

Virginia and United States History Course
VUS.6 – Major events in Virginia and the United States in the first half of the 19th Century.
VUS.7 – Knowledge of the Civil War and Reconstruction eras.
VUS.13 – Changes in the United States in the second half of the 20th Century.
VUS.14 – Political and social conditions in the 21st Century.

Government Course
GOVT.4 – Purposes, principles, and structure of the U.S. Constitution.
GOVT.5 – Federal system of government in the United States.
GOVT.7 – National government organization and powers.
GOVT.8 – State and local government organization and powers.
GOVT.9 – Public policy process at local, state, and national levels.
GOVT.11 – Civil liberties and civil 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.
Episode 539, 8-24-20 – on basic numbers and facts about Virginia’s water resources, for 4th and 6th grade.