Water's Journey: The Everglades

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• Learn more about conservation, ecosystem restoration, ecosystems, environmental science, Everglades, habitat, human impact, water cycles, and wildlife.

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This site, sponsored in part by the Florida Department ofAgriculture and the South Florida Water Management District, explains the “world’s most ambitious conservation and restoration project”, the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CREP). Students can begin their Journey by “following the flow to learn how the natural Everglades’ plumbing was modified by humans and what it will take to restore it.” Through conceptual animations, the site tells the story of the Everglade’s historic water flow, current water flow, and what the water flow will be like after restoration.

A historical timeline shows what the area was like throughout time and explains why the Everglades Restoration Project has become a priority. By clicking on the photographs in each of the time periods, students can read more about the events and the people whose decisions made an impact on the Everglades.

Animations will help students understand the key concepts of how the Everglades work. The site has four animations: how a hurricane stirs up phosphorus on the bottom of Lake Okeechobee; how the channelization of the Kissimmee River has allowed pollutants to go into the Everglades; how man-made marshes cleanse the water of pollutants: and how the Everglades developed after the ice age and then changed due to farming and the need for protection from floods.

The DVD of the program shown on PBS can be purchased through the website. In addition, the site offers educational resources to use with the film and website.