Community Water Conservation
Lesson Objectives:
At the end of the workshop, students will be able to:
Understand that water is a limited natural resource
Identify ways humans negatively affect our water supply
Calculate the amount of water available on Earth for human use
Brainstorm ways humans can take action to protect the available water
Essential Questions:
Is water a limited or unlimited natural resource?
How does your personal use of water relate to the overall availability of water for human use?
How does pollution impact the water cycle?
Explore our resources
Click on the images to access each resource (available as a PDF or webpage)
Take-Home Guide
Information for parents & legal guardians (available in English and Spanish).
Información para padres de familia y tutores legales (disponible en Inglés y Español).
Standards Alignments
Explore the ways our program aligns with CCSS + NGSS standards.
Vocabulary
Quiz your students on vocabulary used during our lesson!
Map Activity
Create a watershed using paper and markers to explore how pollution travels through an ecosystem.
Social Emotional Learning
Reflect on how photos of different examples of water pollution make your students feel.
Video Resources
Explore relevant videos here!
Reading Resources
Explore relevant books, articles, and more!
Challenge Guide
Completing this challenge will help your school become a CiS Certified Sustainable School!
Lesson Reflection
Print and send home this reflection activity to show families what their student learned.
Additional Resources:
Check out a simple demonstration you can do in your classroom with students here. Led by Lead Educator Ethan Janis, + Northeastern University Co-op Abby Noreck.
Background Information
Protecting a limited resource
Water is a limited resource that is being overused and polluted by humans. The oceans hold about 96.5% of the water available on Earth which means that only about 3.5% of the water on Earth is freshwater. However, much of this freshwater is stored in glaciers, ice caps, rivers, lakes, and ponds which is not accessible or usable. Of all the water on earth, less than 1% is actually available for humans to use. This is what the students will explore in our water lesson.
Humans are negatively affecting the available water supply through pollution, habitat destruction, and overuse of water. When it rains, trash left outside flows with the runoff into water sources like rivers or lakes. Trash may also flow into storm drains, giving the trash a direct route to the ocean. Additionally, the use of pesticides for crop growth and fertilizers for lawn care wash into water sources through rainfall. Unfortunately, some of the water bodies affected by trash and chemical pollution are municipal sources of water. High levels of pollution makes these reservoirs unsafe and unusable for humans.
In order to prevent water from being contaminated, you can avoid using pesticides or chemical fertilizers that can runoff into bodies of water. You should never dump anything down storm drains, and you should always try and pick up trash on the ground to prevent it from entering waterways.
Wasting water
Not only does water end up polluted, but people often waste clean water. The average American uses 98 gallons of water per day. Conserving water is as easy as turning off the tap when brushing your teeth and taking a shorter shower. Turning off the tap when brushing your teeth can save over 200 gallons a month and each minute you shorten your shower saves 2.5 gallons. Protecting usable water supplies from pollution and conserving available clean water is a societal effort that in turn protects human and environmental health.