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GRADE LEVEL: Middle School |
Subject Areas
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THE
ACTIVITIES
WATER:
TO THE LAST DROP
Like many elements of the natural world, human beings depend on water for survival. It is vital that as our world expands in population, industry and technology, our water supply and quality do not diminish.
Description: Students will gain an understanding of how human beings and other species depend on each other and the natural environment for survival. They will explore the idea that this dependence is most significant on water, by which a society's history and current state of affairs can be molded. Finally, they will look at how each decision we make regarding water affects society and its future generations.
GO DIRECTLY TO:
- Goals and Objectives
- Procedure and Teaching Suggestions
- Student Activity
- Extension
- Additional Internet Resources
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Students will understand the following information in Science: the basic features of the Earth; the processes involved in the water cycle (e.g., evaporation, condensation, precipitation, surface runoff, percolation) and their effects on climatic patterns; how species depend on one another and on the environment for survival; ways in which species interact and depend on one another in an ecosystem (e.g., producer/consumer, predator/prey, parasite/host - relationships that are mutually beneficial or competitive); factors that affect the number and types of organisms an ecosystem can support (e.g., available resources, abiotic factors such as quantity of light and water, range of temperatures, and soil composition; disease; competition from other organisms within the ecosystem; predation).
Students will understand the following information in World History: the importance of community, stability and peace in an interdependent world; the importance of the natural environment for societies around the world.
Students will understand the following in Economics: that scarcity of resources necessitates choice at both the personal and the societal levels.
Students will understand the following in Behavioral Studies: the conflict, cooperation and interdependence among individuals, groups and institutions; that conflict between people and groups may arise from competition over ideas, resources, power or status; that the decisions of one generation both provide and limit the range of possibilities open to the next generation.
PROCEDURE AND TEACHING SUGGESTIONS
Introduce to your class the idea that water has played an important role in U.S. history. Then ask them to interpret what your statement means.
In continued discussion, bring out that water is so important to a nation's success and survival that it can influence a country's history in a wide variety of ways. Invite your students to brainstorm a list of some of these ways. The list might include the following: explorations by early explorers such as de Soto, la Salle and Balboa; the search for the Northwest Passage; the western movement in U.S. history; the Civil War; floods and droughts; recent controversies concerning desalination and irrigation in southern California and around Las Vegas; and the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill in Prince William sound off the coast of Alaska.
Select
a few of the events on the list and discuss with the class the role played
by water or a body of water in each one. Discussion questions may also
include:
- Within an ecosystem, all living things depend not only on water, but on each other as well. Give examples of this interdependence between water, plants and animals. Describe the consequences if the water in an ecosystem were either contaminated or in short supply.
- Imagine you are a mayor in a city where there is a shortage of clean water. Logging is one of the largest local industries, providing resources and jobs for many people in your community. But many residents believe the logging is destroying the area's watershed. How would you solve the problem? You want to provide water for your city, but you also want to get reelected by a constituency dependent on the logging industry.
- One way humans try to control the Earth's water is to build dams. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of building dams. How do dams help a community? Does a dam help all the surrounding communities? What threats do dams pose to local habitats? Do the benefits outweigh the drawbacks?
- Water is essential for life. Discuss the different ways that humans depend on water every day. Consider the effects on a community if its water becomes contaminated.
- In the Middle East, a new greenhouse has been created that allows plants to grow at rapid rates, yet requires only a fraction of the water needed to irrigate open fields. Predict how this technological advance might change life for people in this region.
- Two thousand years ago, the Chinese sage Lao Tsu wrote: "Water is the highest good. The gentlest thing, it overcomes the hardest. It does not discriminate, but nourishes all things." Expand and explain this statement using what you know about water's influence on people, animals, plants and the surrounding environment.
 The clash between government intervention in the public interest and private property rights is at the heart of the current crisis over growth. —UNCW
Chancellor James Leutze |
STUDENT ACTIVITY
Divide your class into groups and have each group select an event, person or issue from the list to research. Students may also be assigned to research and interview local experts within environmental and urban development businesses for information and perspectives.
When students have completed their research, have each group create a mock newscast about its event. Encourage students to include important information, answering the questions What? Who?, When?, Where?, Why? and How? They should include statistics, vivid descriptions of scenes and possibly "live interviews" in their newscasts.
Have each group present its newscast to the class.
Evaluation
You can evaluate groups on their mock newscasts using the following three-point
rubric:
- Three Points: answers the questions What? Who? When? Where? Why? and How? includes statistics and vivid descriptions; very well organized; very well presented.
- Two Points: answers most of the questions; includes some statistics and vivid descriptions; fairly well organized; fairly well presented.
- One point: answers only a few of the questions, etc.
EXTENSION
A
Way of Life Changed Forever
Huron, in eastern Turkey, is believed to be the longest continuously inhabited
place on the Earth. Over the centuries, life has changed little in this
small village. Its residents have always relied on scattered and unpredictable
rainfall to survive, but now a massive dam is being constructed to harness
the Euphrates River. The dam will send waters to irrigate the plains of
Huron, turning a dry region into a fertile farmland. Have your students
speculate about what life will be like for the residents of Huron in 50
years. Ask them to write dialogues that take place in 2050 between a young
girl and her great grandmother in which the two discuss the advantages
and disadvantages of the changes that have taken place in Huron.
Water: Our Number
One Concern?
How does water rank with other environmental concerns? Lead a class discussion
about various environmental problems — not only water pollution but
also endangered species, air pollution, vanishing natural resources and
trash disposal. Discuss the short-term and long-term implications of each
problem and the ways the problems affect one another. After the discussion,
divide students into groups and hold a debate about which environmental
issue should be America's primary concern. Each group should have equal
time to present its case. When the debate is over, lead a class discussion
about the various positions taken in the debate and attempt to reach a
class consensus about how America should move forward.
ADDITIONAL INTERNET RESOURCES
Web Links
Kids
in the Creek
Filled with resources and curriculum ideas, this user-friendly site is
well organized for teachers and students.
Give
Water a Hand
Developed at the University of Wisconsin to educate students on controlling
water pollution, the site provides information for guidelines for students
and teachers.
Blue
Thumb Project
A site maintained by the American Water Works Association that is filled
with interesting facts about drinking water.
Water
Science for Kids
The U. S. Geological Survey maintains an educational site on water that
includes water basics, uses, activities, surveys and questionnaires for
teachers and students.
The
Quality of Our Nation's Water
This text-based site has a great deal of information on the sources of
pollution affecting our nation's rivers and streams.
Credit
Joy Brewster, educational writer and consultant for K-12 magazines. DiscoverySchool.com
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© 2002 UNCW
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