Water Classroom Project

Project Index   |   Overview   |   Project Elements   |   Project Calendar
Connect with Classrooms Student Forums Next: Project Elements >
Water -
Our World's Water
Wind surfing large waves
Photograph by RICH REID
Photo from
Overview

When is water good to drink?  In this project, students will research the world's water problems, focusing on how their personal water use affects aquatic ecosystems in their communities. Students will participate in email exchanges, exploring the global importance of water, particularly in their ePals' location.
Essential Questions
  1. What is water?
  2. What is the water cycle?
  3. Why is water important?
  4. What problems does the world face with its water supply?
Objectives
  1. Students will keep personal water journals and use them to estimate their daily water use.
  2. Students will reflect on their own water usage and explain how they will practice conservation.
  3. Students will demonstrate an understanding of the many demands for water found in a community.
  4. Students will be able to locate and describe several local aquatic ecosystems and explain how their actions affect those ecosystems.
  5. Students will demonstrate a basic understanding of the world’s water problems such as: the struggle for every human to have the necessary quality and quantity of drinking water, and the impact of wars, pollution and natural disasters on water supply.
Culminating Activity 
The culminating activity will be student-written documentary scripts, which inform their peers about water issues.
Project Elements 
This project has four parts:
  1. Engage, Activate Prior Knowledge and Build Context;
  2. Students exchange four emails with their ePals;
  3. Create a presentation about their ePals' countries as a culminating activity; and,
  4. Reflect/Assess.
National Geography Standards
Places and Regions
Standard 4: The physical and human characteristics of places.
Physical Systems
Standard 7: The physical processes that shape the patterns of Earth's surface.
Environment and Society
Standard 16: The changes that occur in the meaning, use, distribution and importance of resources.

National Science Education Standards:
Unifying Concepts and Processes
K-4 Content Standard D: Earth and Space Science
5-8 Content Standard D: Earth and Space Science.
5-8 Content Standard F: Science in Personal and Social Perspectives.