Water Challenge Guide: Restore and Protect Your Local Water
Activity - Outdoors
Grades6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12Biology, Earth and Space Sciences
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Provided by EarthEcho International
What it is
- This collection of activities from EarthEcho International provides ideas for protecting and exploring local watersheds.
- Students can test the health of their watershed, submit their data for a citizen science project, organize a cleanup of their waterway, write representatives to support policy that will keep their waters clean, and use social media to boost awareness about water-related issues.
Teaching tips
Positives
- This guide contains a range of activities, ensuring teachers will find something to fit their classroom.
- The activities in this guide provide relevant, real-life, and hands-on learning experiences that will help students stay engaged and feel empowered.
Prerequisites
- Teachers will need one water testing kit per student or group of students, depending on resources. Teachers can order the kits through EarthEcho; however, they may be on backorder.
- The link to create an account is broken. Teachers can use this link or follow the prompt to create an account after clicking "Add Results" on the main website.
Differentiation & Implementation
- When discussing with students the importance of water, teachers can bring the information on page 3 to life with this video, which shows the water distribution in a pie chart and includes other engaging graphics.
- Teachers can turn the activity of hosting a cleanup into an interdisciplinary project:
- Students can map out the location, create posters and promotional materials, write persuasive messages to recruit volunteers, and analyze their post-cleanup data.
- To make connections to climate change, teachers can explain the impacts climate change will have on students' local water supply. To help make these connections, teachers can use this lesson.
- Teachers can use these activities to make connections to Sustainable Development Goal 6, Clean Water and Sanitation.
From the scientist review
This resource from The Nature Conservancy's Nature Lab is a hands-on activity that introduces students to water scarcity and distribution. While this activity does not include data, it does encourage critical thinking. This resource would be a great addition to classroom discussions about environmental justice, sustainability, and global resources.
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