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Introduction
Earth is the water planet. The abundance of this unique
chemical sets earth apart from the other planets of our solar
system. With water, life goes on normally: but without it, life
would cease to exist.
Water is taken for granted by many of us. Most United States
or Canadian citizens have known life where all the clean water
they need is as close as the nearest faucet. As more and more
demands are put on our water supply, however, this situation
could change. Without an increased consciousness of water,
where it comes from and how it is used, we will soon be forced
to see it as the precious commodity that it really is.
The goal of Water In Your Hands and this teacher's guide is
to improve children's understanding of wafer and tfieir place in
the hydrologic cycle. Specifically, these materials will help
students to understand: 1) the importance of a sustained supply
of quality water; 2) the hydrologic cycle; 3) how humans affect
water as it moves through the hydrologic cycle; and 4) what can
be done to ensure a sustained supply of quality water into the
future.
The booklet and teacher's guide were produced by the Soil
and Water Conservation Society, an international, nonprofit
scientific and educational association. Its 12,000 members ad-
vocate the conservation of soil, water and related natural
resources.
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Suggested Teaching Strategies
This guide provides lessons based on learn-
ing cycle strategies. Background information
for the learning cycle steps of exploration,
concept development, and application is pro-
vided for each activity.
Educational strategies suggested are:
1. Journal writing: construct “Water Jour-
nals” and use them for notes, reflections, and
sharing as a part of each activity.
2. Equity: sensitivity to equity issues
should be a basic part of every lesson. Fair
and equal wait-times for students’ first and
second responses role-models equity and pro-
motes critical thinking skills.
3. Cooperative team goals: individual
reflections become a part of team exploring,
sharing, and consensus. Teams of three are
suggested, with each team member having a
specific role, such as leader/questioner,
recorder/reporter, or researcher/runner. Share
team data and consensus with the class.
4. Vocabulary: encourage students to in-
clude new water-related words in their jour-
nal writing.
5. Publication: lessons should be taken to
some aspect of “publication:’ such as posters,
bulletin boards, pamphlets, videos, letters,
newspaper editorials, creative writing or
drawing, essays, graphs, maps, and/or formal
verbal sharing.
Ask the students to leaf through the
booklets. Lead an exploratory discussion
about water. Use journals to record predic-
tions. notes, reflections, and for sharing.
1. What are some uses for water?
2. What animals need water?
3. Do we need to worry about water?
4. What is water pollution?
5. What causes water pollution?
6. Have you seen polluted water?
After reading the booklet with the class,
discuss the concepts covered. The following
questions may help.
I. What forms can water take?
2. Where is most of the water on earth
found?
3. How do you fit into the hydrologic cycle?
4. How would a serious, extended drought
affect your life?.
5. How do you affect water?
Activity 1
WATER LOGGED BY YOU
Summary: Students record their water use
tbr five days. tally, and discuss the results.
Objectives: Students will realize the extent
to which their lives depend on water and the
amount of water they could save.
Materials: “Water Logs” (Activity Sheet
I). Water in Your Hands booklets, and
journals.
Exploration: Students investigate their
water use through recordkeeping.
Concept Development: Students compare
their water use to that of other cultures.
Application: Students plan to reduce their
personal water use to 5 gallons (19 liters) per
day.
Background:
Exploration: Give each student a copy of
Activity Sheet 1, the Water Log.
1. To construct Water Logs, cut activity
sheets along dotted line, staple together on
center line, and fold to form booklet.
2. Students record each water use activity
for five days. Amounts can be estimated at
the time of recording or later. Encourage
them to write reflections on the back page of
the log or in their journals.
3. Discuss progress each day to remind
students of their importance.
Concept Development:
1. Using the Water Log record and jour-
nals, students work in teams to determine
total and daily water use. Compare results to
other team members and to the class. Use the
average values below or have teams estimate
average water use for various activities.
Average uses for various activities:
(from American Water Works Association)
Shower
Flushing toilet
Brushing teeth
Washing dishes:
By hand 20 76
By machine 2 8
a. Have the class divide water use activities
into general categories like cleaning, personal
hygiene, food preparation, pet care, lawn
care, etc.
b. Have students work in teams to total their
weekly use in each category and divide by
5 to determine the average daily water use,
both for the total and for each category.
c. Compare the results of the teams.
d. Estimate the total water use for your
school, your town, your state or province.
e. Discuss uses of water in your town that
may not be covered in the water logs. Discuss
uses that consume water, making it
unavailable or unfit for other uses, and those
that do not.
2. Have students compare their water use
to that of other lifestyles and write notes and
reflections in journals. According to the
publication “Perspectives on Water: Uses and
Abuses” (Speidel et al., eds., 1988), rural
cultures drawing water from hand dug wells
or streams use 10 to 13 gallons (38 to 49
liters) per day per person for personal
hygiene, cleaning, drinking, and food
preparation. Typical pioneers with livestock
and rural industry like blacksmithing, pro-
bably would have used an average of about
26 gallons (98 liters) per person per day.
According to the “Global 2000 Report to
the President (USA)” (1982), in areas of less
developed nations like Mexico, India, and
Kenya that have community wells, people use
5 to 15 gallons (19 to 57 liters) per day.
Speidel, et. al (1988) say that in rural areas
of Kenya women often must carry water
several kilometers or more for their families.
In these situations people use as little as 0.5
to 1.5 gallons (2 to 6 liters) per day, barely
the amount that is required to maintain essen-
tial body fluids.
In typical urban households with running
water, daily use ranges from 26 to 92 gallons
(98 to 348 liters) per person. Households
with appliances like washing machines that
also use water to irrigate lawns and gardens
may use over 265 gallons (1,003 liters) per
day per person.
Application: The human body requires a
minimum of about 1.5 gallons (6 liters) per
day to maintain the essential fluids of the
body. Have students work alone, then in
teams, as they use their journals to prioritize
their water uses and discuss environmental-
ly acceptable alternatives that could bring
their use down to 5 gallons (19 liters) per day.
For example, displacement devices in toilet
tanks can save 40 percent or more each time
the toilet is flushed (Earth Works Group;
1989). Publish their findings in some form.
Additional Activities:
1. Plan in-class water savings.
2. Research water use in other countries.
3. Research several non-domestic water
uses, and ways that water can be conserved
by these industries.
4. Search newspapers for water use issues
and discuss the politics of them.
Activity 2
THE HYDROLOGIC CYCLE
Summary: Students label parts of the hy-
drologic cycle on a drawing.
Objectives: Students understand that water
is constantly being recycled through earth’s
living and non-living environment.
Materials: Activity Sheet 2, journals, and
cartoon booklets.
Exploration: Students investigate the
movement of water through the hydrologic
cycle.
Concept Development: Students discuss
the distribution of the world’s water.
Application: Students determine what part
of the hydrologic cycle the water they use
comes from.
Background:
Exploration: Students work in teams and
label four parts of the hydrologic cycle:
evaporation, precipitation, runoff, and
groundwater and draw arrows depicting
movement of water between the parts.
Concept Development: Discuss the
distribution of the world’s water in teams and
record in journals. Earth has about the same
amount of water that it has had for millions
of years. Only a small portion of the total is
available for use by living organisms at any
one time. The continuing supply of
freshwater is dependent on precipitation,
which is distributed very unevenly around the
world.
People in dry areas of the world have
adapted to a constant shortage, carefully con-
serving precious water and bringing it from
Gallons
25-50
5-7
2
Liters
95-189
19-26
8
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far away to irrigate crops. Inhabitants of other
areas have adapted to a wet and watery world,
protecting themselves from floods and drain-
ing excess water from their fields to grow
crops. But pollution can cause shortages even
where water is plentiful.
Distribution of World’s Water:
(from U.S. Geological Survey, 1984)
Oceans 97.1%
Atmosphere 0.291
Ice caps and glaciers 2.0
Groundwater 0.62
Lakes 0.007
Inland seas, saline lakes 0.005
Rivers 0.0001
Application: Have students work with part-
ners and contact the city water department
to find out whether municipal water comes
from surface water or groundwater. Find out
how far the water travels or from how deep
it is pumped, if it is treated, and how much
the city uses. Rural students can ask their
parents where their water comes from. Jour-
nals could be used for note-taking, reflec-
tions, and sharing with publication of results.
Additional Activities:
1. Porosity vs. permeability: Explore and
compare these two properties of aquifers by
using three graduated cylinders or quart jars,
one filled with sand, one with fine gravel,
and one with water, and a small piece of
screen. Pour water from the water jar into the
sand and gravel jars. The amount that goes
in fills the pore spaces of the sand, as in an
aquifer. This, expressed as a percentage of
the capacity of the jars, is the porosity. Now,
using the small piece of screen, turn the sand
and gravel jars over and compare the relative
rates that the water drains. This is the
permeability, the rate at which water moves
through a porous medium, an aquifer. Have
students graph the permeability and porosi-
ty of various materials. Which material would
yield more water? Which would better filter
water?
2. Forms of Water: Each student is given
an ice cube and is instructed to preserve their
ice cube as long as possible. Students should
observe, collect, and record data. Students
are then asked to repeat the activity but with
the goal of having their ice cube melt and
evaporate as quickly as possible. Some
guidelines must be formed and adhered to.
3. Stream tables and terrariums can be used
to construct models of the hydrologic cycle.
4. Publish results in some form.
Activity 3
HUMANS IN THE CYCLE
Summary: Students label parts of the
hydrologic cycle and identify sources of
pollution.
Objectives: Students understand that each
part of the hydrologic cycle is subject to pollu-
tion and recognize the types of pollution.
Materials: Activity Sheet 3, journals, car-
toon booklets, and blue and black pens or
pencils.
Exploration: Students will explore human
impacts on the hydrologic cycle.
Concept Development: Students list types
of pollution and impacts on human and
aquatic life.
Application: Students determine their in-
dividual impacts on the hydrologic cycle and
list activities that move water from one part
of the cycle to another.
Background:
Exploration: Working with a partner and
using blue pens or pencils, students label the
parts of the hydrologic cycle on Activity Sheet
3 and draw arrows to show water movement
through the cycle. Using black pens or pen-
cils, students then label sources of pollution
and draw arrows to show pollution paths in-
to the hydrologic cycle. Record reasons and
reflections in journals. Share.
All parts of the hydrologic cycle can be
polluted. Water vapor rising through the at-
mosphere from evaporation and transpiration
combines with emissions from combustion
of fossil fuels to fall back to earth as acid
precipitation. Surface water can be polluted
directly from discharges from factories,
sewers, and power plants into rivers, lakes,
or the ocean as “point-source” pollution.
Pollution that washes into surface waters with
overland flow is called “nonpoint-source”
pollution and includes sediment from agri-
culture, construction, and timber harvest.
Chemicals, like pesticides and fertilizers from
agriculture and lawn care, can be washed in-
to surface waters as nonpoint-source pollu-
tion as well. Toxic Wastes can seep into sur-
face waters from mining refuse piles, land-
fills, and many other sources. Groundwater
is polluted when contaminants seep into the
ground and reach the water table. Sources in-
clude farm and lawn chemicals, improperly
designed septic systems, landfills, and
household wastes, such as used oil.
Because the atmosphere, soil, and dis-
turbed areas of the earth are undergoing the
constant washing, seeping, and dissolving ac-
tions of water, almost any kind of pollution
that enters the environment can eventually
become water pollution. Discuss how water
pollution can cause water shortages.
Concept Development: Have students work
as individuals, then in teams to develop a list
of pollution impacts on human and aquatic
life. Record in journals, reflect, and share.
Acid precipitation contaminates lakes mak-
ing them unfit for aquatic life. It also can kill
terrestrial plants and corrode man-made
structures.
Chemicals and wastes can contaminate sur-
face waters, killing fish and other life and
making the water unfit for drinking, irriga-
tion, and other uses.
Sediments resulting from soil erosion are
the most widespread and costly water pollu-
tion problem. They are carried in water,
preventing aquatic vegetation from receiving
enough light to grow and support other forms
of aquatic life. When sediment settles,it ac-
cumulates in streams and lakes, ruining fish
habitat, choking navigation ways, and leading
to costly dredging. Sediments can also carry
dangerous chemicals into surface waters.
Application: Have students work in teams
to discuss their place in and impact on the
hydrologic cycle and use journals to list ways
that we cause water to move in the cycle.
The human body is over 60% water so peo-
ple are very much a part of the hydrologic
cycle. Humidifiers, deliumidifiers, irrigation,
and watering plants all cause water to change
from vapor to liquid or vice versa. Many
cities pump water-for residential use from the
ground and return it, after treatment, to a
river. Others get residential water from lakes
or reservoirs and return it to the ground
through septic systems. Most electricity is
generated by taking surface water, turning it
to steam to drive huge turbines, and releas-
ing it to the atmosphere. The human body.
also changes ground or surface water to water
vapor.
Students send polluted water into the water
cycle almost every time they use water,
whether it’s to wash their hands, flush the
toilet, wash a bicycle, or take a drink.
Additional Activities:
1. Sedimentation/turbidity: Use quart jars
or large graduated cylinders to observe the
settling rate of different materials. Fill jars
one-third full of mixed silt, sand, and gravel.
Fill to near the tOp with water. Shake and
observe and record settling rates of the
niaterials.
2. Stream tables-can be used to show ero-
sion, sedimentation and other principles of
water pollution
3. Research oil spills and their impacts on
aquatic life.
4. Publish in some form.
Activity 4
TAKE ACTION
Summary: Students identify alternatives
to human activities that contaminate or waste
water and discuss reasons that alternatives
may or may not be feasible; action plans are
formulated.
Objectives: Students will realize that they
can affect the quality and quantity of water.
Materials: Activity Sheet 4, Water Logs,
journals, and cartoon booklets.
Exploration: Students will investigate
alternatives to water use and pollution
situations.
Concept Development: Students will
develop action plans to protect and conserve
water. - -
Application: Students will take steps
towards implementing their action plans.
Background:
Exploration: Using the Problem column of
Activity Sheet 4, have students list water use
and pollution problems. This information
could be taken from the cartoon booklet, ac-
tivities 1, 2, and 3, and from journal notes
-and reflections. Have students work in teams
to list alternatives to each of the problems.
Use the Alternative column of Activity Sheet
4.
Concept Development: Working in teams
of three, students determine which of the
alternatives can be carried out personally, by
their families, by their neighborhood or corn-
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munity, and by their country. Possible action
plans are developed and recorded in the Ac-
tion Plan column of Activity Sheet 4. Jour-
nal writing could be done for more detailed
planning and reflecting. Plans could include
changing personal water use habits, making
posters to improve water awareness, and
writing letters to community, state or provin-
cial, and national leaders. The class could
choose and develop an action plan from those
developed by the teams.
Application. Students will take steps toward
implementing water protection action plans.
Individual, team, class, family, school,
and/or community might be involved in the
implementation of action plans. Students
could work in teams to record careful plans
for implementation in their journals. If ac-
tual implementation is not possible, publica-
tion in some form might be.
Additional Activities:
I. Role play a community action plan to
protect an endangered water supply.
2. Research action plans that have been im-
plemented to preserve or protect water.
3. Write letters to public officials.
4. Record pollution problems in your
neighborhood and community with journals
and cameras.
5. Continuous integration of water use and
pollution awareness and positive alternatives
into curriculum.
RESOU RCES
For Students
Magic School Bus, Joanna Cole, 1986.
Scholastic Inc. 730 Broadway, New York,
NY 10003.
50 Things You Can Do to Save the Earth,
Earth Works Group, 1989. Earthworks
Press, Box 25, 1400 Shattuck Ave.,
Berkeley, CA 94709.
Water Wheel. Guide to Home Water Conser-
vation, International Joint Commission,
100 Ouellette Ave., Windsor, ON N9A 6T3
or P.O. Box 32869, Detroit, MI 48232.
For Teachers
Aquatic Wild, Western Regional Environmen-
tal Education Council, 1987.
Project Wild, Salina Star Route, Boulder, CO
80302. In Canada: Canadian Wildlife
Federation, 1673 Carling Ave., Ottawa,
Ontario, Canada T5K 2G6.
Gee-Wo%i’! Adventures in Water, The Ecology
Center, 417 Detroit Street, Ann Arbor, MI
48104.
Living in Water, National Aquarium in Balti-
more, Pier 3. 501 East Pratt Street, Balti-
more, MD 21202-3194.
Nature Scope, National Wildlife Federation,
1985. NWF. 1412 16th St. N.W.,
Washington, D.C. 20036.
The Story of Drinking Water, Rosalie Bock,
1984. American Water Works Assoc.,
6666 W. Quincy Ave., Denver, CO 80235.
Water Cycle Discussion Cards and Water Cy-
cle Simulator, Teachers’ Laboratory, Inc.
P.O. Box 6480, Brattleboro, VT 05302.
General Reading
Barney, G. 0., Director. 1982. The Global
2000 Report to the President. New York:
Penguin.
National Research Council. 1989. Alternative
Agriculture. Washington, D.C.: National
Academy Press.
Speidel, D. H., L. C. Ruedisili, and A. F.
Agnew, eds. 1988. Perspectives on Water
Use and Abuse. New York: Oxford
University Press.
MORE INFORMATION
The Extension Service, Soil Conservation
Service, and Forest Service in the U.S.
Department of Agriculture; the Bureau of
Land Management, Fish and Wildlife Ser-
vice, BureaU of Reclamation, and Geological
Survey in the U.S. Department of the Interior;
and Environmental Protection Agency, Ten-
nessee Valley Authority, and the Army Corps
of Engineers are among the federal agencies
in the United States that can assist you. Use
the telephone directory to contact the re-
gional, state or local offices of these agencies.
State and local agencies and organizations,
such as departments of natural resources, en-
vironmental quality, and health; game and
fish commissions, conservation commissions,
conservation districts, irrigation or drainage
districts, municipal water suppliers, and well
drilling companies are also listed in telephone
directories.
Environment Canada and Agriculture
Canada are federal agencies in Canada that
might be of assistance. Provincial and local
agencies, such as departments or ministries
of natural resources, and conservation
authorities can also be of assistance..
The Conservation Directory, published an-
nually by the National Wildlife Federation,
lists many conservation agencies and orga-
nizations in the United States and Canada.
Your public library, colleges, and universities
can help, too.
WORDS TO KNOW
acid precipitation—precipitation that carries
material from exhausts of automobiles,
coal-burning factories, and power plants
that are harmful to living things.
aquifer—area through which water moves
naturally underground; sand, gravel, and
cracks in rocks.
atmosphere—the layer of air surrounding the
earth.
evaporation—change in water from liquid to
vapor.
fertilizer—material that is added to soil to
help plants grow.
glaciers—large masses of snow or ice.
groundwater—water below the surface of the
earth.
hydrologic cycle—the pathway water follows
in moving from the atmosphere to th e
earth’s surface and back to the atmosphere.
irrigation—putting water on agricultural
land, lawns, and gardens to help plants
grow.
landfill—site where solid waste is disposed
of safely by burying it under thin layers of
soil daily.
nonpoint-source pollution—pollution that is
carried to bodies of water or aquifers from
nonspecific sources.
per capita—each person’s share of a coun-
try’s total water use.
permeability—a measurement of the rate that
water moves through material like soil or
an aquifer.
pesticides—materials used to kill or control
pests like weeds and insects that are harm-
ful to plants.
point-source pollution—pollution that is car-
ried to bodies of water or aquifers from a
specific point like a pipe.
polar ice caps—masses of ice at the earth’s
poles.
polluted—reduction in usefulness or quality
due to the addition of a substance (pollu-
tant, pollution).
porosity—the percentage of the total volume
of a material like soil or an aquifer that is
pore spaces.
precipitation—forms of water that fall from
the atmosphere such as rain, snow, sleet,
.etc
reservoir—a body of water formed by dam-
ming streams or rivers to collect and store
water.
runoff—total amount of water that leaves the
land in streams.
sediment—particles of soil moved by wind
or water from one place to another, often
deposited in a body of water like a river,
stream, lake, or marsh.
soil erosion—movement of soil by wind or
water..
surface water—water on the surface of the
earth.
transpiration—water given off by plants.
turbidity—the cloudiness of water caused by
suspended sediments.
water vapor—water in an invisible, gas-like
state.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Special thanks to Mary, Jay, and Jill Nor-
ton for the creation of this Teacher’s Guide.
SO’
AND WATER
CONSERVATION
SOCIETY
For a free brochure that describes SWCS’s
other educational materials, call 1-800-THE-
SOIL or (515) 289-2331 or write: Soil and
Water Conservation Society, 7515 N.E.
Ankeny Road, Ankeny, IA 50021-9764.
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Water Log Reflections
Activity 1
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Day 5- Water Use Day 2 - Water Use
Category Amount Category Amount
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Activity 2:
THE HYDROLOGIC CYCLE
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I a •
• I. P •
• p • • * e
— —
—
—
—
Activity 3:
HUMANS IN THE CYCLE
U
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Activity 4:
TAKE ACTION
Water Protection Data Sheet
Problems
Alternatives
Action Plan
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