Drip Drip... Wheres the Water

 Topic(s): Water Conservation

Images/Video Resources

Drought at Lake Travis: Water Level 40%

Water bodies across Texas have dried up as it faces its worst ever drought. The Superintendent of the Waste and Water Department walks on the dried bed of Lake Ev Spence.

Water Conservation Tips- How to Conserve Water at Home

Most of us use far more water at home than we realize. Here are some good home water conservation tips from Patty Kim, of National Geographic's Green Guide. Patty has numerous tips on how to cut back on water use, from the bathroom to the driveway.

Texas Towns Run Out of Water as Drought Takes its Toll

PBS NewsHour takes a closer look at the struggle for water in two Texas towns and how the state plans to meet a drier future. This report is part of our new series Coping with Climate Change.

KRGV News Channel 5 Video Resources:

Residents Encouraged to Conserve Water

Falcon Lake Levels Dropping at Alarming Rate

Drought Affecting Valleys Ranchers Bottom Line

National Geographic Images Resource:

Surprising Effects of the U.S. Drought

Scenario

A drought is a period of abnormally dry weather when the average rainfall for a region drops far below the normal amount for a long time. Higher than normal temperatures usually occur during drought periods. The severity of the drought depends upon the degree of moisture deficiency, the duration and the size of the affected area. Drought impacts can be economic, social, and environmental. Lack of rain and increased temperatures cause stress on both rural agricultural and urban metropolitan areas.

Unusual periods of rain-free weeks can spread panic and shrivel crops. Wells, lakes, and streams begin to dry up. People are directed to stop washing cars, cease watering lawns, and employ other water saving measures. Plants and farm crops eventually wither and then die. Animals suffer and may even die because of extreme drought. Forest and grass fires occur more frequently and can spread quickly if dry, arid conditions continue. Absence of moisture and plant life reduction can lead to increased wind erosion. More weeks and months without sufficient rainfall coupled with wind and sunshine can begin to turn a forest into desert.

Due to the severe heat that has affected the entire country, The Texas State Soil and Water Conservation Board (TSSWCB) have approached the city of Progreso, Texas, on a project that they would like to implement in the city of Progreso. The city of Mayor of Progreso has appointed your team to help research and investigate innovative ways to conserve water within the city (in the home, businesses, schools, agriculture). Before TSSWCB can start any new project your research team must present findings of new alternatives of water conservation that is able to be implemented within the city. Your findings must be presented to the City Mayor and the TSSWCB for approval. During your investigation you have the opportunity to research new innovative ways to conserve water, how has the drought affected everyday living (humans, animals, and plants), how will conserving water affect everyday living (humans, animals, and plants).

Task

Sample Investigations/Teacher Resources

Your team was hired by the Progreso City Mayor to research and investigate innovative ways to approach the drought situation that the city is facing by conserving water. Your team is working towards a solution to help the citizens of Progreso, Texas to conserve water, so the city will not face a water shortage which will led to price increase in water. Your team must consider how has the drought affected everyday living (humans, animals, and plants), how will conserving water affect everyday living (humans, animals, and plants), and they must research and investigate new innovative ways to conserve water.

Your teams research and findings must be presented to the City Mayor and the TSSWCB for approval. Once approved your solution will take affect and make the community of Progreso a better place to live.

In this presentation you will use Web 2.0 tools to express your research findings and conclusions.

Individually, each team member will create an analysis of the Drought/Water Conservation scenario. Each team member will individually complete PBL steps 1-4. Each team member must share and discuss ideas, create questions to be answered within the team and conduct individual research to solve the scenario using the custom search engine and resources given.

Group, as a team you will create a problem statement, develop a plan to conduct research on your problem statement and collect research on your problem statement. Each team will consist of 5 members and each member must be assigned a responsibility (e.g. Team Leader, Reporter, Designer...)

Group Presentation, Each team will design a final plan of action addressing the Drought/Water Conservation scenario that will be presented using any Web 2.0 tool listed under Student Work. The presentation will be presented to the Progreso City Mayor and The Texas State Soil and Water Conservation Board for approval. Within the presentation you must include the images and video detailing your findings on water conservation. 

Science Investigation:

How Can Your Faucet Save Water?

In this experiment you will test several water saving products to measure how much they reduce the flow of water through the faucet.

Teacher Resources:

Down the Drain Lesson Plan

Water Conservation Lesson Plan

5th Grade Science TEKS

Student Resources

 Rubric

Scholastic Study Jams

View videos and slide shows on Water Conservation

BrainPop

View videos and do activities on Water Conservation

UnitedStreaming

View videos on Drought and Water Conservation

EduSmart Science Program: Students may use the computer lab to access this science program to learn more about water conservation.

Discovery.com: Main Dangers of Droughts

12 Water Saving Tips

Article:

Drought diaries: How no water, extreme heat are hurting Americans

KRGV News Articles:

Beverage Companies Pay Millions to Conserve Water

Texas Water Smart Initiative Drawing Attention

KGBT News Articles:

Whooping cranes survive Texas drought, numbers up

Half of US counties now considered disaster areas

Books to Consider:

The book covers the many ways in which we use water for drinking, washing in, cooking etc; vast amounts of water are also used in farming (it takes about 500 liters of water to produce one orange), industry, leisure and so on; Taking Action: keep a water diary to see how much water you use in 24 hours and what you use it for; why wasting water is a problem for the environment (danger of drought, water shortages).

In this book, boys and girls are told about dozens of ways in which they and their families can avoid wasting water.

Water Consciousness is designed to change the way people think about water. It explores all aspects of the water crisis and what we can do about it.

Team Rubric

Peer Feedback Rubric

Group Presentation Rubric

Student Work

Standards

1. Read and analyze the scenario and situation.
Check your understanding of the scenario. Don't be tempted to start thinking about potential solutions or to start looking for information. 

1. List your personal understanding, ideas or hunches.

Now that you are familiar with Water Conservation you will write everything you know about Water Conservation. Describe your thoughts or ideas about how to solve the problem. There are not incorrect answers in this step, just feel free to brainstorm your ideas.

2. List what is known.

 With your team use all the information available in the scenario to list everything that you know about Water Conservation. You do not have to conduct any research yet. Just use the information given and write the facts that you already know about Water Conservation.

3. List what is unknown.

With your team, make a list about what you do not know and would like to learn. List all the questions you will need to answer to solve the problem.  

4. List what needs to be done.
"What should we do?" List actions to be taken, e.g., question an expert,conduct research, go to a board meeting about topic. List possible actions.

5. Develop a problem statement.

You will be responsible for thinking and choosing one of the questions to solve the problem.  A problem statement should come from your analysis of what you know. In one or two sentences, you should be able to describe what it is that your group is trying to solve, produce, respond to, or find out. The problem statement may have to be revised as new information is discovered and brought to bear on the situation.

6. Gather information

Use all the resources available (Internet, library, etc) to research about the problem/topic and find a solution.

7. Present Findings

Your team is going to create a presentation on the appropriate water conservation ideas that can be implemented in your city utilizing any Web 2.0 Tools:  Prezi,  Wordle,  Vimeo,  Animoto,  Glogster, VoiceThread, Spicy Nodes, and other tools.

Students will use Group Presentation Rubric

(5.1)  Scientific investigation and reasoning. The student conducts classroom and outdoor investigations following home and school safety procedures and environmentally appropriate and ethical practices. The student is expected to: revised August 2011  

(B)  make informed choices in the conservation, disposal, and recycling of materials.

(5.2)  Scientific investigation and reasoning. The student uses scientific methods during laboratory and outdoor investigations. The student is expected to: 

(D)  analyze and interpret information to construct reasonable explanations from direct (observable) and indirect (inferred) evidence;

Drip Drip... Wheres the Water by Santos Alvarado is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 United States License.