Activity 1

Water Budget (click to access the lesson) - Aquarium of the Pacific

Student Objectives:

Students will:

• gain awareness of water usage by tracking their water habits and calculating how much water they use each day

Description: Earth has a great deal of water covering its surfaces, but 97% of this is saltwater. Saltwater is great for marine animals and plants that are adapted to living in an environment with salt, but is not a great source for drinking water used by people and other freshwater animals. Three percent of the water on our planet is freshwater, with only 1% being accessible. The other 2% is trapped in the form of polar ice caps. We must share this 1% of usable water with every person, animal, and plant that also lives on earth.

Steps for Teachers:

1. Lead students in a discussion about water conservation.

2. Have students investigate how much water they use.

3. Distribute “My Water Budget” take home worksheets (page 2) to students and have them monitor the amount of water they use over a 24 hour period of time.

   1. Or have them use the google form below. You are welcome to copy this google spreadsheet and then click "Tools", "Create Form", and then distribute that with your class. You will need a Google account.

   2. When they return conduct a follow-up discussion with the students.

   3. Ask students what they can do to conserve water in a more efficient manner at home. 

   4. Review the many different ways that each person can help save our supply of freshwater.

   5. Discuss with students ways to conserve water – turn water off when brushing teeth, take shorter showers, fix leaky faucets, collect rain water in rain barrels and use it to water plants, wash pets, wash cars, etc.

   6. Also discuss with them ways to prevent pollution in our waterways – mind what they pour down the drains and mind what they put on the land (fertilizers, pesticides, etc.) as it can wash off into the rivers during rainstorms.

Steps for the Students

1. Track your household water usage for a 24 hour period. Count how many times you do each of the activities below.

2. After you have collected all of your data, then calculate how many gallons of water you used for each activity.

3. Add the gallons used in each activity to figure out the grand total of water used.

4. Then enter your data into the form that your teacher provides you.

5. As a class, collect all students' data to determine class's use of water.  At the end of the unit, repeat tracking of water usage to see if there is any difference.  

6. Come up with at least 3 ways that you can conserve water through your personal actions. Are there any larger solutions you could get your school or community to do to save water?  Set targets to see if students can meet these goals.

7. Math extension: Come up with small changes each student could make, and how they would make a difference in the overall water usage.  Estimate water usage for your whole school or community.