Steps & Teacher Directions:

1) Intro – Greet your students and tell them an overview of the topic and what they’ll be doing today (talking about what droughts look like, vocabulary review, discussion, video, recap).

2) What does Drought Look Like to You Activity – Explain to your students that you are going to start with an activity called What does Drought Look Like to You. Tell them that they are going to have 5 minutes to either look up online or draw a photograph or picture of what drought looks like to them. Say that they can either email it to you (write your email on board so they can see it) or have it on a device (like a cellphone) or on a piece of paper that they can pass around the classroom so everyone can see it.

To help them understand what they need to do, display your photo and explain to them why you chose it and how it symbolizes drought to you.

When your students have sent or drawn their photos show them to the class one by one. Have your students guess who’s photo it is before asking the student to explain why they chose it.

Steps & Teacher Directions:

Tell your students that they will now be doing a group vocabulary review quiz. Tell them that for the quiz they will be matching the definition to the vocabulary word. Warm them that there are some new words on the list and too many definitions. Either divide your class into groups of 2 or 3 or tell them to work with the person sitting next to them (either to the right or to the left). Give each student or group a quiz and emphasize to them that they can work together and tell them that they have 5 minutes.

When everyone is done go through the answers with them and answer any questions that they have.

*See Appendix A for quiz and answer sheet*

Steps & Teacher Directions:

Tell your students that they will now watch a video and do an accompanying activity. Explain to them that they will be watching a 3.5-minute-long video and then discussing questions in a group about it afterward. Divide your students into groups of 3 or 4 and give each group the list of questions. Give them a minute to read over the list and ask them if they have any questions before you play the video. Tell them that you will play the video twice and that they should be thinking about how they will answer the question on the paper.

Once you have played the video twice allow each group 10 minutes to discuss the questions. Talk around the classroom to make sure students as moving forward to the next question or every 3ish minutes make an announcement to move to the next question. If time allows ask a couple of the groups to share what they talked about and how they answered the 3 questions.

*See Appendix C for  the list of questions*

*See Materials Needed for the link to the video* 

Steps & Teacher Directions:

Tell your students that you are now going to be doing another activity called New Innovations Guessing Game. Remind them of the great job that they did in the last lesson by inventing new innovations to help countries. Explain to them that they are now going to see 4 photographs of real inventions that cities around the world use to save water. Tell them that they have to guess what each invention is called and what it does.

To check to make sure your students understand use the first photo in Appendix D as a practice photo. Display it and you try to guess what the name is and what it does.

Allow the students to give their ideas for each photo for no more than 4 minutes and then you explain to them what each invention is called and what it does.

*See Appendix D for photos of inventions and the answer sheet*

Steps & Teacher Directions:

Check in with your students about how they are doing on their project for presenting. Ask each of the groups to tell everyone what country they are researching. Remind them that they will be presenting it in the next class and that having a PowerPoint or Google Slides presentation is optional. If two or more groups have the same country make sure to tell your students that this is ok because everyone will find something different and each presentation will be different.

Leave a bit of time to answer students’ questions or issues they have had with the project.

Wildfire and Droughts Vocabulary Quiz:

1.     Evaporation                                    a. lack of food

2.     Watershed                                       b. rainy season

3.     Drought                                          c. used to make reservoirs

4.     Wildfire                                          d. electricity made by moving water

5.     Famine                                                      e. fire that burns large areas of land

6.     Non-essential                                  f. dry season

7.     Mitigation                                       g. not necessary

8.     Monsoon                                         h. amount of rain a place gets

9.     Deforestation                                  i. use of all water from a source in one area

10.  Irrigation                                         j. water turning into a gas

11.  Desertification                                k. greater loss of water than input of water

12.  Dam                                                l. reducing the severity of something

13.  Hydroelectric                                  m. removal of trees in an area

14.  Precipitation                                   n. use of water for plants

15.  Snowpack                                       o. area of land where water drains to the same place

  p. an area turning into a desert

  q. water falling from clouds

  r. amount of snow a place gets

Droughts and Wildfires Vocabulary Quiz Answer Sheet 

1.     Evaporation: j  - water turning into a gas                       

2.     Watershed: o – area of land where water drains to the same place                                  

3.     Drought: k – greater loss of water than input of water for an area                                     

4.     Wildfire: e – fire that burns large areas of land                                

5.     Famine: a – lack of food                                       

6.     Non-essential: g- not necessary                                         

7.     Mitigation: l – reducing the severity of something                                   

8.     Monsoon: b – rainy season                                   

9.     Deforestation: m – removal of trees in an area  

10.  Irrigation: n – use of water for plants                                     

11.  Desertification : p – an area turning into a desert                  

12.  Dam: c – used to make reservoirs                                           

13.  Hydroelectric: d – electricity made by moving water                                    

14.  Precipitation: q – water falling from clouds                           

15.  Snowpack: r – amount of snow a place 

WWYD: Droughts Questions List 

1)    Brainstorm 1 or 2 ways that you could help someone you love if their house was destroyed in a wildfire.

2)    Do you know anyone or have you yourself been impacted by wildfires?

3)    If you had to leave your house right now because of a wildfire and you could only take 1 thing with you (your family and pets are safe) what would you take? 

New Innovations Guessing Game Photos:

Slide for Photos 

New Innovations Guessing Game Answer Sheet:

1. Fog Catcher – This wall of mesh collects the droplets of water in fog. The water goes into water storage systems under the walls. These catchers are best used in dry mountainous or coastal regions with lots of fog.

2. Bamboo Warkawater Towers – This towel was invented in Italy and was named after the Warka tree in Ethiopia. The towers collect dew similar to the Fog Catcher. The water collects in pans under the towers. These towers are best used in very dry countries where the temperature gets cold at night and dew forms.

3. Dome Collectors – These domes are another invention to collect dew. The dome is a small greenhouse and the water drips onto plants or crops that grow in the dome. This system is best used in dry countries or areas with lots of dew.

4. Seawater Evaporation Cone – This cone uses plastic that is placed over a bucket of saltwater. The water evaporates and fresh water is collected in the plastic cone. These cones are best used in very dry coastal areas.