Steps & Teacher Directions:

1. Greet your students and give them an overview of the lesson (presentations, video, discussion, solution-finding activity). Tell them that before they begin giving their presentations you are going to do a short activity first.

2. Tell them that this activity is called ‘I am stranded’. Explain to them that you are going to give them all a scenario that they are all trapped in. They are alone and they will have to choose 2 ordinary objects and give a reason as to why they think it would help them in this situation. Tell them that they can pick any two objects, but they have to rhyme. 

Explain that they will each only have 2 minutes to pick two objects that rhyme and give reasons. Then give them the scenario and an example answer: “You are stranded in a forest in a drought and there is a wildfire coming… what would you want to have with you? For example, you could choose to bring a coat and a boat, but you have to explain why you would want to bring them.”

Give them 2 minutes to think – remind them several times that the two objects have to rhyme. Then have them share out what objects they would bring and why. Make sure to limit their answers so they are short. 

Steps & Teacher Directions:

Tell your students that it is now time for their presentations. Remind them that they were researching in groups about the droughts of one country in the world. Tell them that each group will present one at a time and can talk for no more than 5 minutes. 

Steps & Teacher Directions:

Congratulate your students that they have finished the presentations. Now tell them that they are going to do an easy activity. Tell them that they are going to listen to a 5-minute-long video called ‘Are we running out of clean water?’ twice. Tell them that you will give each of them a piece of paper with a few questions on it. They will answer these questions on their own. Explain that they will not share what they write down, but that the notes will be to help them think about their water usage.

*See Materials Needed for the link to video*

*See Appendix A for the list of questions* 

Steps & Teacher Directions:

Tell your students that you will now be doing one final activity called Problems and Solutions. Explain that you will divide them into groups of three – they have to decide who is going to be the runner, who is going to be the solution finder, and who is going to be the note taker. Divide your students into groups before continuing to explain the directions so as to not overwhelm them.

Once they are in groups tell all the note takers to find a desk/chair/table to sit at and find a pencil and paper. Then ask the runners to help clear a path from the wall next to you and their note taker. Then ask the solution finders to help you tape the cut-out solutions to the wall next to you. Try to keep everyone moving so this does not take too long.

When you are ready tell your students that you will be reading out 5 different problems regarding drought and water. The solution finders will stand by the wall and then have to look at all of the solutions that they taped to the wall and find one that they think will work. The finders will then tell the runners what the solution is. The runners will run back to the note takers and tell them what the solution is and they will then write it down.

Ask them to explain to you what will happen to make sure that they understand. Also, tell them that you will be reading out a new problem every 2 minutes so they have to work fast.

At the end have everyone compare what solutions they chose and have them give a reason if there is time.

*See Appendix B for the list of problems and solutions*

Video Question Sheet

-       What are two problems from the video? 

-       Is every country running out of water? Why or why not? 

-       What uses the most amount of our water? 

-       What are two solutions from the video?

Teacher’s List of Problems 

1)    Some countries use more water than others.

2)    Agriculture takes up around 90% of our water consumption.

3)    Wildfires are burning more and more forests.

4)    Poorer communities are affected worse by droughts.

5)    Reservoirs are emptying and hydroelectric energy is decreasing. 

Students’ Possible Solutions

Eat plants that use less amounts of water

Reduce food waste

Go Vegan

Go Vegetarian

Decrease deforestation

Lower prices on clean water

Cut down dead trees in forests

Create artificial rain

Use underground storage containers

Use more wind and sun energy

Create better water transport systems

Increase deforestation

Share water

Stop watering lawns

Collect more rain

Turn sea water into clean water

_____ write your own solution_____

Student(s) name(s): ___________________________________________________________________

Date:_______________________   Topic: _______________________________________________

Critique:

Points:

Comments:

Presentation Technique

Use of allotted time. Was time used efficiently? Did the talk run over or under?

/5

Voice projection/eye contact

/5

Non-verbal (gestures, hand-waving, posture…)

/10

Verbal (pauses, unnatural pacing, speed of talk…)

/10

Enunciation clear, correct pronunciation

/10

Flow easy to follow and logical progression

/5

Good beginning and ending and originality

/5

Knowledge of Topic

Content at an appropriate level

/10

Relevant to topic

/10

TOTAL

/70