Sustainable Water

Overview

Grades:

• 7th Grade

• High School Environmental Science

Topic: Earth Science

Standard:

7th Grade

• 7.ESS.1 The hydrologic cycle illustrates the changing states of water as it moves through the lithosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere and atmosphere.

High School

• Env. ER 3. Water & Water Pollution

• Env GP 2: Potable water quality, use, and availability

• Env GP 4: Sustainability

In this lesson students will be learn about direct and indirect water use and determine food choices that lower their water footprint.

Format

Nearpod presentation providing background. You can either provide students with the code for them to work individually, or show as a classroom presentation. This is a link to an editable version of the presentation, so feel free to adjust for your class.

Live presentation. Please contact your county's SWCD educator to schedule this.

Student Activity: Create a menu to discover the water use of various food products. Challenge students to lower their water footprint.

Materials

• Student worksheet google doc (per group)

• Food cards (per group) 10 food cards print per page/ Please print double sided to place water usage on the back.

• Optional poster paper for teams to show their menu choices (per group)

Schedule a Live Presentation

• If you would prefer, you can contact your SWCD for either a virtual or an in-person presentation. Please contact your county's SWCD educator to schedule this.

Activity : Water You Eating

Split students into small groups of 3 or so. Provide each groups with:

• a set of food cards and,

• a worksheet.

Tell students to arrange cards on their desk with the food image facing up. No peaking at the back.

Ask student teams to create a balanced daily diet, including:

1. Breakfast - food and beverage

2. Lunch - food and beverage

3. Dinner - protein, 1-2 sides, beverage

4. Snack or dessert

You can make it simpler and have them select food for 1 meal instead. Will make the activity quicker.

Once they finish creating the meals, instruct them to flip over their food cards and explain that the numbers indicate how much water it took to produce that food. Instruct students to complete side 1 of their worksheet to calculate the:

1. amount of water used to create that each meal

2. daily total amount of water used to create all meals

Invite groups to share their meals and total water footprint values.

Side 2 of their worksheet contains the following discussion points and challenge

• Ask, what items pushed up the amount of water used? Why do they think this was the case?

• Challenge students to create water conscious meals that are balanced, nutritious, and use less water. Have them share their new meals and water total.

Wrap Up

Have students work in groups to discuss the following questions (found on the back of their student worksheet):

1. Why do animal products like beef take more water than plant-based foods like grains?Food chains - (To produce food from animals like cows, pigs, etc. water is needed to grow the animal’s food, for the animal to drink, and for cleaning and maintaining the farmhouse facilities, using gasoline to transport the animals to a processing facility.

2. What is one thing you would like to change about your food habits that will help you conserve water?

3. What are some ways you could continue to eat beef, but still conserve water?Meatless Mondays, reducing days eating beef, switching out protein sources for something like chicken or pulses.

Extensions

Create a PSA
Have students create a Public Service Announcement that explains direct and indirect water footprints and offer tips to reduce water use by making better food choices. Some examples may include infographics, videos, webpages, writing a children’s book, morning announcements, or starting a club.

Reading
These readings about sand are free with registration on ReadWorks, a nonprofit that provides Common-Core-aligned readings. All readings include comprehension questions.

• Water is Everything Reading and question set, 1003 words, https://www.readworks.org/article/Water-Is-Everything!/8793aea3-6997-4aae-8394-70052169aa35#!articleTab:content/

• A Drop’s Journey, Reading and question set, 1,225 words https://www.readworks.org/article/A-Drops-Journey/c67960de-9b21-47b8-b84a-3abfca4ed4a9#!articleTab:content/

• Hydrologic Cycle, Passage and question set, 669 words. https://www.readworks.org/article/The-Hydrologic-Cycle/0de9a006-a322-4bda-bf83-432d491e494d#!articleTab:content/

• Energy for Water - reading material on pumping, bottled water, heating, treatment, etc followed by a quiz https://stem.guide/lessons/energy-for-water/

Math
Have students convert these different food products from Liter/Kg to Gallon/Lb. https://evgenii.com/water-footprint/en/

Other Resources
Water Footprint Calculator https://www.watercalculator.org/wfc2/q/household/

Questions or to schedule a presentation

Please contact your county SWCD educator