Water Water Everywhere, Well... Grade Range: K-4, 5-8, 9-12 Lesson Objectives Students will: Track their water consumption over a certain period of time. Analyze the data to detect any trends. Reflect on their experience to figure out ways to decrease their water consumption. Time Required 30 minutes to set up, plus homework, 30 minutes to share Technology and Materials Needed A chart for students to record their water consumption One of the mantras of environmentalism is to reduce, reuse, and recycle. Though it's probably the most important of the three actions, reduce sometimes gets lost. This is an activity for students to see for themselves that they can reduce the amount of water they use. It is an excellent activity for younger students, in particular, to gain experience in recording data, tracking it, and then analyzing it. Further, since students will be creating a water budget, it is a way for them to practice budgeting money and budgeting time. Procedures Survey students on how much water they think they use each day. Encourage older students to factor in some family uses, such as washing dishes or clothes. Accept different estimates, encouraging students to provide their estimates in gallons. As a class, explore different daily or at least frequent activities that require water. For each activity, ask students to estimate the amount of water that activity typically uses. For some students you can decide to have them research how much water is typically consumed in each activity - perhaps dividing the activities among different groups. If time, resources, and/or student ability do not allow for the research, share the following statistics with your class: Bath = 50 gallons 5-minute shower = 15 gallons Flushing toilet = 3 gallons Washing dishes in a dishwasher = 20 gallons Washing dishes by hand = 5 gallons Using the statistics above or those that students gather, have students create a chart that lists the activity, the number of gallons the activity uses each time, the number of times the activity is done each day. Students should get a total level of daily water consumption that they have estimated. For homework, over a period of time that is appropriate, have students record the water activity in their home, getting an accurate total each time. They should also include water use that was not accounted for in the chart from Step 4. For example, maybe a student washes a car. Have students share their totals for water consumption and their experiences. For example, was the total each day more than they expected? Less? As a class, come up with a list of actions that each person can do to reduce their water consumption. Assessment Criteria Did students participate in the recording of their water consumption? Were students able to connect the totals of gallons of water consumed with their individual actions? Did students come up with specific ways to reduce their water consumption?

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