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Welcome to the Sustainability Lesson Clearinghouse

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Sustainability Lesson Clearinghouse

Water: An Amazing and Precious Resource

Lesson Description:
After completing this lesson, students will be able to:
  • Make an assessment of their own personal water usage.
  • Understand the unique properties of water and why it is important to life on Earth.
  • Understand how much water is available on Earth and why it is scarce.
  • Use their critical thinking skills to debate water scarcity in the U.S.
  • Come up with ways to conserve water in their own lives.

Lesson Type:
  • Audit
  • Discussion
  • Other

Sustainability Topic:
  • Water

GEF Program Category:
  • Sustainable Water Challenge

Time Needed:
2 class periods (class 1: warm-up through activity two, class 2: activity three and wrap-up)
Standards Addressed:
This lesson addresses the following national education standards: 
Content Standard: NS.9-12.6 Personal and Social Perspectives 

As a result of activities in Grades 9-12, all students should develop understanding of
  • Personal and community health
  • Population growth
  • National resources
  • Environmental quality
  • Natural and human-induced hazards
  • Science and technology in local, national, and global challenges
  • Content Standard: NSS-G.K-12.3 Physical Systems

As a result of activities in grades K-12, all students should: 
  • Understand the physical processes that shape the patterns of earth’s surface.
  • Understand the characteristics and spatial distribution of ecosystems on Earth’s surface.
  • Content Standard: NSS-G.K-12.5 Environment and Society

As a result of activities in grades k-12, all students should
  • Understand how human actions modify the physical environment.
  • Understand how physical systems affect human systems.
  • Understand the changes that occur in the meaning, use, distriof resources.

Materials Needed:
  • Reproducible #1 – Personal Water Audit 
  • Reproducible #2 – Water is Amazing! 
  • Prize or reward for winning team(s) of Water is Amazing! 

School or Group:
Earth Day Network
Contact Email:
service@greeneducationfoundation.org
Notes:
Http://www.eeweek.org/resources/water_curricula.htm
Lesson Documents:
application/pdf Amazing_Precious_9-12.pdf
Located in: Social Studies

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Center for Green Schools