Water Day – Water Commons Lab

“We all live downstream”

Step 1
Discuss and answer the following questions with your group.

1. Where does the tap water in your home come from?

2. Where does your family’s used water go?

3. What possible pollutants may enter the water “commons” from your home?

Step 2
Complete the lab

Materials
 1 pie pan per group
 White beans
 Red beans
 1 spoon for each person
 1 cup for each person

1. Your group will start at one station and add 100 white beans to the pie pan. These represent clean water from the
river.
2. All group members will close their eyes. You have 30 seconds to collect water. Using a spoon as your pail,
collect as many beans as you can, keeping your eyes closed, and place them in the cup.
3. After 30 seconds is up, count how many white beans are left in the pan. Then, subtract this number from 100 and
put that number of red beans in the pan. The red beans represent polluted water. Record this information in the
chart.
4. Repeat these steps at each station.

Station Clean Water Polluted Water Reflection

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2
3
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5
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Step 3
Discuss and answer the following questions with your group.
1. How many stations did you make it through before the clean water resource ran out?

2. How does the pollution from the stations upstream affect stations located downstream?

3. What was the ratio of clean water to polluted water for each station?
(Ratio = # white beans to #red beans)

4. What is meant by the phrase, “we all live downstream.”