Lesson 4: Water in Africa

Author Name: Emily Odell

Grade Level: 2-4

Lesson Title: Water in Africa

Subject Area(s): social studies

Key Concepts: global water crisis, water scarcity, water, geography, environment, location

Guiding Questions:
What does water scarcity suggest in regards to the way water is used around the world?
How does water availability impact the way people value water?
What do you know about the water in the world- In Africa in particular?
How do geographic location, economic resources, and culture determine humans access
to clean water?

Academic Standards:
2nd Grade
2.G.1- Use geographic representations, terms, and technology to process
information from a spatial perspective
2.G.2- Understand the effects of humans interacting with their environment
3rd Grade
3.G.1- Understand the Earths patterns by using the 5 themes of geography
(location, place, human environment interaction, movement, and regions)
4th Grade
4.G.1- Understand how human, environmental, and technological factors affect
the growth and development of North Carolina

Lesson Summary (2-3 sentences):

In this lesson, the teacher will show a clip from the documentary This is Normal which portrays
children in Zambia, Africa receiving clean water for the first time. The teacher then leads a short
discussion on the video. Next, the teacher presents a map of the world showing water scarcity,
emphasizing on Africa. The teacher reads The Water Princess , which provides an example of a
child living in Burkina Faso, Africa with difficult access to water. Following the story, students
empathize with the main character in the story by completing the Step Inside activity.
Learning Objectives
Students will be able to in order to understand that.
Explain the causes and effects of the global water crisis in order to understand that water
is precious and needs to be conserved
Identify water issues in Africa in order to understand geographic and environmental
differences between there and the United States (NC in particular)
Identify the detrimental impact of unclean water on the people of Africa in order to
understand the importance of clean water
Define water scarcity in order to understand that geographic location, economic
resources, and culture influence access to clean water
Gain perspective from real life occurrences involving water scarcity in order to
understand that water is not accessible to everyone

Assessment:
Oral Discussion- whole group
Students share their thoughts on the video clip of This is Normal (15:28-15:53)
Step Inside Activity- individual work
Students are told empathize with the character Gie Gie from the book The Water
Princess by Susan Verde and Peter H. Reynolds by placing themselves in her
shoes
Students write in 1st person on a piece of paper- as if they were Gie Gie- in order
to describe how she might feel, behave, etc. given her circumstances of having to
walk miles each day in order to get water

Prerequisite Knowledge:
1. Global Water Crisis- (definition will be explained orally by the teacher)
a. Close to 1 billion people do not have access to clean water in the developing
world (Global Water Shortage, n.d.)
b. Water is being taken for granted and over-consumed in places with access to it
c. It is being consumed faster than it can be replenished
d. Although there is a lot of water in our world, only 2.5% of it is freshwater and
only 1% of it is easily accessible (National Geographic Society, n.d.)
2. Economic water scarcity- water is accessible, but it takes time and money to get to it
(definition will be explained orally by the teacher) (Global Water Shortage, n.d.)
3. Physical water scarcity- there is literally not enough water (definition will be explained
orally by the teacher) (Global Water Shortage, n.d.)
4. Majority of Africa has economic water scarcity (water scarcity map will be provided-
Appendix A) (Global Water Shortage, n.d.)
 a. Many people in Africa- young and old, have to travel many miles to access water
(this takes a lot of time)

Materials and Resources:

PowerPoint presentation providing brief definitions, pictures, and link to video
Video clip of This is Normal (15:28-15:53)
Projector
The Water Princess by Susan Verde and Peter H. Reynolds (Read out loud)
Lined paper (for step inside activity)
Pencils (for step inside activity)
water scarcity map (see Appendix A)
map of Africa (see Appendix B)

Prior Preparation
Set up map visuals on the screen
Set up the video and pause at the start time (15:28)
Make sure each student has a piece of paper and a pencil to write with

Hook/Before:
Teacher prompts students:
1. Close your eyes and think of a time when you were really, really happy. So happy that
you were laughing, smiling, and jumping for joy. Think quietly in your head- what was it
about this situation that made you so happy and/or excited?
2. After a brief pause, tell students to discuss their stories quietly with the person next to
them
3. Call on a 1-2 students to share their story with the class
4. Today, we are going to learn about something we often take for granted here in the
United States- something that for many people around the world, is a reason for
happiness and pure joy- water

Model/Guided Practice:
1. First, remind students of the previous lesson (lesson 3) on water in North Carolina and
refresh the facts that they learned in order to give perspective on the differences between
the United States and Africa.
2. Next, explain to students that clean, safe water is not something that all people have
access to. Show them video clip of This is Normal (15:28-15:53) in order to provide
proof of how special clean water can be for those who have struggled without it for a
long time
 a. Video clip shows children receiving access to clean water for the first time from
an underground well placed near their village (before this, they had to travel over
3 miles to a lake which contained unclean water
i. Emphasize that the environment makes this difficult- it does not rain for
extended periods of time, many lakes and rivers hold bacteria that can
make people sick
ii. The best water is underground, but a well must be installed in order to
provide it (give a brief definition of well)
3. Afterwards, have a brief class discussion and allow students to raise their hands and share
what they thought of the video clip
4. Then, explain that this video is a clip from a small African village in Mbala Island,
Zambia- and that there are many more stories similar to this one in other parts of Africa
and around the world.
a. Teacher will point out Zambia on the map of Africa (see Appendix B)
5. Next, pull up the water scarcity map (see Appendix A) and define economic and physical
scarcity
a. Point out Africa and bring attention to the fact that most of the country has
economic water scarcity
6. Next, provide an example from a childs perspective by reading The Water Princess,
which is based on a true story about a little girl named Gie Gie who has to walk many
miles in order to access water each day
a. Story is about a small African village in Burkina Faso- Teacher will point this out
to the children on the map of Africa (see Appendix B)
b. There are no page numbers in the book
i. Pause on page that begins with I am too sleepy to put on my crown and
ask children to imagine what it would be like to wake up earlier than they
usually do for school and have to walk many miles to get water
ii. Pause on page that begins with Halfway there. and point out that the sun
is high in the sky which indicates that it is extremely hot and that there is
not much shade throughout their journey
iii. Pause on page that begins with The dance home has slowed to careful
steps. and prompt students to imagine what it would be like to carry a full
jug of water on their heads for many miles
iv. Following the completion of the story, pass the book around so that
students can look at the pictures in the back of the book of real children in
Burkina Faso
7. Following the reading, prompt ask students to take out a piece of paper
a. Step Inside Activity- Student are prompted to empathize with Gie Gie from the
story and are told to write a few sentences from Gie Gies perspective.
 i. Questions to ask (Ritchart, Church, & Morrison, 2011):
1. What might Gie Gie see, observe, or notice?
2. What might Gie Gie know, understand, or believe?
3. What might Gie Gie care deeply about?
4. What might Gie Gie wonder about or question?

Closure/Evaluation/After:
1. Following 5-10 minutes, debrief students responses as a class.
a. Teacher writes a list of students ideas on the board
2. Prompt students for the next lesson (lesson 5) by emphasizing what they learned in this
lesson- water is not accessible to everyone and is not always clean or safe to drink
a. It is important for us who live in the United States who have access to clean water
to conserve it and not take it for granted
i. Tell students that the following lesson, they will learn some ways in which
to conserve water

Accommodations:
For differently abled learners, allow them to draw pictures or explain answers orally to the
teacher rather than writing sentences. In addition, allow these learners to have access to the story
following it being read aloud so that they may have more time to look at the pictures and grasp
the content of the story.

Appendix A

Retrieved from http://www.un.org/waterforlifedecade/scarcity.shtml

Appendix B

Retrieved from http://www.eco-friendly-africa-travel.com/map-of-africa-countries.html

References

The Water Project, Inc. Global Water Shortage: Water Scarcity & The Importance of Water.

(n.d.). Retrieved March 28, 2017, from https://thewaterproject.org/water-scarcity/

The Water Project, Inc. Water In Crisis - Spotlight Africa: Rural and Urban Issues. (n.d.).

Retrieved April 17, 2017, from

https://thewaterproject.org/water-crisis/water-in-crisis-rural-urban-africa

National Geographic Society. Freshwater Crisis. (n.d.). Retrieved April 17, 2017 from

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/freshwater/freshwater-crisis.html

Ritchhart, R., Church, M., & Morrison, K. (2011). Making Thinking Visible: How to Promote

Engagement, Understanding, and Independence for All Learners. San Francisco, CA:

Jossey Bass.