Water, water everywhere?

Rationale: According to the USGS the average person in America uses 100gallons of water. In a
lifetime this will average to 2,591,500 gallons per person. With 71% of the Earth is covered in water,
97.5% of this is saltwater leaving only 2.5% of fresh water for human and animal consumption. The
water cycle is a key to refurbishing the water that is needed for survival.
However, the human impact on the Earth is starting to interfere with the ability of the earth to
replenish its “freshwater” supply. Students will need to use the engineering design process to consider
how we can reduce the impact of pollution to our freshwater resources. The objective is for students
to understand their impact on the water supply through daily habits. From there we will analyze and
determine how we can solve the problem of sustainability of fresh water.
Academic Context: Students are keenly aware that there is a process that help their environment
maintain balance. The cycling of water is an excellent way to introduce students, specifically at the
elementary and middle level, of the multi-step process that occur and provide our world with the
growth and regeneration we need for survival.
Standards:
5-ESS 2. 1 Develop a model using an example to describe way the geosphere, biosphere,
hydrosphere, and/or atmosphere interact.

5-ESS 2.2 Describe and graph the amounts of salt water and fresh water in various reservoirs to
provide evidence about the distribution of water on earth.

K-3ESS 3.3 Communicate the ways that humans can minimize their impact on the land water and air.

Day 1: Guiding question(s) Where does our water come from?

 Students will have dueling flip chart listening all of the possible sources of water.
 Once they complete that portion we will pull all of the ideas together in a word cloud.
As students work through the ideas and categorize them based on what appears to be a
natural ecological process. The instructor will guide their thinking to the water cycle.
Modeling Opportunity: Students will be able to see how multiple systems (atmosphere,
water and land) all interact with one another.
Students will create a model of their own for the water cycle using the following: Students
will use Concordia Model of Rain, to trace water during this water cycle as well as map the
interactions it has with the aforementioned systems.

Students will also model or mimic the water cycle using a simple model using a Ziploc bag
and writing utensils. This model will show in real time the continuous process of the water
cycle. This model will be used later after our anchoring event.
Water, water everywhere?

Learning Lesson
https://www.weather.gov/jetstream/ll_whatacycle

Rationale: Students are accustomed to retrieving water from the faucet, bath and of course the
refrigerator. This opportunity would allow them to revisit the anthesis of where water is
formed as well as highlight its importance to their lives. By using external systems to model
how water travels students will understand the how and why pollution is a possibility along
various points.

Day 2-3: Anchoring Event Flint

Guiding Questions: What would happen if we ran out of clean water?

Students will be shown portions of the following documentary: Poisoned Water .

Water, water everywhere?

From there they will be asked to consider the impact this would have on a massive scale?

We will Chunk-and-Read the following article: Pollution Free Planet

Consider the following: How does water pollution mirror what happened in Flint, MI?
 Using data points for the lead, mercury and Toluene levels in Flint water students will collect
samples of water from their surrounding environment.
 As a class we collect water from the buildings faucets, fountains, and teacher will collect
samples from any runoff in and around the school.
 Acidity, lead and mercury levels will be measured.
 With these data points they will decide the best way to model or compare Flint water and
local water.

Modification: To make this more suitable for lower middle schools, the teacher could simply collect
data points on pH of water in flint. Then have students measure the pH of their water and compare
those data points.

Day 3
Researching: Students will identify and/or research possible triggering events for the Flint water
crisis. They will then identify triggering events that cause mass water pollution in areas across the
world.

Modeling Opportunities: Students will model what happens to the local water habitat when exposed to
superfluous amounts of pollution. They will have identified pollution “as any substance(s) that does
not naturally occur in the water cycle, thus negatively impacting the organisms in the marine habitat
or the local terrestrial habitat.” Using daily household products and their previous model from two
days prior they will monitor how the earth naturally replenishes its water source and how these
pollutants interfere with that process.

Consider the following: How will students determine the best way to monitor the impact on the local
habitat that these samples were collected from? What is our goal with determining this information.

The instructor will present these essential questions to students and assist by steering their thinking
toward population monitoring and the engineering design process for reducing human impact on
water sources. Using the text the “Great Pacific, the instructor can galvanize the thinking of students
as to move them to consider the next steps of designing to prevent and reduce pollution.

Rationale: Day 2 and Day 3 are designed to build upon students’ knowledge of the water cycle as well
as possible steps or inventions that will help protect these natural waterways. Using the models from
the first day and adding the pollutants to their models to see how the water is able to clean itself.
Water, water everywhere?

Day 4:
Essential Questions: What can we do to generate cleaner water? What are new technologies that can
be instituted to clean water after it comes back to the watershed in the water cycle?

Consider the following:

What are the natural cleansing processes that occur in nature to make water consumable for
organisms? (Groundwater)

Can we mimic that in the field? What is the connection between water purification and groundwater
movement?

Using the Groundwater modeling tool students can propose how they believe this impacts the purity
of the water. They will then represent this idea of a natural purifying process that is reflected in a
graph or sketch based on data points collected from water that has high levels of lead, toluene’s and
pesticides in them that have gone through one cycle of the water cycle and compare how the levels
changed.

Modeling: Students will build a water filter samples collected on Day 2 and 3. They will be looking
for the changes in amounts and frequency of identified pollutants.

Rationale: Students will understand and uncover during the water cycle that ground water is purified
by the naturally occurring abiotic elements. This in turn provides fresh ground water which most
humans retrieve water from for basic life needs. If they can understand this concept, this will help
them engineer their own water filtration system.

Day 5:

Essential Question: How can we provide fresh water to everyone?

Water, water everywhere?

Main Idea: Although water does replenish itself it is anticipate in between the years 2000- 2050 there
will be a 55% increase, in the demand for water. With the larges areas of needs being agriculture and
farming.

Consider the following:

There are several processes that allow for the production of water. How can we use these technologies
to help improve access to water?

Modeling: Students can use information to make pictorial representations of how water can be
extracted from various water making processes. Such as Hydrogen combustion, photosynthesis and
condensation.

Rationale: Students understanding that the world naturally provides methods to replenish
itself is important to further designing the ideal water treatment system for a community.
Understanding that humans have an immediate and long-lasting impact on everything around
them. Therefore, this is the beginning of developing students into more environmentally
Water, water everywhere?

conscious individuals.

Day 6: Objectives:

Using the engineering design process
students will answer the following question:
With the reduction of natural watersheds how
can we ensure that everyone can have access
to clean water? What are some ways that we
can purify water in a manner similar to
mother natures? What is the most cost
effective and creative way to do so?
Learning Opportunity:
1. Students will select one of the focus
questions to design their product
around.
2. Using web based resources, they will
discover the various natural
adaptations in nature or organisms
that help purify water.
3. Have students make a profile of that
phenomena
4. Students will start their blueprints of
their technology and how this
technology will work.

Biomimicry is the ability of engineers and

other researchers to use nature to influence
newly discovered inventions. To start
students will view the following video and
begin exploring the engineering process for
creating technology that uses processes
similar to nature.

Day 7: Students will start to create digital simulations of their idea using the
Phet
Water, water everywhere?

Learning Objective: Students can develop models that will help them determine the success of
their project. There model would constitute all three NGSS Standards that are included with
this particular unit. There is also the intended benefit of students learning through experiencing
the actual event in order to make the connection of one concept to the next.

Rationale: Through understanding the continuous processes such as the water cycle and its
interaction with other components of the natural system. Students should be able to recognize
and understand how the influence of humans can degrade the quality of water. Other concepts
that will arise using this particular modeling assessment will allow students to study the long
reaching impact of the change in balance of water, which is also a responsible for sustain life
within and ecosystem.