By Ana Perez

Hydrologic cycle students will demonstrate knowledge of basic science

concepts of earth science through direct experience, including an understanding of: (a) concepts related to everyday life through…patterns and how they repeat, and cycles; (b) how the basic needs of organisms are met. Students will have the opportunity to identify the various ways water moves throughout the earth as part of the water cycle. This is a great hands-on activity that students will be excited about.

In Class Activity's Hydrologic cycle

Water Conservation Subject: geology with geography

Topic: Water Conservation

Grade level:6th to 8th grade

Number of sessions: two to three class periods

National geographic standards Environment and Society

14. How human actions modify the physical environment.

15. How physical systems affect human systems.

16. The changes that occur in the meaning, use, distribution, and importance of resources.

California standards 3.1 students describe the physical and human

geography and use maps, tables, graphs, photographs and chars to organize information about people, places and environments in a spatial context

1.trace the ways in which people have used the resources of the local region and modified the physical environment(e.g., a dam constructed upstream changed a river or coastline

Objectives

Identify sources of fresh water available for consumption

Understand the need for water conservation due to the limited fresh water supply

Explore strategies for conserving water at home

Compare the benefits and drawbacks of using different water management techniques, particularly dams

Importance of conserving water and techniques for reducing water use at home

Overview Although over 70% of Earth's surface is covered with

water, less than 1% of this water is available for human consumption. In this lesson, students study the availability of water on Earth and discuss methods that can be used to purify and conserve this critical resource. They also assess how much water they and their families typically use, and think about ways to reduce their water usage. Finally, students explore different techniques being employed for water management around the world, including the use of dams to create reservoirs.

Materials Two 2-liter bottles full of water Food coloring (dark color preferable) Measuring cups (for measuring amounts ranging from 50

ml to 14.5 ml) Five clear containers (to hold water ranging in volume from

1,950 ml to 0.5 ml) Markers and tape for making labels Map of your local watershed

(http://cfpub.epa.gov/surf/huc.cfm?huc_code=18100200 ) Water Use Worksheet PDF Document Notebooks for student work

How our water travels

Where do we get our water from http://www.waterresourcestv.com/conference/featur

ed_films/changing_water_use_behaviors/

techniques for reducing water use at home

Take shorter showers.

One way to cut down on water use is to turn off the shower after soaping up, then turn it back on to rinse. A four-minute shower uses approximately 20 to 40 gallons of water.

Turn off the water after you wet your toothbrush

There is no need to keep the water running while brushing your teeth. Just wet your brush and fill a glass for mouth rinsing.

A list for parents 25 ways to conserve water in the home and yard

http://eartheasy.com/live_water_saving.htm

Dams in California

Diamond Valley Lake

Follow up activity Kids will write about what they learned from the field

trip.

What would they do to save water in their daily activity's.

Pick five pictures of their choice and write a little summary of each in their notebooks.