Opening the lesson:

1. Indicate that in the second lesson in this unit students calculated how much water they used in their daily activities. This lesson focuses on strategies for reducing the amount of fresh water we each consume.
2. Pass out the KWHLAQ Chart to students.
3. Ask students to take 5-10 minutes to individually record in the K column what they already know about how people can reduce the amount of fresh water they consume.
4. Have students form groups of four or five and share what they reported in column K.

Developing the Lesson:

5. Next, based on what they shared about what they already know about reducing water use, ask students to develop questions on what they more they want to learn about reducing personal water use and record these questions in column W.
6. Then, ask students to answer the question “How will you find out answers to your questions?” Have them record their responses in column H. Have them pursue these resourcesIf the resources are available in your area, consider bringing in a public or private water consultant or conservationist to answer student questions. Have students share their questions with the guest in advance of the visit, so that the guest is well prepared to answer them. in small groups of two or three, and use the resources to answer the questions in column W.
7. For homework, ask students to record what they learned in column L of their charts.
8. In class the next day, allow 10-15 minutes to ask students to share what they have learned with the class.

9. Next, ask students to speculate about what action they would like to take personally, based on what they learned about reducing water use. Have them share their ideasAs an alternative, students could prepare and share a proposal of conservation suggestions. for taking action, and record their ideas in column A.
10. Ask students to share what further questions they have about strategies for reducing fresh water use and how they might find answers to these questions.

Concluding the Lesson:

Indicate to students that farm irrigation is one of the main ways in which humans use fresh water. You might have them examine information about water use and irrigation by exploring Water Use in the United States

11. Farmers are working to reduce the amount of water they use in irrigation. Indicate that you are about to show a short video of a farmer featuring one of the strategies he uses to reduce water use in irrigation. (Click on the Content Enhancement Video link at the beginning of the unit.)
12. After showing the video, give students an opportunity to comment, express opinions, or ask questions about what they have seen. Discuss what new information they learned from the video.
13. Then use questions like the following to debrief the video: How would you describe the technology used by the farmer to reduce the amount of fresh water he used in irrigation? What impact did using that technology have on the amount of water he used in irrigation and his energy expenses?
14. To conclude the lesson, you might want to have students do some research on other strategies that farmers or other industries are using to reduce fresh water use.
15. As an extension of this module, have students create a public service announcement and/or news broadcast based upon all the research they have conducted on water. Separate class into small groups. Each group will create a list of key points and/or summary of the articles to report on. Then separate students into different roles. Roles include: 1) researcher—the student who understands the articles best and willing to do any needed follow up research online; 2) script writers—student(s) will use information from the articles, researcher, and other students to write a script for the performers. Script must include key information from the articles and present it in a unique PSA or news broadcast; 3) actors/presenters/anchors—these are your most outspoken student who will be able to speak in front of their peers. Optional: have student do this outside of the classroom and create a videoGreat way to introduce technology, filming, editing and creativity into the classroom. Many phones have high quality video recording options nowadays..

Lesson Plan One: Fresh Water as a Limited Resource

Lesson Plan Two: Personal Water Consumption