WATER CONSERVATION RESOURCE

FOR EDUCATORS

When the well's dry,  we know the worth of water. Benjamin Franklin

Some of these links are PDF files, to ensure you will be able to see a PDF file in its entirety, please obtain the most recent edition of the free Acrobat Reader from the Adobe* Web site.

Click on the teacher drop to go to the sites!

	INTRODUCTION		WATER SLIDESHOW
	RESOURCES FOR EDUCATORS		ACTIVITIES
	LESSONS		FREE MATERIAL AND INFORMATION
	EXPERIMENTS		SUGGESTED BOOKS
	STUDENT SITE		WATER CONSERVATION HOME

INTRODUCTION

Water is our most precious resource. It is important that our children grow into responsible adults who can make logical decisions that will result in a sustainable water supply for the future.
Teaching children to value and protect their drinking water is an important investment in the future, as well as an excellent way to send a message home to parents: Conservation is everybody's responsibility.  

This web site has been designed to enable teachers to easily access water conservation resources. This resource includes access to free  information, articles, water conservation units,  lesson plans, experiments,  book list, slideshow, and activities  to help facilitate instruction of the concept of water. All the lesson plans are geared for K-6, however most can be adapted to fit a specific level of instruction.

Teaching about Water

• Ask your students what they know about water, what they think they know, and what they want to learn. This helps you assess what your students know already. It also creates an opportunity for them to brainstorm what things they would like to learn. 
• Using the Internet and the following websites, technology can serve to enhance the student's interest in water conservation.
• Take your students to the "Kids Area" at this website.  Here you will find puzzles, games, quizzes, virtual tours, interactive stories and loads of easy to read information all about water. Your students will have fun learning.
• Choose a book from the book lists that you would like to share with your class. All children love stories. Literature is a great basis for beginning your investigation.
• The experiment section is fun too!

Did you know?

October 18, 2002 is the 30th Anniversary of the enactment of the Clean Water Act. This date marks a milestone in the efforts to protect our nation's water resources. This anniversary also presents an excellent opportunity to:

• Enhance public appreciation for the importance of our water resources,
• Celebrate water quality improvements,
• Build a better understanding of remaining challenges and solutions, and
• Rekindle the public stewardship ethic and support for watershed protection programs, and
• Educate our nation's young people.

In support of these goals, Congress, along with a number of the nation's Governors and national organizations have proclaimed 2002 as the Year of Clean Water. To learn more about the Year of Clean Water, click the link below.

 Resources

	YEAR OF CLEAN WATER		GIVE WATER A HAND
	ENVIRONMENTAL PENPAL PROJECT		INFO ON NEW ENGLAND'S GROUNDWATER RESOURCES
	PROJECT WET		LEARN TO BE WATER WISE
	AWESOME AQUIFER CLUB		GROUNDWATER
	EPA		THE WATER SOURCE
	EDUCATING YOUNG PEOPLE ABOUT WATER		WATER RESOURCES OF THE UNITED STATES

LESSONS:

	World Water Worries		A Little Cup Will Do You
	Water Lessons (Spanish and English)		WATER: Our Most Precious Resource
	WATER ON THE WEB		WATER UNIT
	Water (K-2)		Safe Drinking Water
	Water Lessons		Rivers of Life
	Don't Use it All Up		How Much Water Can We Save While Brushing Our Teeth?
	Water Pollution		Water: Visible or Invisable?
	Excuse Me, Is This The Way To The Drainpipe?		Water: Goes Around and Comes Around
	Water Magic		I'm Warm Now
	Deep Subject: Groundwater and Wells		The Water Cycle
	Drink it Up!		Why Water Conservation?

EXPERIMENTS AND ACTIVITIES

EXPERIMENTS		ACTIVITIES
	Water Use and Conservation		How Much Water Could You Conserve
	Aquifer in a Cup		Make a Jeopardy Water Game Answers Here
	Creating Water in the Desert		Wonderful Waterful Wetlands
	Make Your Own Water Cycle		Ground Water Model
	Become an Aquatic Crusader		Build a Watershed Model
	Water Conservation Task		Water Cycle Terrarium
	Water Filtration		Down The Drain Project
	Clean Water?		I'm Warm Now

Free  Materials and Information (submit request by filling out online form, email or snail mail)

	EPA Free Publications		Guide to Nation's Drinking Water
	Project Wild Aquatic Curriculum and Activity Guide		Free Material on Watershed Information
	The American Water Works Association		National Groundwater Organization
	USGS-Free bookmarks, poster, and info		New England’s EPA Lending Library for videos on water
	Free curriculum, posters, kits on water		Massachusetts educational resources on water
	Water Connection of New England		Green Teacher Magazine (free issue)

BOOK LIST (The following books are recommended by the EPA)

Do your students have great ideas on how to reduce water pollution? New England’s EPA has a poetry and poster contest. http://www.epa.gov/region01/students/poem.html

 Bear Loves Water. (Preschool) By Ellen Weiss.

 Brother Eagle, Sister Sky: A Message from Chief Seattle. (4-8 years)

 Common Ground: The Water, Earth, and Air We Share. By Molly Garrett Bang.

 The Drop in My Drink. (9-12 years) By Meredity Hooper and Chris Coady.

A Drop Of Water: A Book of Science and Wonder. By Walter Wick.

 The Earth and I. (4-8 years) By Frank Asch.

Follow the Water from the Brook to the Ocean. By Arthur Dorrors

The Four Elements: Water. (Preschool) By Carme Solé Vendrell and J.M. Parramón

Gullywasher. (4-8 years) By Joyce Rossi. In English and Spanish

I Am Water (4-8 years) By Jean Marzollo.

 Magic School Bus: At the Waterwork.s By Joanna Cole. (available in Spanish)

One Small Square: Cactus Desert. (6-10 years) By Donald M. Silver. T

River Ran Wild: An Environmental History. By Lynne Cherry. A history of New Hampshire's Nashua River starting 7,000 years ago until its recent reclamation.

Snail Girl Brings Water. (6-10 years) By Geri Reams. A retelling of a traditional Navaho creation myth which explains how water came to earth.

Splish, Splash, Splosh. (4-8 years) By Mick Manning and Brita Granström. Join the adventures of a young boy and his dog and ride the waves, float on rain-filled clouds, shoot down fast-flowing rivers, and splash through sewers until you get where all water ends…and begins.

This Place is Dry. By Vicki Cobb, Barbara Lavallee (Illustrator).

Water. By Frank Asch.

 Water Science, Water Fun: Great Things to Do with H2O. (9-12 years) By Noel Fiarotta and Phyllis Fiarotta. Lessons and experiments teach about floating, refraction, leaching temperature gravity, buoyancy, flow and other water properties.

Water, Water Everywhere (Discovery Readers). By Melvin Berger, Gilda Berger, Bobbi Tull (Illustrator). A book about the water cycle, treatment, distribution, and wastewater treatment.

Where Do Puddles Go? (4-8 years) By Fay Robinson. An early book to explain water cycles and water in all its forms.

Where Does Water Come From? (6-10 years) By C. Vance Cast. Clever Clavin shows how much water there is on earth, how wells are dug to bring it out of the ground, and how water treatment plants work.

Lily Pad Pond, Bianca Lavies

Make Way for Ducklings, Robert McCloskey

Puddles and Ponds, Rose Wyler
Rain Drop Splash, Alvin Tresselt
A River Dream, Allen Say
River Parade, Alexandria Day

The Ugly Duckling, Hans Christian Anderson
Willa in Wetlands, Peyton Lewis and Rory Chalcraft

Wheeler, J. Every Drop Counts: A Book About Water (Target Earth).

 Squish!  A Wetland Walk, Nancy Luenn
A Drop of Water: A Book of Science and Wonder. Scholastic Trade. 1997. Explore a Spooky Swamp, Wendy W. Cortesi

From Pond to Prairie, Laurence Pringle

In the Middle of the Puddle, Mike Thaler

The Mystery of the Great Swamp, Marjorie A. Sapf
Pond and River, Steve Parker
The Pond Book, Albro Gaal
Wetlands, Linda M. Stone
Wetlands: Bogs, Marshes and Swamps, Lewis Buck
Wild and Scenic Rivers, National Geographic Society

TEACHER BOOKS

Jefferies, David. Water: Thematic Unit. Westminster: Teacher Created Materials, Inc., 2000.

Malnor, Bruce & Carol. A Teacher's Guide to Drop Around the World: Lesson Plans for the book A Drop Around the World.  Nevada City: Dawn Publications, 1998.

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REMEMBER:
Water is our most precious resource.
Water is necessary for all life and it should be conserved, valued and protected.

Webpage made by Liz Wernig, Bellingham Summer Enrichment Program

Thank you to  Ms. Fafard and the DPW for sponsoring and supporting water education for Bellingham children

Main DPW site