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Water Watchers:
Conserving Water at Your School and Home will provide
readers with a table of contents and a section entitled "Activities
at a Glance." We will post a PDF of the final table of
contents when it is complete and Water Watchers is
available in print. In the meantime, "Activities at a
Glance" (emmulated below) provides a brief description
of each of the guide's activities.
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Activities
at a Glance
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Explore
the Issues Activities
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Identify
Water as a Limited Resource |
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Students simulate the movements of water within the
water cycle then estimate and calculate the percent of
available fresh water on Earth to build an understanding
that this resource is limited and must be conserved.
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Evaluate
World and U.S. Water Use |
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Students
analyze data to learn how water is used in other countries.
They compare the amount of water used per person in
different countries and consider priorities for water
use.
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Discover
Water Conservation Practices |
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Students
look at ways to reduce pollution, thereby conserving
water, and at simple things people can do at school
and at home to reduce the amount of water wasted.
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Analyze
Activities
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Learn About Community Water Resources |
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Students learn about their local and regional water
resources from a community water specialist.
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Learn
About Your School Water System |
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Students tour their school water system with an expert
on the system. They get an overview of how water is
used, the location of various water outlets, systems,
and equipment, and information on current water-conservation
efforts.
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Read
a Water Meter and Water Bill |
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Students learn to read and analyze water meters
and water bills, including how to calculate water use
and cost. The information they gain can form a baseline
from which to project the potential impact of changes
they may propose at the end of their water audit project.
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| Plan
and Conduct a Water Audit |
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Students
Action Groups and work together to plan and conduct an
audit of water use, conservation, and waste in different
areas of their school. Action Groups will complete their
audits by measuring normal water flow, estimating frequency
and duration of use, and calculating water waste resulting
from leaks in order to estimate total water consumption
at each outlet in their research area.
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| Summarize
Audit Findings |
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Students
share information they have gathered in their Action Groups.
Then, working in their groups, they analyze the advantages
and disadvantages of the current school water system.
They will use the information assembled to write a summary
of their findings.
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Consider
Options Activities
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Brainstorm
Water Conservation Ideas |
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Students
now begin thinking about specific water-conservation
strategies that can be effective for the school. First
Action Groups divide up problems with water waste they
have identified at school. Then the Action Groups brainstorm
solutions to the problems and investigate the cost and
practicality of their solutions.
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Weigh
the Costs and Benefits |
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Students
reassemble in the Action Groups and do a cost-benefit
analysis of the solutions they have researched.
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Choose
Conservation Measures to Recommend |
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Working
in their Action Groups, students will review their solutions
and choose the best ones for each problem. They will
prepare a formal presentation of these solutions to
give to the class. Each Action Group will give its presentation
to the rest of the class, recommending those water conservation
measures they consider the best or most practical. The
class evaluates the presentations and decides which
to include in a proposal to the school committee.
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Take
Action! Activities
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Prepare
and Present Proposal |
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Meeting
as a class, students develop their conservation proposal.
The process includes completing a checklist to plan
tasks and deciding which student will prepare which
part of the proposal-introduction, description of recommendations,
charts, graphs, diagrams. Students complete their part
of the proposal, and it is submitted to the school administration
or environmental committee. |
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Track
Response to Proposal |
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In
this last activity, students consider the response to
their proposal. They check on its implementation and
survey conservation awareness among their schoolmates.
Ideas for continuing their conservation efforts and
increasing participation in conservation measures are
addressed.
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