UNIT 8
UNIT 8 SCIENCE
MDG 7: Ensure Environmental Sustainability
OVERVIEW
This lesson will give students an understanding about the global issues surrounding water. Students will be introduced to water shortages and health/sanitation/disease problems resulting from water shortages and pollution. The activity will lead students to think about causes of water shortage and a fun teamwork activity will illustrate to students the difficulties some communities face in obtaining water.
LESSON OBJECTIVES
CORE STANDARDS
ASSESSMENT
MATERIALS
Ghana Core Standards [page number] Primary: o Primary Five 2.1.4.p.14 Secondary: o JHS.1.4.2.p.25, 26 o Science Year 3 SHS 1.1.4.p.37
Teachers will be able gauge student understanding through: o Students discussions about water scarcity
Two tablespoons A bucket full of water Two empty cups Unused, found objects (newspapers, plastic bottles, aluminum cans) Glue/Adhesive
TIME
Brainstorm reasons for water shortages in the world and consequences of water scarcity Participate in team-building activity related to water Build creative solutions for environmental issues
40-50 minutes
275
KEY TERMS
Dignity Gallon / Liter / Meter Latrine Post-partum Recycling
Saltwater/freshwater/glacier Sanitation Shortage Scarcity Waterborne diseases/ cholera
HOOK Activity: “Why Why Why?”
To familiarize students with thinking about causes and reasons for the environmental issue of water scarcity, ask students, “Why are there shortages of water in the world?”
Have students brainstorm together as a class. The teacher can draw the diagram on the board for the whole class to see and add students’ thoughts as they speak.
Potential answers might look like:
*Note: Teachers should leave the diagram up on the board until the end of class, since this activity will be revisited at the end of instruction to check for student understanding. During the Hook, teachers should remember that students have not yet learned the specifics of the topic, so the focus should be to encourage students to brainstorm freely.
276
INSTRUCTION Using the UNIT OVERVIEW, special focus of the Instruction can go to: Freshwater scarcity Sanitation/diseases related to water shortage and pollution Using the Glossary, present students with the definition of “recycling”. Teachers may want to give students examples of recycling project(s) around the world. For more concrete examples visit UN Business Suggested questions to check for student understanding: Knowledge of key terms. Key facts about water scarcity and various problems caused by water scarcity. Critiquing the diagram drawn at the beginning of class and revising as needed.
ACTIVITY: BASIC Race with Water Teacher Preparation: Make sure the required materials are ready. Have “Salima’s story” available to be read for the students prior to the activity. Have one cup placed next to each team. ●
Give the students some background by reading “Salima’s Story” below before they start the activity:
Salima has to walk for 4km to fetch water for her family from a hand pump, so she walks a total of 8km a day just for this one task. She is able to fill her pot with about 6 liters of water. That means Salima is getting 0.75ml of water for every meter she walked. For every 10m, Salima had 7.5ml of water. One tablespoon is 15ml of water so for every 10m walked, Salima managed to get half a tablespoon of water. (Note: This story will be revisited at the end of the activity)
Divide the class into two teams and designate a team captain for each. Have each team captain stand behind the “starting line” with the rest of the team behind him or her in single file. Place a bucket filled with water between the team and give each team captain (at the front of the line) a tablespoon, which they should fill with water. Mark a point of 5 meters up to which one member from each team has to run (and back) with the tablespoon of water. Once they have made it back to their team, they have to pour the water left in the tablespoon into their team’s cup. Then the 277
next member in line in the team should fill their tablespoon up with water from the bucket and repeat the race. The aim is to be the first team to complete this task – and most importantly, the team who has the most water in their cup! If you want to vary this task, ask teams to run with buckets filled with water! After the activity, discuss: In comparison to Salima’s story, the students ran 10 meters back and forth with their tablespoons. So how much water did they manage to get in their team cup? Ask students to think about the difficulties of fetching water. What did you learn from this activity? What does it represent?
ACTIVITY: ADVANCED Teacher Preparation: Make sure to have materials ready. Teachers should have the definition of “recycling” to present to students (in glossary). Teachers may also want to find some examples of recycling projects around the world as additional support and visual for students (example: UN Business). Present students with found/recycled objects. Ask them if they think these objects contain any value. As students, “what can these objects be used for?” Explain to students that they will be using these objects today to create an invention that will help bring clean water to homes in their community. Ask students to select and arrange objects to create a device to bring clean water to homes. The device can be something that filters the water, pumps it to homes, makes it easier for people to collect from the source, etc. Encourage students to be creative! Make clear to the students that they should have some meaning behind what they are making, related to solving the problem of water shortage, or enhancing sanitation and reducing diseases related to water. Stress to them the importance of the meaning behind their invention rather than the way it looks. Remove the objects one by one and apply glue/adhesive to them. Put the objects back together in the same arrangement.
278
After the activity, discuss:
Why is recycling important? What other items can be recycled?
What is the meaning behind the inventions students created? Explain what the inventions can be used for in relation to the water-related challenges. Allow student volunteers to share their inventions and the functions they have. How does this new technology address the issues in MDG 7? HOMEWORK
Ask students to draw diagrams of various environmental topics (example: food chains in the ecosystem, carbon cycle, production of energy, etc). Think of some environmental challenges that may affect the diagrams they drew (example: water scarcity, greenhouse gases/global warming, deforestation, loss of biodiversity). Ask students to redraw the diagrams (or add edits and additions to the existing diagrams) reflecting the changes that would happen when the environmental challenges are considered. TEACHER RESOURCES
Additional Activity Ideas:
Design a Water Filter
Discussions and activities on ways to purify water
Discussions and activities on how to collect rain water
Have students create a “tippy tap” to have clean washing hands
BBC article on water purification and technology’s role in improving access to clean water: Super Sand to help clean up dirty drinking water
Game on water scarcity
Game about recycling
279
Other Resources:
Ask a visitor to give a talk. Get a person from the local regional council to come and give a talk to the class about wastewater and water supply. They can explain how the water system operates to the children: o Where the water comes from o How the pipes operate o Where the water is stored o How the water is treated o And anything else they want to talk about!
280
MDG 7: Ensure Environmental Sustainability
OVERVIEW
This lesson will give students an understanding about the global issues surrounding water. Students will be introduced to water shortages and health/sanitation/disease problems resulting from water shortages and pollution. The activity will lead students to think about causes of water shortage and a fun teamwork activity will illustrate to students the difficulties some communities face in obtaining water.
LESSON OBJECTIVES
CORE STANDARDS
ASSESSMENT
MATERIALS
Ghana Core Standards [page number] Primary: o Primary Five 2.1.4.p.14 Secondary: o JHS.1.4.2.p.25, 26 o Science Year 3 SHS 1.1.4.p.37
Teachers will be able gauge student understanding through: o Students discussions about water scarcity
Two tablespoons A bucket full of water Two empty cups Unused, found objects (newspapers, plastic bottles, aluminum cans) Glue/Adhesive
TIME
Brainstorm reasons for water shortages in the world and consequences of water scarcity Participate in team-building activity related to water Build creative solutions for environmental issues
40-50 minutes
275
KEY TERMS
Dignity Gallon / Liter / Meter Latrine Post-partum Recycling
Saltwater/freshwater/glacier Sanitation Shortage Scarcity Waterborne diseases/ cholera
HOOK Activity: “Why Why Why?”
To familiarize students with thinking about causes and reasons for the environmental issue of water scarcity, ask students, “Why are there shortages of water in the world?”
Have students brainstorm together as a class. The teacher can draw the diagram on the board for the whole class to see and add students’ thoughts as they speak.
Potential answers might look like:
*Note: Teachers should leave the diagram up on the board until the end of class, since this activity will be revisited at the end of instruction to check for student understanding. During the Hook, teachers should remember that students have not yet learned the specifics of the topic, so the focus should be to encourage students to brainstorm freely.
276
INSTRUCTION Using the UNIT OVERVIEW, special focus of the Instruction can go to: Freshwater scarcity Sanitation/diseases related to water shortage and pollution Using the Glossary, present students with the definition of “recycling”. Teachers may want to give students examples of recycling project(s) around the world. For more concrete examples visit UN Business Suggested questions to check for student understanding: Knowledge of key terms. Key facts about water scarcity and various problems caused by water scarcity. Critiquing the diagram drawn at the beginning of class and revising as needed.
ACTIVITY: BASIC Race with Water Teacher Preparation: Make sure the required materials are ready. Have “Salima’s story” available to be read for the students prior to the activity. Have one cup placed next to each team. ●
Give the students some background by reading “Salima’s Story” below before they start the activity:
Salima has to walk for 4km to fetch water for her family from a hand pump, so she walks a total of 8km a day just for this one task. She is able to fill her pot with about 6 liters of water. That means Salima is getting 0.75ml of water for every meter she walked. For every 10m, Salima had 7.5ml of water. One tablespoon is 15ml of water so for every 10m walked, Salima managed to get half a tablespoon of water. (Note: This story will be revisited at the end of the activity)
Divide the class into two teams and designate a team captain for each. Have each team captain stand behind the “starting line” with the rest of the team behind him or her in single file. Place a bucket filled with water between the team and give each team captain (at the front of the line) a tablespoon, which they should fill with water. Mark a point of 5 meters up to which one member from each team has to run (and back) with the tablespoon of water. Once they have made it back to their team, they have to pour the water left in the tablespoon into their team’s cup. Then the 277
next member in line in the team should fill their tablespoon up with water from the bucket and repeat the race. The aim is to be the first team to complete this task – and most importantly, the team who has the most water in their cup! If you want to vary this task, ask teams to run with buckets filled with water! After the activity, discuss: In comparison to Salima’s story, the students ran 10 meters back and forth with their tablespoons. So how much water did they manage to get in their team cup? Ask students to think about the difficulties of fetching water. What did you learn from this activity? What does it represent?
ACTIVITY: ADVANCED Teacher Preparation: Make sure to have materials ready. Teachers should have the definition of “recycling” to present to students (in glossary). Teachers may also want to find some examples of recycling projects around the world as additional support and visual for students (example: UN Business). Present students with found/recycled objects. Ask them if they think these objects contain any value. As students, “what can these objects be used for?” Explain to students that they will be using these objects today to create an invention that will help bring clean water to homes in their community. Ask students to select and arrange objects to create a device to bring clean water to homes. The device can be something that filters the water, pumps it to homes, makes it easier for people to collect from the source, etc. Encourage students to be creative! Make clear to the students that they should have some meaning behind what they are making, related to solving the problem of water shortage, or enhancing sanitation and reducing diseases related to water. Stress to them the importance of the meaning behind their invention rather than the way it looks. Remove the objects one by one and apply glue/adhesive to them. Put the objects back together in the same arrangement.
278
After the activity, discuss:
Why is recycling important? What other items can be recycled?
What is the meaning behind the inventions students created? Explain what the inventions can be used for in relation to the water-related challenges. Allow student volunteers to share their inventions and the functions they have. How does this new technology address the issues in MDG 7? HOMEWORK
Ask students to draw diagrams of various environmental topics (example: food chains in the ecosystem, carbon cycle, production of energy, etc). Think of some environmental challenges that may affect the diagrams they drew (example: water scarcity, greenhouse gases/global warming, deforestation, loss of biodiversity). Ask students to redraw the diagrams (or add edits and additions to the existing diagrams) reflecting the changes that would happen when the environmental challenges are considered. TEACHER RESOURCES
Additional Activity Ideas:
Design a Water Filter
Discussions and activities on ways to purify water
Discussions and activities on how to collect rain water
Have students create a “tippy tap” to have clean washing hands
BBC article on water purification and technology’s role in improving access to clean water: Super Sand to help clean up dirty drinking water
Game on water scarcity
Game about recycling
279
Other Resources:
Ask a visitor to give a talk. Get a person from the local regional council to come and give a talk to the class about wastewater and water supply. They can explain how the water system operates to the children: o Where the water comes from o How the pipes operate o Where the water is stored o How the water is treated o And anything else they want to talk about!
280
