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Description
This resource allows students to gain an awareness about the ways water is used in the Canadian economy. They will learn about the amount of water Canadians consume and how this is divided within the home. Students will compare their family’s and community’s water use to averages by calculating the water use of their families and using the data from the class to analyze the water needs of their town.
This lesson is divided in two parts.
Part A: Calculate your Water Footprint
- Students will brainstorm how water is used in the Canadian economy and how they use water at home and at school everyday. They will estimate how much water they use. They will then be given the worksheet to calculate the water footprint of their family. They will have a discussion on ways to conserve water post-activity.
Part B: Water Conservation Pictionary
- Students will pick cards from the Pictionary deck. They will draw the activity and have one minute to guess what the picture means.
General Assessment
What skills does this resource explicitly teach?
This lesson will teach students how to graph real data .
Strengths
- The lesson is easy to follow
- All worksheets are included in the resource
- The resource has a wide variety of learning activities which lends itself well to all learners
- A backgrounder is included for teachers
- The length of this lesson makes it easy to integrate to curriculum
Weaknesses
- Evaluation tools are not provided in this resource
- Action activities are not part of this resource
Recommendation of how and where to use it
This lesson is only an hour long and could be easily integrated into any lesson about water conservation.
Relevant Curriculum Units
The following tool will allow you to explore the relevant curriculum matches for this resource. To start, select a province listed below.
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- Alberta
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- Grade 3
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- Yukon Territory
Themes Addressed
Citizenship (2)
- Ecological Footprint
- Sustainable Consumption
Water (1)
- Water Use
Sustainability Education Principles
| Principle | Rating | Explanation |
|---|---|---|
| Consideration of Alternative Perspectives | Very Good | In this resource, students will assess their water usage as well as their communities water usage and compare it to the Canadian average. They will get to share their opinions and take informed positions in the discussion questions provided. |
Consideration of Alternative Perspectives:
| ||
| Multiple Dimensions of Problems & Solutions | Very Good | Students will gain awareness about water usage in the Canadian economy, as well as how this affects them socially and environmentally. |
| Multiple Dimensions of Problems & Solutions: Effectively addresses the environmental, economic and social dimensions of the issue(s) being explored.
| ||
| Respects Complexity | Very Good | |
| Respects Complexity: The complexity of the problems/issues being discussed is respected. | ||
| Acting on Learning | Poor/Not considered | Action opportunities are not included in this lesson, however the teacher could ask students to come up with a plan to reduce their consumption as an extension to the lesson. |
| Acting on Learning: Learning moves from understanding issues to working towards positive change — in personal lifestyle, in school, in the community, or for the planet
| ||
| Values Education | Very Good | The discussion questions at the end of part one offer plenty of opportunities for students to express their own beliefs/values |
| Values Education: Students are explicitly provided with opportunities to identify, clarify and express their own beliefs/values. | ||
| Empathy & Respect for Humans | Poor/Not considered | This is not a focus of this resource. |
| Empathy & Respect for Humans: Empathy and respect are fostered for diverse groups of humans (including different genders, ethnic groups, sexual preferences, etc.). | ||
| Personal Affinity with Earth | Satisfactory | |
| Personal Affinity with Earth: Encourages a personal affinity with -the natural world.
| ||
| Locally-Focused Learning | Good | Students will do an audit of the water consumption of their own household as well as their community therefore making it relevant to the lives of the learner. |
| Locally-Focused Learning: Includes learning experiences that take advantage of issues/elements within the local community.
| ||
| Past, Present & Future | Good | In the discussion questions, students will get to realize that our past actions have brought us up to this point, they will look at their present usage of water, and think of ways to reduce their water consumption to help the future. |
| Past, Present & Future: Promotes an understanding of the past, a sense of the present, and a positive vision for the future. | ||
Pedagogical Approaches
| Principle | Rating | Explanation |
|---|---|---|
| Open-Ended Instruction | Very Good | During the discussion questions, students will have a chance to share their own ideas on water usage and how to reduce their consumption. |
| Open-Ended Instruction
: Lessons are structured so that multiple/complex answers are possible; students are not steered toward one 'right' answer. | ||
| Integrated Learning | Good | This resource is appropriate to use in Science classes when discussing sustainable consumption and in Math classes when using data to make graphs. |
| Integrated Learning: Learning brings together content and skills from more than one subject area
| ||
| Inquiry Learning | Poor/Not considered | This lesson does not ask students to come up with questions or solutions. The resource has prescribed activities to follow. |
| Inquiry Learning: Learning is directed by questions, problems, or challenges that students work to address.
| ||
| Differentiated Instruction | Good | The variety of activities in this lesson plan would address the needs of visual, auditory, and kinesthetic learners. However, strategies for learners with difficulties are not provided. |
| Differentiated Instruction: Activities address a range of student learning styles, abilities and readiness.
| ||
| Experiential Learning | Satisfactory | Students will get to take part in a Pictionary game in part B of this resource. |
| Experiential Learning: Authentic learning experiences are provided
| ||
| Cooperative Learning | Satisfactory | Students will need to work in groups to complete the activities of this resource. |
| Cooperative Learning: Group and cooperative learning strategies are a priority.
| ||
| Assessment & Evaluation | Poor/Not considered | Assessment tools are not provided in this resource. However, the teacher could use the discussion questions to assess the students understanding of the issue. |
| Assessment & Evaluation: Tools are provided that help students and teachers to capture formative and summative information about students' learning and performance. These tools may include reflection questions, checklists, rubrics, etc. | ||
| Peer Teaching | Poor/Not considered | |
| Peer Teaching: Provides opportunities for students to actively present their knowledge and skills to peers and/or act as teachers and mentors.
| ||
| Case Studies | Very Good | Students will compare their family’s and community’s water use to averages by calculating the water use of their families and using the data from the class to analyze the water needs of their town. |
| Case Studies: Relevant case studies are included. Case studies are thorough descriptions of real events from real situations that students use to explore concepts in an authentic context. | ||
| Locus of Control | Poor/Not considered | |
| Locus of Control: Meaningful opportunities are provided for students to choose elements of program content, the medium in which they wish to work, and/or to go deeper into a chosen issue. | ||
