IT’S TIME TO CONSERVE
Lesson Three
Lesson One
Overview
Water is absolutely essential for life. All
living things require water for survival.
Water is one of our most precious
resources and because of its
importance in our lives, we must
respect it. The practice of water
conservation is an important concept to
teach students. The first step in
teaching young students how to
conserve water is to help them become
aware of where water is used and how
much water is used in daily living.
Advanced Preparation
1. Read the list of “10 Ways You Can Help Cactus Callie Conserve
Water” on page 13 of the student book. Explain that, during times of
drought, water supplies can dry up and may take years to replace.
2. Make copies of the game card sheets in advance and allow time for
the students to cut them out into individual cards.
(Note: These would be more durable if pasted to 4 x 6 inch unlined
index cards or construction paper and possibly laminated).
3. Use the butcher paper to make a poster divided into two sections,
one for water wasters and one for water savers.
4. Create two groups in your classroom.
If we conserve water by changing our
lifestyles, we can have plenty of clean
water. Although there is plenty of water
on Earth, it is not always available in
sufficient quantity. The impact of
everyone conserving water at home
can make a huge impact in the future.
At the end of this lesson, the students
will be able to tell or write ways to
conserve water around the home and
give an oral or written definition of the
new term: conserve.
Objectives
TEKS objectives that will be addressed
in this section include: Science
9.A,B,C; Social Studies 2.7B,
2.8A,C,D, 2.19A,B
Completion Time
45 minutes
Materials
1. Student activity sheets (enough for
each student)
2. Butcher paper
3. Pencils
4. Crayons
5. Scissors
6. Glue (or tape)
7. Game card sheets (set of 16 cards
for each group)
8. Index cards (optional)
Setting the stage
1. Discuss the importance of conserving water at school. Ask students
how they could conserve water around school. Have students help
make a list of ways to conserve water and write their comments on the
board or chart paper. Some suggestions: check water sources for leaks
or drips, catch used drinking water to water plants, and install watersaving devices for general washing duties in the classroom.
ACTIVITY
1. Each group gets a set of the 16 game cards which can be cut from
the activity sheet located in this Educator’s Book.
2. Teams play “memory” by placing the game cards face down in mixed
up order and trying to match a water wasting card with its
corresponding water saving card.
3. Once all the cards have been matched by the team, one student on
each team glues (or tapes) the water saving cards on the poster under
“Water Savers”, and the other glues (or tapes) the waster cards under
“Water Wasters”.
Follow-Up
1. Copy pages of “It’s Time to Conserve” student sheet (one for each
student). Have students write their suggestions in the “Practice of Water
Conservation” section and then draw pictures in the “Pictures of
Practice” section to help them remember each suggestion.
2. Let each child take home a “Water Conservation Family Contract” for
the family to complete and sign as a homework assignment.
ENGAGEMENT
Thank you to the “The Water Sourcebook” Education Research and
In-Service Center, University of North Alabama for this activity
1.