Water
Recycle Utah
Summer Camp
The Long Haul (Project Wet p.260)
Ages 4-12, 40-50 min
How many campers to expect?
Site needs: Water source to fill buckets and space to set up relay. This activity can be used for a
large group.
Materials needed:
- Recycle sample box
- Whiteboard & markers
- 8 buckets, 4 exactly the same – 3-5 gallon in size
- 4 large yogurt containers, same size
- laminated copy of “The Bath” story
- A water source (spigot)!!
1. Recycle Utah Review (5-10 min)
- Who are we? What do we do? Where are we? Why is it important to recycle?
- Where does each category come from? (Paper=trees, Glass=sand, etc…)
- Show samples. What CANT go into curbside bin?
- Compost. Almost 1/3 of landfill waste is compostable (show photo of a landfill), 80% of
landfill waste doesn’t need to be there – could have been recycled, reused or composted.
2. Water Now & Then (5-10 min)
- Ask how our families use water on a daily basis (write down on whiteboard)
- Today, an average household (family of 3) consumes ~ 200 gallons of water/day
(estimate this based on size of trash can we brought – 30 gallon?)
- In the olden days, this wasn’t the case. In our country less than 100 years ago, and still
today in many other countries in our world, people have to haul their own water for washing,
cooking, bathing, toilets and other needs. They go to the nearest well, pump it then haul it. They
don’t have modern technology that brings pipes directly to our homes and faucets.
- Hmmm. How different would we feel about water if we had to haul it ourselves? How
much free time would that consume after school each day if that were one of our chores, like in
the olden days?
3. Water Haul (10-15 min depending on how many campers)
- Divide the class into two to four teams, either by age, gender, mixed, whatever. Each
team gets a yogurt container and a beginning and end bucket. The task is to haul water from the
beginning bucket (filled 1/3 full of water – exactly the same quantity in each) to a destination
about 150 feet away. Another empty bucket awaits there (4 exactly the same). Each team should
be labeled in some way to know which bucket is theirs at the end (either color coordinated,
different cones, etc..)
- This is a relay race. Team members line up at the water source. The first team member
fills their yogurt container (full for smaller groups, ½ full for larger), to represent pumping water
from a well, then carries it to the destination (no running only fast walking), pours it into the end
bucket, then runs back to his/her team. Next person goes. The winning team is selected by
either: 1. If full yogurt containers were used, it’s the first team to empty their first bucket AND
has the most water in the end bucket, 2. If ½ containers were used, it’s the end bucket that is the
most full. This is a game of speed AND efficiency. Try not to spill the water when transporting it
and do it quickly, too! 1-2-3 START
4. Activity Review (3 min)
- Did the students like this activity? Does it make them appreciate pipes, spigets and
faucets? Do you think we use More or Less water now than they used to in the olden days? Let’s
read a story…
5. “The Bath” reading (5-10 min)
- Read story then discuss
- Utah is the 2nd driest state in our country. Our water is precious – let’s not waste it.
6. Conclusion (5 min)
- Look at our daily water uses on the whiteboard. What are ways we could Save water for
each of these – discuss as class.
- Conclude – name one thing you learned today
- Handouts
The Bath
1800’s
Ma took down the wash-boiler from the back porch wall about three o’clock on
Saturday afternoon and summoned her chief water-hauler, her 10-year old son. He
must fetch four pails of water for the boiler. This was Saturday – the night of the
Bath!
Ma and the girls would start things off with a head-wash every second week. Since
their hair was long it was nice to do that in the afternoon so it would be dry by
bedtime. After supper the boiler steamed away on the stove. In winter, the steam
that collected on the windowpane quickly froze to thick, white frost but near the
stove, it was cozy. Some families had tin bathtubs you could soak in. Some used
the round rinse-tub from washday in which you stood and scrubbed.
The kitchen was hot with the stove really fired up. Ma brought out the big hooked
rug and put it in front of the open oven door. The turn usually went from the
youngest to the oldest, ending with Pa. In winter Ma laid out neat piles of clean
underwear and night clothes for each member of the family. With a pail of cold
water at hand to blend with the hot water, it was bath time!!
Ma presided over scrubbing the small children until they were considered old
enough to manage themselves and then they could bathe alone and be checked
afterwards. Privacy was honored. No one interfered as one by one the family
members took their turn enjoying the nice hot water. It usually wasn’t emptied
between bathers, but more water could be added to keep it nice and warm.
Homemade soap was used for scrubbing, but sometimes there was a bar of townsoap with its good smell!
There would be at least three bath towels for family use. As one towel got wet it
could be draped over the oven door to dry and later used again. Sometimes, there
might be a bottle of oil set on the table to smooth on elbows and rough heels.
Pa, the last one in the bath, took care of emptying the water into slop pails. He
would wipe out the tub and hang it on the back-porch wall by the boiler. Ma would
come in quietly wearing her night clothes with her hair braided into one big braid
down her back. She picked up the piles of discarded clothes for her washbox and
tidied up the kitchen for tomorrow was Sunday. Her family was nice and clean for
another week.