Lesson Plan: The Great Plains Introduction: The Great Plains, a vast grassland area, extends from Canada to New Mexico and crosses 10 states in the United States. The region is known for being flat, dry and subject to extreme climactic change. Historically, high winds have combined with erosion of the land to create dust storms, the worst of which occurred in the 1930’s, the Dust Bowl. The Great Plains once teamed with wildlife but as industry and settlement grew, the wildlife population declined because of loss of habitat, drought and over-­‐hunting. The Western Heritage Museum and Lea County Cowboy Hall of Fame is proud to present the exhibit, Great Plains: America’s Lingering Wild, Photographs by Michael Forsberg. Forsberg captures the Great Plains in stunning photographs and uses them as a powerful tool: a call to action. This lesson will allow students to discover the flora and fauna being threatened by human population and climactic changes. Students are encouraged to explore solutions that we can do to help this endangered land. Title: Water Conservation Age/Level: Upper Elementary (4-­‐5) NGSS: 5-­‐ESS3-­‐1: obtain and combine information about the ways individual communities use science ideas to protect the earth’s resources and environment. 5-­‐ESS2-­‐2: Describe the amounts and percentage of water and freshwater in reservoirs to provide evidence about the distribution of water on earth. 4-­‐ESS3-­‐2: Generate and compare multiple solutions to reduce the impacts of natural Earth Processes of humans 4-­‐ESS2-­‐1: Make observations and/or measurements to provide evidence of the effects or the rate of erosion by water, ice, wind, or vegetation 4-­‐ ESS2-­‐2: Analyze and interpret data from maps to describe patterns of Earth’s features. CCSS: ELA R.I.4.7: Interpret information presented visually, orally, or quantitatively (Charts, graphs, and maps) 4MP.2: Reason abstractly and quantitatively 4MP.5: Use appropriate tools strategically W.4.8, W.5.8: Recall relevant information from experience or gather relevant information and digital sources take notes and categorize information Math 3. MD.B.3: Draw a scaled picture graph and a scaled bar graph to represent a data set with several categories. Solve one-­‐ and two-­‐step "how many more" and "how many less" problems using information presented in scaled bar graphs. 4. MD.A.2: Solve word problems involving distances, intervals in time. Represent measurements and quantities using diagrams such as a number line diagrams such as a number line diagrams that feature a measurement scale 5. G.A.1: Use a pair of perpendicular number lines, called axes, to define a coordinate system, with the intersection of the lines (the origin) arranged to coincide with the 0 on each line and a given point in the plane located by using an ordered pair of numbers, called its coordinates. Understand that the first number indicates how far to travel from the origin in the direction of one axis, and the second number indicates how far to travel in the direction of the second axis, with the convention that the names of the two axes and the coordinates correspond (e.g., x-­‐
axis and x-­‐coordinate, y-­‐axis and y-­‐coordinate). Exhibit Connections: Michael Forsberg’s main goal is to preserve prairie wildlife. The prairie of the Great Plains uses water from the Ogallala Aquifer. This activity is created to show students the importance of preserving water which is very important to the flora and fauna of the Great Plains. Objective: -­‐Students will learn about water conservation -­‐ Students will practice collaborative problem solving -­‐ Students will learn about different ways to preserve water in a household Vocabulary: Conservation-­‐ preservation, protection, or restoration of the natural environment, natural ecosystems, vegetation and wildlife Water Cycle -­‐ processes by which water circulates between the earth's oceans, atmosphere, and land, involving precipitation as rain and snow, drainage in streams and rivers, and return to the atmosphere by evaporation and transpiration Aquifer-­‐ A body of rocks that allows water to move easily. Water flows in from rain or melted snow Natural resource-­‐ materials or substances such as minerals, forests, water, and fertile land that occur in nature and can be used for economic gain Population-­‐ all the inhabitants of a particular town, area, or country Activity Objective: 1. Identify water as a limited resource. Students will then rank amounts of saltwater, fresh water, and available water based on abundance 2. Describe the importance of water in their daily lives 3. Evaluate water usage and describe ways to preserve water 4. Create bar graph to communicate information Time: Over Several Days Anticipatory questions: -­‐
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What kind of water makes up our oceans? Saltwater or freshwater? What type of water is more important for plants and animals? Fresh or salt? Where do we get fresh water? Is freshwater a limited resource or could we get more? Why do plants and animals need water? Materials: World Map Visual aid (an apple, a pie, paper plate, etc…) Worksheet Crayons Activity Procedures: 1. Have students either point to or name bodies of water (lakes, rivers, oceans, etc…) then have them decide whether it is fresh water or salt water. 2. Using a visual aid (an apple, a pie, paper plate, etc…) to represent the world. Cut a sliver to represent the 3 % of fresh water. Out of that 3% freshwater 70% is trapped in glaciers and ice caps and cannot be used, cut 70% of the sliver. What is left is the fresh water that we can use found in lakes, rivers, and aquifers. 3. Talk about the Ogallala aquifer, a porous body of complex sediments and sedimentary rock formations that conducts groundwater and yields significant quantities of water to wells and springs that extends from New Mexico and Texas to South Dakota. Why is it so important for us? 4. Talk about our current population of over 7 billion. What does that mean for our fresh water sources? 5. Using “Calculate your daily water ways”. Ask students to predict how many gallons of water they think they use every day. 6. Students will take “Calculate your daily water ways” home and record their water usage over a 2 day period. 7. Have students break into groups and share their results with the class. Have them help each other finish the sheets if needed and begin graphing their results on the “Water use graph.” In their groups, have them discuss what (if anything) surprised them about their household’s water use and to record that information on their worksheet. Ask for volunteers to share their information with the class and talk about what they learned. 8. As a class, graph the information the students recorded. Ask the students how they feel about the number of gallons they are seeing as a class? *for older students, have students record their information as a line graph 9. As a class come up with different solutions they can do at their homes to preserve water. Give them a second copy of “Calculate your daily water ways “and again predict the number of gallons they think they are going to be using now. Give the students 2 days to complete. 10. When students bring back the second handout graph new results and talk about whether or not applying those solutions helped to preserve water. Calculate your daily water ways Name: _______________________________________ Date: _______________ Predict how many gallons you think you and your family use _______________________________________________________ 1. Showers: Total number of showers taken in one day, times the average number of minutes spent in the shower, times four gallons per minutes equals water used for household showers each day. ________ X _________X 4 gallons/minute = _______ gallons 2. Baths: Total number of baths taken in one day, times 40 gallons equals daily water used for baths. _______ X 40 Gallons = ________ gallons 3. Toilets Total number of flushes, times gallons per flush equals daily water used for flushing. _______ X 4 gallons/flush = _______ gallons 4. Faucets Total number of times household members use faucets to shave, brush teeth, and wash hands, times average minutes used, times three gallons per minute equals total gallons used daily through faucets. Gallons used from faucets: _______ X ________ X 3 gallons/minute = _______ 5. Laundry Total number of loads of laundry done between yesterday and today at your home, times 15 gallons of water per load equals gallons used for laundry. _______ X 15 gallons = ______ gallons 6. Dishwasher Total number of times dishwasher ran between yesterday and today at your home, times 15 gallons per load equals water used for dishwasher cleaning. _______ X 15 gallons = ______ gallons 7. Hand Washing Dishes Total number of times dishes were washed by hand between yesterday and today at your home, times average number of minutes the water ran, times 3 gallons per minutes, equals water used in daily hand dish washing. _______ X ____________ X 3 gallons/minute = ______ gallons Special supplement provided by: Water use graph Gallons of water used
190 180 170 160 150 140 130 120 110 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 Shower Bath Toilet Faucet Laundry Dishwasher Items that use water
1. Graph the totals from “Calculate your daily water ways” 2. Which item used the most water and why? 3. Was it what you expected it to be? 4. What can we do to use less water? Ways to save water:
Older toilets: Replace older toilets with ultra-­‐low flow toilets (ULFTs), which use only 1.6 gallons of water per flush. Using these could cut indoor water use by as much as 20%, up to 16,000 gallons annually for a family of four. Older toilets (pre 1993) use 3.5 to 5 gallons per flush and count for up to half of all indoor water use. Shower heads: Install a water efficient showerhead that uses no more than 2.5 gallons of water per minute. That’s plenty of water for a refreshing, cleansing shower. A standard showerhead uses five to ten gallons of water per minute. A water-­‐efficient showerhead can save thousands of gallons of water per year. The energy savings associated with using less hot water are even greater than the value of the water itself. Annual savings of $20 to $30 per family are possible with a low-­‐flow showerhead, which is more than the price of a new low-­‐flow fixture. The savings are double or triple this if your water heater is electric! Aerators: Low-­‐flow aerators on your kitchen and bathroom faucets are easy to install reduce splashing and cut water use in half. A flow rate of 2.2 gallons per minute is recommended for kitchen faucets and 1.5 gallons per minute for bathroom faucets. A “running” toilet can waste two gallons of water per minute. A silent leak in a toilet can waste up to 7,000 gallons of water per month. To find silent leaks, put food coloring in the tank. Do not flush. Check the toilet bowl ten minutes later. If you see color in the bowl, the tank has a silent leak. A faucet leaking a slow steady drip -­‐ 100 drops per minute -­‐ wastes 350 gallons per month. A faucet leaking a small stream wastes 2,000 to 2,700 gallons of water per month. Replacing worn washers in your faucets will usually stop leaks. When running water in the sink or tub while waiting for it to get hot, put a gallon jug under the faucet. You can then use this water for other things around the house. Don’t turn on the water and walk away waiting for it to warm up. You may not get back to it before hot water is wasted and can end up increasing both your water and energy bills. Insulate hot water pipes where possible to avoid wasting water while waiting for the hot water to arrive. While brushing your teeth, turn off the tap and save 14 gallons of water. Rinse using a cup for water; run the tap only to rinse the toothbrush. Taking a short shower using a water-­‐efficient showerhead can save water and money. When showering and washing hands, wet your body. Turn off the water, apply soap, and then turn on the water to rinse. Cutting one minute off your shower time can save about 700 gallons of water per month. Fill your dishwasher. Your dishwasher uses the same amount of water whether it is full or just partially full of dishes, so be sure to fill it. Many dishwashers have a water saver cycle to save even more water. And scrape the dishes instead of using a pre-­‐rinse cycle. Even if you don’t use a dishwasher, instead of running water to rinse dishes, fill the kitchen sink and dip dishes in water to rinse. Special supplement provided by: Assessment: Students will be assessed by their verbal (anecdotal) and written responses. Closure: The students will have a class discussion of their solutions. They will talk about how some of their solutions that can be implemented here in Lea County. Lesson plan available at http://www.nmjc.edu/museum/Education.aspx