The Aqua League

How to use this program  

Thank you for taking the time to educate your students and their families about water conservation. We want you to know that participating in the program and using its supplementary materials is easy and integrates seamlessly with your established teaching methods.

The student playbook and online teacher resources have lessons and activities that emphasize the 21st Century Education Skills – Collaboration, Communication, Creativity and Critical Thinking. Along with the suggested grade levels, purpose of each activity and cognitive level of thinking, these allow you to tailor your instruction to meet the needs and abilities of your entire class.

Before the Performance  

  • Watch the Educator Preview Video.
  • Review the student playbook to identify the appropriate leveled activities for your class.

Day of the Performance

  • Watch the Student Preview Video with your students.
  • Start a K-W-L exercise with your students. What do you know about the subject matter we are about to see? What do you want to know?
  • Attend the live performance scheduled for your class.

After the Performance  

  • Watch the Post-Performance Video with your students.
  • Conclude your K-W-L by asking the students what they learned from the performance.
  • Explore the Student Activities page to make use of the additional games and activities.
  • Evaluate the program by going to HeyTeachers.org and entering the code you received from the actors.
  • Complete the program evaluation for your chance to win $250 for your class.

Educational Standards  

Find the related state and Next Generation Science Standards here.

The Aqua League Educational Standards

Words to Know  

Hover over the image to reveal the definition.

Water that collects as droplets on a cold surface

Using natural resources carefully

The process of turning from liquid into vapor

A device for removing impurities from a liquid

Water we can use for cooking, cleaning and drinking

Things that can contaminate or foul our environment

Rain, snow, sleet or hail that falls to the ground

A mechanical device used to raise or move liquids

Water with a high salt content, usually found in the ocean

A series of underground pipes that carry wastewater

The cycle by which water circulates between the Earth’s oceans, atmosphere and land

Lesson 1: The Water Cycle  

plants

Objective

Make a miniature environment to see the water cycle at work.

Purpose of Activity

Apply Skills, Create

21st Century Skills

Critical Thinking

Cognitive Level

Strategic and Extended Thinking

Class Time

45 minutes over three days

Materials
  • Soil
  • Water
  • Small plastic bowl
  • Large, clear plastic container or an old aquarium
  • Plastic wrap
  • Plastic trees, animals, boat, etc. (optional)
  • Tape or large rubber band
  • Bag of ice (optional)
  • Heat lamp (optional)
Procedure
  1. Arrange the soil in the container to make mountains, plateaus, hills and a lake basin. Place the small plastic bowl in the lake basin. Fill the bowl with water. Add any plastic animals, trees or boats to the environment. Cover the container tightly with plastic wrap and secure it by means of tape or the band. Place the container near a sunny window.
  2. Discuss what is expected to happen in the container.
  3. Depending on the amount of sun, the project may take one to three days. In order to speed up the process, a bag of ice may be placed on one end of the covered container, while a heat lamp is focused on the other.
  4. Watch for condensation on the plastic wrap “sky” of the container. When enough moisture collects, it will fall onto the landforms as precipitation.
Critical Thinking Questions

Click on the questions to reveal answers.

It is collecting on the inside of the plastic wrap cover.
The water is evaporating and that is what is causing it to condense there.
It precipitates back down into the aquarium.

Lesson 2: Role of Plants in Water Filtration  

Turbine

Objective

This experiment is a very simplified way to show whether plants will take up certain kinds of materials from water moving relatively quickly through their root systems.

Purpose of Activity

Review, Identify Details, Communicate, Create

21st Century Skills

Critical Thinking

Cognitive Level

Strategic and Extended Thinking

Class Time

45 minutes

Materials
  • Six potted plants in 6-8″ diameter pots with holes in the bottom; soil needs to be moderately dry
  • Six clear containers, such as cups, which will support the plants and allow drainage to be viewed
  • Soil
  • Unsweetened powdered drink mix, grape or cherry for color
  • Vegetable oil
  • One or two different household cleaners; one should be liquid and the other powder
Preparation

Set up the potted plants, each in its own cup. Slowly pour 6-8 ounces of clean water through the pot. Adjust the soil so that water percolates through at about one ounce per minute.

Procedure

Divide the class into teams. Teams of three or four work best.

  1. Place the potted plants into the top of their cups. Pour clean water slowly through one of the pots and watch it percolate through the bottom of the pot. The water should look as clean as what was poured.
  2. Add a gram or so of soil to 6-8 ounces of water and stir. Pour slowly into the second flower pot. The “dirty” water should look much cleaner once poured.
  3. Add about one ounce of vegetable oil to 6-8 ounces of water, stir (they won’t mix completely) and pour into a third pot. See if the vegetable oil percolates through.
  4. Add some powdered drink mix to 6-8 ounces of water and pour through a fourth pot. See if the water retains the color.
  5. Add some powdered cleanser to 6-8 ounces of water and pour through a fifth pot. Is the cleanser retained in the soil?
  6. Add some liquid soap to 6-8 ounces water. Does the soap percolate through the soil?
  7. Take the “contaminated plants” and pour clear water at the same rate through each one. Is more of the “pollutant” rinsed away from the soil by the clean water?
Critical Thinking Questions

Expanded Info: Where Does My Water Come From?  

Tarrant Regional Water District uses a system of lakes and pipelines to provide water to more than 30 wholesale customers in North Texas. The district owns four lakes – Bridgeport, Cedar Creek, Eagle Mountain and Richland-Chambers – and has built more than 250 miles of pipelines that move raw water from lakes east of Dallas back to Tarrant County. TRWD also stores water in Lakes Arlington, Benbrook and Worth for future use.

The most recent addition to the supply system is the Integrated Pipeline Project (IPL), a 150-mile pipeline being built jointly with the City of Dallas. This project allows the district to move additional water from Cedar Creek and Richland-Chambers lakes in East Texas to meet the needs of a rapidly growing Tarrant County. It will also make the system more resilient in times of drought and when maintenance is needed.

Despite the rapid growth in North Texas, TRWD’s water demands have not grown at the same pace over the last several years. This is because proactive water conservation efforts and initiatives are helping save an average of 100 million gallons per day. Educational outreach efforts with customers and regional partners are also helping change behaviors and create a sustainable future in North Texas.

Learn more about ways you can save water at home, at the office and at school:

Save Tarrant Water

Water is Awesome

Source: https://www.trwd.com/water-supply/
Contact Email: [email protected]

Expanded Info: Water Fun Facts  

Ninety-seven percent of the Earth’s water is salt water in the ocean. Two percent is stored as fresh water in glaciers. This leaves only 1% of all the water on Earth as water for people to use. If all the world’s water were put into a gallon jug, the fresh water available for us to use would equal only about one tablespoon.

How Much Water Are You?

Students will calculate how many 8-ounce glasses of water they are made of.

  1. Have students write down their weight.
  2. Divide their weight by three.
  3. Multiply the new number by four.

That’s about how many 8-ounce glasses it would take to equal all the water in a person.

By the time a person feels thirsty, his or her body has lost over 1% of their total water amount. Drink water before you get thirsty.

Facts:

  • Each day the sun evaporates one trillion tons of water off of lakes, rivers and oceans.
  • Over 42,000 gallons of water are needed to grow and prepare the food for a typical Thanksgiving dinner for eight.
  • In 1969, the Cuyahoga River near Cleveland, OH was so polluted that it caught on fire.
  • There is exactly the same amount of water on Earth now as there was in prehistoric times.
  • Water is the only substance on Earth naturally found in the three true element forms: solid, liquid and gas.
  • Water expands by 9% when it freezes. Ice is lighter than water, which is why ice floats on water.

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