Water+Unit

Following the IB curriculum and themes, we start the year with a unit about water and our environment. If you are interested in any of the materials from our lessons, please visit the pages and files section of our wiki.

Uganda [] Liberia [] Guatemala/Honduras [] Argentina [] India: Water ATM's [] ? Iowa [] [] || [|DMWW Teacher Resource Packet] [|Water Works Tour Description] [|Water Treatment Process] [|Best Management Practices for Pollution Prevention] ||
 * **Title** || **Description** || **Resources** ||
 * **International Water Issues** || **Students were introduced to a series of water related challenges in different countries around the globe. These challenges ranged from inadequate access to water, water pollution from human activity, groundwater contamination, drought periods and flood events. Students watched videos or read stories from a series of “locals” who spoke to these challenge in their respective countries. They were asked to complete a grid that would visually compare and contrast the challenges in different countries.** || [|Worksheet] for students to complete.
 * **Gray’s Lake Water Quality Testing** || **Students, teachers and adult chaperones walked from Brody Middle School to Gray’s Lake Park (~1 mile from school) to complete a water quality testing activity. Groups of 4-5 students and one adult were given testing kits, protocols and a worksheet to complete to test water for turbidity, pH, temperature, nitrates, phosphates and dissolved oxygen. After the activity, we took average values from the groups and discussed an overall “rank” for the water quality at Gray’s Lake. We found that most indicators were considered “good” however the dissolved oxygen and nitrate levels were “fair” to “poor.”** || See [|spreadsheet] of results as well as [|worksheet] for students to complete that we used during our Gray's Lake visit and during our EPA water testing activity. ||
 * **Classroom visit from Gail Bemis, Education Specialist at Des Moines Water Works** || **Gail Bemis presented a very visually engaging and interesting lesson to the students. She covered many topics including where the drinking water in Des Moines comes from (the Raccoon and Des Moines rivers), the major pollutants that Des Moines Water Works must test and clean from the water, and how those processes occur. She also had the students perform a small test of water hardness.** || See below documents from Des Moines Water Works.
 * **“Bacteria in your Watershed” Activity** || **Dr. Michelle Soupir, Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering at Iowa State University, and her team have created a very hands-on activity about water and pollutant movement through the landscape. They worked with our classes to build landscape models (out of wire and a clay material) on which students placed farms, farm animals and manure! We then watched how a “rain” event – simulated with a watering can – moved water into streams and lakes. Finally we observed how there was less pollutant movement when we added conservation practices of buffers and land cover to the watershed.** || Description and background of activity. ||
 * **Spotlight on local water challenges: Water Pollution and Water Quality in Iowa** || **Through collaboration with Mrs. Judith Pauley’s Literacy class, we designed an activity where students would “role play” different stakeholders involved in the water pollution discussion in Iowa. The goal was to introduce students to the social, political and economic contexts around the science that we studied in class, which falls well in line with Brody’s curriculum as an International Baccalaureate school (IB). We invited an official from the EPA, a concerned citizen, a farmer, an official from Des Moines Water Works, a practitioner working with the Nature Conservancy and an Iowa State University Research Scientist to visit our classroom for student interviews. Students then wrote essays expressing the points of view of their stakeholders. Several students were invited to read their essays during an assembly that was attended by Administrator Karl Brooks, District 7 EPA, and Kevin Baskins, Iowa Department of Natural Resources.** || http://mrsamykissell.wikispaces.com/Water+Roundtable+Activity ||