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Instruction

Going for Water – Session 3

Session 3

Print version of "Going for Water": PDF • Word

Conduct this session in the classroom.

1. Make sure each student has a calculator, a sticky note, and a copy of the Lab Sheet PDF • Word.
   
2. Have each student write on the sticky note the number of minutes it took to carry the water 50 yards. Direct all the students to stand and form a line ordered from least amount of time to greatest. Once they are in line, have them attach the sticky notes to a bulletin board in that order.
   
3. Discuss the data, and ask students questions such as the following:
   
   • What was the least amount of time? The greatest? You might subtract these times to find the range.
     
   • What was the most common amount of time? This is the mode.
     
   • Do you observe any outliers (i.e., times that vary significantly from the rest)? Why do you think they occurred? Should they be discounted or kept with the rest of the data? (It depends on why they occurred.)
     
   • How could we determine the average time? Explain that the average is found by adding all the times and then dividing by the number of times (students). This number will be near the middle of all the recorded times. (If students are not familiar with averages, you could ask three students of varying heights to stand next to each other to demonstrate the concept.)
     
4. Instruct the students now to find the average using their calculators. Go around the classroom and have each student share how many minutes it took to carry the water. As each student reports, all the students will enter that time on their calculators and add it to the previous sum of reported times. Once the total sum is found, have students divide it by the total number of students who reported their data. Students then record this average on their lab sheets.
   
5. Next, instruct students to indicate on the second page of the lab sheet how many times per day they might perform the listed water-use activities. As the chart indicates, for each activity, students then multiply the number in the "Times done per day" column by the number of "Gallons required." Then, to find how much water a student might use in a day, students total the numbers in the right-hand column. Discuss with students how this total compares to the predictions they made in Session 1 of the lesson.
   
6. Finally, have the students multiply their "Total gallons used per day" number by the class average time to haul one gallon. This product will be the time needed to haul all their water for a day's use.
   Discuss with students their feelings about spending that much time carrying water:
   
   • What after school activities and pastimes might have to be sacrificed?
     
   • Did people spend as much time carrying water before electricity?
     
   • What would be a way to reduce time spent carrying water? (Use less water.)
     
7. Explain that today with electricity, people often use more water than is actually needed, and, therefore, water is wasted. Discuss the problems that are caused by wasting water (see "Wasting Water" in the lesson Background).
   Ask students to think of ways that they can conserve water, such as
   
   • turning water off while soaping up in the shower or while brushing teeth
     
   • installing low-flow shower heads
     
   • running dishwashers and washing machines only when fully loaded
     
   • watering plants with a soaker hose in morning or evening when evaporation rates are low.
     

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