For the Classroom
Water is a fascinating liquid that has a lot of secrets to tell. When you're studying water, remember to balance the lessons with information about usage and pollution because both issues are very important to protecting the world's fresh water.
A Closer Look at Leaks
Does your classroom have a sink? If not, maybe you can use the art room or a different room with a sink to conduct this experiment. Hopefully, the faucet isn't already leaky (if it is, tell maintenance). For this experiment, you'll need to simulate a leaky faucet by turning on the tap just the tiniest bit. Have the students guess how much water will leak out after one day of dripping. The drips are pretty small. You can hold up containers of different sizes to help them visualize. Will it be one cup? Will it be one quart? Will it be one pint? Will it be one gallon? Will it be more?
Approximately one in six people in the world, or 1.1 billion, do not have access to safe, clean drinking water. In the United States, people take for granted that clean water is readily available at any tap, but in some countries, people walk for miles simply to get to water. Learn how you can help at http://water.org.
For a younger class, you'll have to do the experiment yourself. For older students, you can pair them up and have them do it themselves. You'll need two paper cups, a teaspoon, and a timer. Follow these steps:
Have each pair of students write down their guess for how much water will drip after a day.
Have each pair of students approach the sink separately. One student should catch the water in a cup and the other should time it for two minutes.
After they return to their seats, they can measure how many teaspoons of water were collected in the cup, emptying the teaspoons into the second cup as they count.
Have them write down the number of teaspoons that dripped after two minutes. Then multiply it by thirty to find out how many teaspoons of water would drip in an hour. Then multiply by twenty-four to find out how many teaspoons of water would drip in a day.
Record all of the students' answers on the board. Find the average. Convert the number of teaspoons to tablespoons, cups, quarts, and gallons.
Did anyone guess this number in the beginning? How much would this end up being every month? How much in a year? What if everyone in the classroom had a leaky faucet? Leaky faucets are no laughing matter!
To help report water leaks in public places, go to www.kidsforsavingearth.org and click on “Water.” List the name and address of the public place that has the leak and what the leak is. Kids for Saving Earth will send out a “Water Wasters” warning to remind them to repair their leaky faucets or toilets.
Many times, a faucet may not have a leak; it may not be all the way turned off. Children are especially prone to leaving the tap slightly open. Practice turning the tap all the way off. Make up a quick rhyme to remember to turn it all the way off.
Oil's Not So Slick
Water gets polluted when oil is spilled into it. Oil spills can be extremely difficult to clean up. How difficult? Try this:
Place a pie pan on a table and fill it halfway with water.
Pour about an eighth of an inch of vegetable oil on top of it.
Try to remove the oil using a spoon.
Try a cotton ball, aluminum foil, netting, or anything else you can think of.
What happens to the oil in the water? Have a discussion. If there were animals or fish in the water, what would happen to them?
