Around the world, water helps communities grow food, produce energy, and meet daily needs. At the same time, some people struggle to access clean water, while floods, storms, and droughts can cause destruction and hardship. In this inquiry, students consider how water can be a source of opportunity, inequality, and challenge depending on where and how people experience it.
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About the inquiry
Compelling Question
How does water shape us?
Standards
D2.Geo.6.9-12. Evaluate the impact of human settlement activities on the environmental and cultural characteristics of specific places and regions.
Instructional Snapshot
Class begins with a brainstorming activity where students consider how they use water every day. As the teacher writes students’ ideas on the board, students see the variety of water usage as well as the commonalities they share. Next, students look through a bank of images related to water (natural disasters, recreation, quotes from world leaders, water inequality, etc.) and develop a list of questions they have about water. For example, students might ask: “How is water stressed?”, “How much control over water should the government have?”, or “Can water lead to war?” Students then sort the images into one of two categories: Humans’ Impact on Water and Water’s Impact on Humans. As a debrief, the teacher may encourage students to share which images they found more difficult to sort (i.e., images that fit into both categories). Next, students choose two images that speak to each other (i.e., images that conflict with or corroborate each other). The inquiry culminates with students selecting an image they feel best answers the compelling question and developing a one-sentence claim around the image.
Formative Tasks
COLLABORATE: View a slideshow of images of water and draft a list of questions students have about water and its impact.
DELIBERATE: Sort images of water into two categories (human vs. water impact). Select two images that either conflict with or corroborate each other.
PRODUCE: Select an image that best supports the compelling question. Write a one-sentence claim in support of the image.
Sources
Source Set: Water Images Bank
Summative Performance Task
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Taking Informed Action
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