The Topic: Water Easier - Water is a liquid that falls from the sky as rain and fills rivers, lakes, and oceans. Plants, animals, and people all need water to live. More than two-thirds of the human body is water. We must drink water every day to remain healthy.   Harder - Water is a compound of two elements, hydrogen and oxygen. Each water molecule contains two hydrogen and one oxygen atoms. Water can be liquid, solid, or gas. It can evaporate into vapor or freeze into ice. Most of the Earth's surface is covered by water. The water cycle is the constant movement of this water. The water from rivers, lakes, and oceans evaporates into vapor. The vapor rises and forms clouds. The water then falls as rain, hail, or snow and the cycle begins again.   Water pollution has become a serious problem. For example, acid rain causes the death of plants and animals. It can impact our water supply. Water conservation is becoming an increasingly important issue.   Acid Rain: A Student's First Sourcebook http://www.epa.gov/acidrain/student/student2.html Learn about acidity and acid rain. This student guide also provides information about the effects of acid rain on forests, water, human-made materials, and people. Finally, explore experiments, activities, and ideas for what can be done to prevent acid rain. Other Acid Rain Websites: 2) Acid Rain (student essay) http://www.4essays.com/essays/ACID_RAI.HTM 3) Acid Rain and Our Nation's Capitol by E. McGee from U.S. Geological Survey http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/acidrain/contents.html 4) Acid Rain (Grade 5-8) http://www.angelfire.com/nj2/phacidrain/   Water Resources of the United States at the U.S. Geological Survey http://water.usgs.gov/ This site has water data, publications, and lots more. Other USGS Websites on Water: 2) Ground Water Atlas of the United States http://capp.water.usgs.gov/gwa/gwa.html 3) Water Science for Schools http://wwwga.usgs.gov/edu/ Another Government Site on Water: 4) Water from U.S. Environmental Protection Agency http://www.epa.gov/water/   Watershare from Virtual Water Conservation Center of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamations http://208.186.133.85/ This comprehensive site provides information for all ages and interests ranging from local water conservation programs to a series of interactive kids activities. Links within Watershare: 2) WaterLearn http://208.186.133.85/waterlearn/index.htm   Water, Water Everywhere ... http://www.muohio.edu/dragonfly/water/index.htmlx On these pages you will learn about dolphins and water striders, water pollution and water treatment. As an investigator, you can help scientists learn more about insects that walk on water, and why kids like to drink soda pop. You'll discover more about the Earth's water cycle, and learn how to create your own miniature water cycles at home. Other Children's Water Cycle Websites: 2) Learning to Be Waterwise http://www.getwise.org/wwise/ 3) Many Adventures of Drippy the Raindrop http://www.kimballmedia.com/drippy/ 4) Water: A Neverending Story http://www-k12.atmos.washington.edu/k12/pilot/water_cycle/index.html 5) Water Cycle http://www.cotf.edu/ete/modules/msese/earthsysflr/water.html 6) Water Cycle http://www.educ.uvic.ca/faculty/mroth/438/WEATHER/watercycle.html 7) Water Cycle http://mbgnet.mobot.org/fresh/cycle/cycle.htm 8) Zoom: Water Cycle http://www.zoomwhales.com/subjects/astronomy/planets/earth/Watercycle.shtml 9) Water Cycle http://schoolscience.rice.edu/duker/watercycle.html 10) Water Cycle (student project) http://www.northstar.k12.ak.us/schools/upk/chena/changing/cycle.html 11) Water Cycle http://www.nwf.org/wildlifeweek/2000/h2ocycle.html   After exploring lots of the water websites, complete one or more of these water activities. Come on in, get your feet wet!   Watch a Video. Watch the brainpop video on water and the water cycle. Be sure to take the quiz.   Complete Some Water Cycle Activities. Go to (1) Water Cycle at Science Court and complete the activities and experiments as you learn about the water cycle. Go to the (2) Water Science page and try a questionnaire or opinion survey. Try the water activities at the (3) Explorer's Club. Try the (4) Hyrdoexplorer activity.   Read and Write a Water Story. Read The Many Adventures of Drippy the Raindrop. Write your own Drippy adventure.   Find Freshwater. Fresh water is a worldwide issue. Use The World's Water website to locate statistics about water around the world. Explore The Water Story for maps showing freshwater availability worldwide. Select an area of the world and analyze concerns about their water. Compare water issues with the area where you live.   Locate your Watershed. Play the Watershed Game to learn more about the watershed. Use the Surf Your Watershed page to locate your watershed. Where does your water come from? Compare your watershed to people who live in other states or provinces.   Be a Conserver. Use the Waterwiser Drip Calculator to check the water usage in your house. Measure and estimate the water wasted due to leaks. Learn more about water conservation at Watershare. Create a plan to conserve water in your house or school.   Build a Waterfall. Waterfalls are beautiful. Check out the (2) Eastern Waterfall Guide and (2) Michele's Waterfall Page. Go to the student project called (3) Waterfall. Draw a picture showing how a waterfall works. Try building your own waterfall.   Debate Acid Rain. Read a student essay about (1) Acid Rain. Do you agree or disagree with what the writer says about acid rain? Is this an issue people should be concerned about? Why or why not? Write a letter to the editor about acid rain. Use (2) Acid Rain and Our Nation's Capital, (3) Acid Rain: A Student's First Sourcebook, and (4) Acid Rain for more ideas.   Take a Stand. Read (1) Blue Thumb Basics and (2) Save Water 49 Ways. Do you have a blue thumb? Create a blue thumb poster to convince people of the importance of water conservation issues. Explore (3) Give Water A Hand to learn how you can get involved with your community.   Create a Diagram. Read about the Water Treatment Path. Create your own diagram showing how water moves in your community.   Take at Water Quiz. Take a (1) water quiz. Explore the (2) Water Utility Trivia and (3) Water Center Trivia page. Build your own quiz or water game.   Speculate on Bottled Water. Read Statistics and Frequently Asked Questions about bottled water. Write a story about a person who visits from the past. What would they think about people paying for bottles of water? Or, think about the future. In the future, fresh water may become more and more valuable. Write a science fiction story about a time in the future when water is as valuable as gold.   Have Some Fun. Go to the Fun with Water page. Read some water proverbs and riddles. Create a bulletin board with water facts, poems, proverbs, and riddles.   Be a Detective. Where does fresh water come from? Who is using all the water? Go to the water use page and create a chart showing who uses the most water.   Share Water with Nature. Read one of the slide show at Share Water with Nature including river ride, flushing flows, and fish screen. Write your own slide show about sharing water with nature using KidPix or PowerPoint.   Trace a River. Read the book A River Ran Wild by Lynn Cherry. The book traces the history of a river. Learn more about rivers at the following websites by students: (1) Project Creekwatch, Rivers Online and (2) Stream of Life: Water in the American West. Choose a creek or river in your area to explore. Trace the history of the river and do science experiments. Is your river healthy? Create a web page to share you results.   Complete a Water WebQuest. Follow or adapt the procedures found at one of the following webQuest sites. 1) Come Swim in My River . . . by Alexandre Petrakis [Water pollution] (Grade 3) http://spidey.sfusd.edu/schwww/sch529/webquests/alex/riverquest.html 2) The Cycle of Drippy the Waterdrop http://www.emsd63.n-cook.k12.il.us/CurrProjects/Drippy/ 3) Diving Into Our World Of Water Webquest http://www.ajsjh.ednet.ns.ca/water_webquest.htm 4) Earth: The Water Planet http://coe.west.asu.edu/students/kniichel/WaterPlanet_files/WaterPlanet.htm 5) Little Drop's Big Water Cycle Trip http://www.madison.k12.ky.us/district/projects/WebQuest/water/HTML/water.htm 6) Ocean's In Trouble by Leigh Hamada (Grades 4-6) http://projects.edtech.sandi.net/grant/oceanpollution/ 7) Saving Lake St. Clair http://www.gp.k12.mi.us/parcells/Web%20Quest/Geerer/water%20quality%20webquest.htm 8) Splish Splash [Water pollution] (Grade K-3) http://www.rvschools.org/tie/webquests/WaterPollution.htm 9) Water: Each Drop Counts http://newton.kamsc.k12.mi.us/quest/water/Water.htm 10) Water Quality Webquest http://www.pburg.k12.nj.us/PHS/shorne/watqual.htm Websites By Kids For Kids H20 (1999 ThinkQuest Project) http://library.thinkquest.org/27627/3a.htm Here you can learn about water in all its forms.   Brabant Fights Against Water (2000 ThinkQuest Project) http://library.thinkquest.org/C001635F/ Water can be nice, water can be beautiful, and, most of all, people depend on water, and water depends on us. But, water also can be an enemy.   Limnology : Facts and Fun (1997 ThinkQuest Project) http://library.thinkquest.org/11548/ Limnology is the study of fresh water sources, such as in lakes and streams. This site introduces the water cycle, water test procedures, and why monitoring the quality of water is important.   Mrs. Coat's Class: Water Cycle (Student project) http://www.meadowbrook.district28.k12.il.us/coats/watercycle/our_water_cycle.htm Student graphics of the water cycle.   Project Creekwatch (1997 ThinkQuest Project) http://library.thinkquest.org/10952/creek.html Using the creek that flows through their town as an outdoor laboratory, high school students present this site as a collection of data about the Arroyo Del Valle creek. Student projects include research on the effect of pH on the growth of creek plants, distribution of water striders, Protists, and Zooplankton.   Rivers Online (2000 ThinkQuest Project) http://library.thinkquest.org/C004240/ Rivers are the cradles of civilization and they play an important part in the life of those who live near it.   Stream of Life: Water in the American West (1999 ThinkQuest Project) http://library.thinkquest.org/27419/ This website details the affects water has had on people living in the West. It covers topics from where Los Angeles gets its water to who first explored the Colorado River.   Water (2000 ThinkQuest Project) http://library.thinkquest.org/C005673/ Is the water that you drink every day safe?   Water Around Us (1999 ThinkQuest Project) http://library.thinkquest.org/28478/ This site contains some aspects of water protection including ways of protection (with some samples).   Water Bodies (1999 ThinkQuest Project) http://library.thinkquest.org/28347/ This project covers water bodies such as rivers, lakes, bays, seas and oceans. Erosion and deposition due to water is also explained.   Water Cycle (Class page) http://www.natick.k12.ma.us/schools/johnson/watercycle/contents.html Learn about the water cycle. View student projects, book reviews, things to do, and other interesting water activities.   Waterfall (1998 ThinkQuest Project) http://library.thinkquest.org/23739/ Have you ever wanted to study geologic processes like erosion, sedimentation, and point source pollution--but you didn't have a stream nearby? No problem, just build a waterfall. Here you can find the plans.   Water: Good to the Last Drop (2000 ThinkQuest Junior Project) http://library.thinkquest.org/J002300/ Users take a multimedia tour of how water formed the landscape and the history of Arizona.   Waterworks! (2000 ThinkQuest Junior Project) http://library.thinkquest.org/J003193/ Learn about water and the water purification process.   Water World (2000 ThinkQuest Project) http://library.thinkquest.org/C004486/ Here you can find out about water distribution, history, cycle, quality, pollution, and conservation.   Lots More Sites Cadillac Desert from PBS http://www.pbs.org/kteh/cadillacdesert/home.html This companion site to the 4-part television series examines how Americans have used, abused, protected, controlled, fought over, and died for water.   Clean Water: Life Depends on It http://www.ec.gc.ca/water/en/info/pubs/FS/e_FSA3.htm Find out about water quality issues in Canada. Learn how water quality is measured and concerns about water pollution. More Water Quality Links: 2) Environmental Priority - Clean Water http://www.ec.gc.ca/envpriorities/cleanwater_e.htm   Give Water A Hand http://www.uwex.edu/erc/ With 'Give Water A Hand', young people team up with educators, natural resource experts and committed community members to study water issues and take action!   Hydrosphere: Water, Water, Everywhere http://www.miamisci.org/ecolinks/hydrosphere.html Learn about the water cycle, oceans, and ways to conserve water.   Kid's Water Zone http://www.njawwa.org/kidsweb/ Learn about water, the water cycle, water conservation, water treatment, and water activities. Try the water maze.   National Drinking Water Clearinghouse (NDWC) http://www.estd.wvu.edu/ndwc/NDWC_homepage.html This is the website for an organization that assists small communities by collecting, developing, and providing timely information relevant to drinking water issues More Drinking Water Resources: 2) Drinking Water Links http://environment.about.com/newsissues/environment/cs/drinkingwater/index.htm   Office of Water at the Environmental Protection Agency http://www.epa.gov/OW/ This comprehensive site from the U.S. government has information on ground water, drinking water, water quality, a kids page, and lots more. Other Government Water Sites: 2) Canadian Water Resources Association http://www.cwra.org/ 3) Office of Ground Water and Drinking Water at U.S. Environmental Protection Agency http://www.epa.gov/ogwdw/ 4) Water Quality Information Center at the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture http://www.nal.usda.gov/wqic/   Sources of Water Pollution http://www.soest.hawaii.edu/GG/ASK/waterpol3.html This is the site of responses from an earth scientist to questions about the sources of water pollution, the effects of water pollution, and the ways we can decrease those problems.   Water in Africa from the Peace Corps World Wise Schools http://www.peacecorps.gov/wws/water/africa/ This fantastic site emphasizes the deep connection of water to all aspects of life in African countries. The site contains photos and stories, and standards-based learning units for K-12 students.   WaterWiser from American Water Works Association http://www.waterwiser.org/ This water efficiency clearinghouse site provides articles, reference materials, papers, and links to other water related sites.   World's Water http://www.worldwater.org/ This site is dedicated to providing up-to-date water information and data and web connections to organizations, institutions, and individuals working on a wide range of global freshwater problems and solutions.   World Water Vison http://www.watervision.org/ The site is designed to help people to manage water - - insuring access to safe and affordable water and sanitation and conserve freshwater and terrestrial ecosystems.   Websites for Teachers Acid Rain Lesson Plans at the National Park Service Air Resources Division (Grade 6-8) http://www2.nature.nps.gov/ard/lessons.html Here are a series of five activities about what acid rain is and how is it measured. Other Acid Rain Lessons: 2) Acid Rain: An Air Pollutant (Grade 5) http://www.tnrcc.state.tx.us/air/monops/lessons/acidrainlesson.html 3) Acid Rain: The Disappearing Statue (Grade 2) http://www.tnrcc.state.tx.us/air/monops/lessons/statuelesson.html 4) Acid Rain: Educational Materials Links http://environment.about.com/newsissues/environment/cs/acidrain2/index.htm    American Waterworks Association http://www.awwa.org/dww/ Explore information for children and adults about drinking water and water utilities. Related Professional Water Site: 2) Water Librarian's Web Page http://www.wco.com/~rteeter/waterlib.html   Floods (Newton's Apple Lesson) http://ericir.syr.edu/Projects/Newton/12/Lessons/floods.html This lesson on floods addresses the following questions: How can water be powerful enough to move a home? How do people control the flooding of rivers? Do these methods of control sometimes make matters worse?   How Much Water Will The Desert Hold? http://www.pbs.org/edens/namib/source7.htm Students learn about water in the desert. Related Lesson Plan: 2) Water Wheel http://www.pbs.org/edens/namib/source7.htm   One River Runs Through It (Grade 5-6) http://www.ncrel.org/mands/FERMI/Meehan_Nolan/sum_page_dupage.html To engage the students a scenario is created to hire students as junior ecologists in the school's 'Research Laboratory.' You got it, the focus of their research is a nearby river. Related Lesson Plans: 2) River Project (Cross Keys Middle School ) http://www.targetmarketing.org/transformations/lessons/crkriv.htm 3) Salt Creek Investigation (Grade 6-9) http://www.ncrel.org/mands/FERMI/saltcreek/creek.html   Splish, Splash: Water's Journey to My Glass http://www.nationalgeographic.com/xpeditions/main.html?STST=standards&STN=7/ca_k-4 This National Geographic lesson focuses on the water cycle and water conservation.   Supplying Our Water Needs (Grade 9-10) http://www.ncrel.org/mands/FERMI/water/summary.html Learners working in teams investigate the problem (water supply) as defined by the students, using a variety of tools. Related Lesson Plan: 2) Supplying Our Water Needs: Africa (Grade 9) http://www.ncrel.org/mands/FERMI/Meder/sumss.html 3) Water Water Everywhere http://www.nytimes.com/learning/teachers/lessons/981208tuesday.html 4) Drinking Water http://ericir.syr.edu/Projects/Newton/14/drinkingwater13.html   Water Environment Federation http://www.wef.org/WefStudents/Teachers/index.jhtml This website provides water lesson plans (in pdf format) for primary, intermediate, middle, and high school levels.   Water Pollution http://ericir.syr.edu/Virtual/Lessons/Science/Biological/BIO0065.html Learn about the effect of water pollution on the environment. This lesson focuses on three types of pollution: chemical pollution, thermal pollution, and ecological pollution.   Water Quality (Fremont Middle School) http://www.targetmarketing.org/transformations/lessons/frewat.htm After completing this thematic unit, students will be able to determine the quality of water samples by completing various tests, know the affect of humans on water quality, and be understand the impact of water quality on our environment. Related Lesson: 2) Save Our Sound http://www.targetmarketing.org/transformations/lessons/midsos.htm 3) Water Quality http://riceinfo.rice.edu/armadillo/Galveston/Curriculum/science2.html 4) Cool, Clear Water http://www.uen.org/cgi-bin/websql/lessons/l4.hts?id=2705&core=3   Water: Visible and Invisible (Grade K-3) at the Ecology Center http://www.eecs.umich.edu/mathscience/funexperiments/agesubject/lessons/wateriv.html What are two different states of water and how are they formed?   water cycle lake river ocean snow water water tower watershed water safety waves wash condensation evaporation deserts water droplets water vapor ground water aquifer humidity hydrologic cycle water supply pond life fog acid rain water quality flood clouds drip waterfall drought rain gallon humidity hydrology mist vapor snow precipitation steam pollution cleanup treatment creek erosion water sample sedimentation wetlands water strider        Created by Annette Lamb and Larry Johnson, 12/00.