Intro to The Water Crisis (Elementary)
LEARNING OBJECTIVE:
● Understand the basic facts and figures of the water crisis.
● Understand water as an essential need.
● Understand personal daily use of water.
● Compare and contrast water usage across geographies.
● Understand different causes of water scarcity.
● Set-up for H2O for Life Service Learning Project
TIME NEEDED: 30 - 45 Minutes
MATERIALS: ADDITIONAL
RESOURCES:
Presentation Slides: Canva Link (Recommended for highest quality images) |
Google Slides Link | PowerPoint Download Link | PDF Link Book this presentation to be
Supplemental Worksheet: Canva Link (Recommended for editing questions or done by an H2O for Life staff
format) | Google Doc Link | PDF Link) member at the link here.
Select H2O for Life Service Project: Explore Projects Page Link
H2O for Life Getting Started Materials: Getting Started Page
BACKGROUND:
At H2O for Life, we know that it can be hard to start a conversation about the Global Water Crisis with your students. There are so
many different components to understanding such a big global issue. We have created this presentation to give you and your
classroom a starting point for understanding the Global Water Crisis and the opportunity to kick off a fun service learning project
to do something about it!
The presentation will help your students understand how essential water is to their daily lives, as well as open their eyes to the
fact that not everyone has the same access to clean water and sanitation. They will understand the basic facts and figures about
access to clean water and sanitation, and be challenged to consider how that might impact the day-to-day lives of others.
At the end of the presentation, the H2O for Life service learning project is introduced. They will learn a little bit about our
organization and be encouraged to find a W.A.S.H. (Water, Access, Sanitation, and Hygiene) project on our website to support.
The W.A.S.H. projects on our website are being completed by our international implementing partners, who are on the ground in
these communities. 100% of funds raised by you and your students will be sent to those partners to make the project happen!
Schools that have signed up for or plan to sign up for an H2O for Life service project are eligible for a free classroom presentation
by our staff. If you would like for an H2O for Life staff member to deliver this presentation and lesson to your school, please visit
[Link] to schedule a presentation consultation with our staff.
ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS:
What do you use for water in your daily life?
How would your life be different without safe access to clean water?
What can you do to support people who do not have access to clean water and sanitation?
ENGAGE:
This lesson is meant to be a presentation that encourages classroom discussion. The slides provided prompt your
students with questions to reflect on their own lived experiences and then provide them with information about the
scale of the Global Water Crisis, as well as some scenarios that might cause someone not to have access to clean water
and sanitation. Take the time to have your students discuss as a class or in small groups the questions on the screen. In
the presentation notes, you will find more questions to explore with your students that may not be on the screen. If you
find it helpful to keep students on track or need an assignment for them to reference back to, there is a supplemental
worksheet with reflection questions provided. The worksheet is not necessary for the presentation to be impactful with
your students. We encourage you to adjust things to meet your classroom’s needs.
ENRICH:
H2O for Life is a two-part program. The first is educational materials such as these, but the second part is a service learning
project where students raise funds for water and sanitation projects around the world. If you and your students want to apply
what they are learning to a real-world project, they can select a school to support from our website. They won’t be just learning
about an issue, but taking action to solve it!
REFLECT:
This lesson has plenty of opportunities for students to reflect on the concepts they are learning. Questions like “How would my
life be different without access to clean water?” and “What can I do to take action on a global issue?” We encourage you to
consider using other lesson plans from H2O for Life to give them further reflection on the impact water has on our day-to-day
lives.
