Water World, Project WET

Water World

Project WET proves a splashing success

This article as it appeared in Missouri Resources, Spring 1996, Vol. 13, Number 1

An expectant hush falls over the crowd gathered at the water's edge as a pioneer family approaches the water crossing with a hastily constructed raft. The raft is built from materials available in the vicinity of the crossing. Successful completion of the westward trek and the lives of the pioneer family depend upon the design of the raft.

A scurry of activity, a splash, and the raft is launched. Suddenly, a collective groan arises from the pioneers left on shore as the fragile craft begins to break apart, spilling passengers and their belongings into the icy water. Learning from the mistakes of others, the remaining pioneers rush to make last-minute modifications to their rafts.

The above is not a description of a historical tragedy but a sample of the 96 fun-filled activities in the newly published "Project WET Curriculum and Activity Guide". The pioneers are teams of students who must devise a way to safely transport their "family" (a boiled egg) through a "water crossing" (a pan of water). The complicating factor in this activity is that the teams can only use materials supplied by the instructor to construct the watercraft.

In September 1995, the Missouri Department of natural Resources became the state sponsor of Project WET (Water Education for Teachers), which is now available to Missouri teachers. The program is nationally sponsored by the Watercourse and the Council for Environmental Education (CEE), formerly the Western Region Environmental Education Council (WREEC).

The Watercourse was created in 1989 with funding from the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation. The original mission of the Watercourse was to establish state Project WET programs in Montana, Idaho and Arizona. The success of the pilot programs led to an expanded national role for the Watercourse.

In 1990, WREEC became an official cosponsor of Project WET. The council is a national leader in environmental education, and its cosponsored programs-Project WILD and Project Learning Tree-are amoung the most long-lived and successful national efforts in environmental education projects.

The "Project WET Curriculum and Activity Guide," for kindergarten through 12th grades, is available to all formal and nonformal educators through workshops provided by the state coordinator or trained facilitators. Educators can attend a six-hour training workshop and become a "teacher-user" of the activity guide. They may elect to train to use the materials with no further commitment or attend a two-day, 16-hour workshop and become a volunteer facilitator. This will allow them to help provide the workshops to other Missouri educators.

The six-hour workshops are conducted by volunteer facilitators who explain the curriculum and demonstrate how to apply the material to students. The two-day facilitator workshops are conducted by the Department of Natural Resources state coordinator.

Written by teachers for teachers, the "Project WET Curriculum and Activity Guide" is "teacher friendly." The activities cut across many disciplines in the study of water and water resources. Educators may easily organize activities into units of study or pick and choose their individual favorites. More importantly, the activities focuses on teaching students how, not what to think.

The following activity is excerpted from an exercise titled "The Long Haul," in the "Project WET Curriculum and Activity Guide."

Objectives

Students will: develop an awareness of various volumes of water; appreciate today's readily available water supplies; and relate how easy access to water can encourage people to use large amounts of water.

Materials

Four one-gallon (3.8 liter) buckets
Two 30-gallon (114 liter) garbage cans
Water course or outdoor spigots
Containers of different sizes

Procedure

Warm Up: Discuss with the students ways they use water. Where does it come from and how does it get to our homes? What did people have to do 100 years ago to get their water? Ask students to list chores they do after school and estimate how much time each takes. How much free time do they have after school? How much would they have if they pumped their family's water and hauled it home?

The Activity

Tell students they are going to play a water-hauling game. Discuss in advance what they think the purpose of the activity is.
Divide the class into two teams. Each team gets two one-gallon (3.8 liter) buckets. The task is to haul water from a source (a stream or pond is ideal, but a water spigot will work fine) to destination (trash can) about 150 feet (45 meters) away.
Organize the game as a relay race. Team members line up at the water source. One team member fills the bucket, to represent pumping water or drawing it from a well, then carries it to the destination and pours it into the team's trash can. He or she returns to the water source and gives the bucket to the next team member, who fills and relays it. The first team to fill its can wins the race.
Ask students to predict how many trips they think it will take to fill the can. How much time will it take? Record their responses for future reference. Begin the race!

Assessment

Have students:

Estimate volumes of different size containers:
Express their feelings about hauling water (verbally, written or by illustration)
Design a skit demonstrating the positive and negative aspects of easily available water.

Extension

Have someone from the municipal water service speak to the class about water delivery systems.

Missouri Project WET may well be the answer to your search for a comprehensive package of environmental education materials that is focused on water.