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Water Is Essential to Life

Students will learn about wetland ecosystems and create art that depicts some of the beautiful flora found there.

Lesson Plan

Supplies Needed

Gather all the supplies needed to bring your craft ideas to life! From paints and markers to glue and scissors, our crafts section has everything to spark creativity and make every project truly special.

  • Poster Board
  • Recycled Materials

Steps

  • Step 1

    Water is essential for life. Have students explore some facts about water. For example, it exists in three states: solid, liquid, and gas. On average it takes about 1,000 gallons of water to grow the food consumed by an average American in a single day.  There are alarming threats to the water supply due to pollution, climate change, waste, etc. 

  • Step 2

    Have students form teams to design and create a board game based on this essential resource. They can use heavy paper or poster board as the base, then sculpt the playing pieces and other features out of Model Magic. They can embellish the game with recycled materials and/or craft items. Encourage them to incorporate water sources such as oceans, lakes, rivers, etc. into the game as well as ways a player can advance across the board, for example by answering questions about how we can protect the planet's water.

  • Step 3

    When each team has played a trial game and modified the board or rules as needed, have them swap their game with other teams.

Standards

SCI: Convey designs through sketches, detailed drawings, or physical models to communicate ideas and solutions. 

SCI: Obtain, evaluate, and communicate information based on evidence. 

Adaptations

Have the class collaborate to create a poster featuring ways to conserve water. Example might include turning off the water while brushing teeth, taking shorter showers, using mulch in a garden to retain water, etc.

Invite someone who works in the field of water treatment to speak to the class, either in person or via video, about how water is collected and treated to make it usable.