How do we help students understand the ways they can be more thoughtful when they turn on the tap? Through resources that highlight the many ways that water conservation today can support a brighter future! 

Conservation Station: Creating a More Resourceful World is a standards-aligned educational program that promotes energy-water literacy and conservation efforts through technology. Developed in partnership with Itron, the program features classroom activities, two virtual field trips and family resources that offer students in grades 6-9 the opportunity to explore the unexpected connections at the heart of the energy-water nexus and discover how we can all conserve water and energy at school and at home. 

Here are three of our favorite resources for teaching students about water conservation:  

1. Creating a Water Conscious Meal  

In this activity, students explore the impact of continued increases in demand, growing populations, and a rapid increase in droughts on the need for individuals to use water more responsibly. After considering their own daily water consumption, students will make predictions about the amount of water necessary for everyday tasks, including food production, and explore the amount of water necessary to produce a common meal. They will then have the opportunity to modify the meal so that its production requires less water, giving them an opportunity to discuss their own habits and where they can make simple adjustments to conserve.  

2. Quenching the Thirst of the Future 

Traditionally, fresh water has come from lakes, rivers, streams, and groundwater aquifers, but as demand increases, these traditional sources are becoming unavailable, more difficult, or expensive to develop. In this activity, students explore alternative water supplies that will be necessary to provide and maintain water, food, and energy supplies in urban environments as the population continues to increase. Using a saltwater circuit, students will collaborate and act as design engineers and will test and evaluate the efficiency of a desalination prototype and compare their results with other design teams to identify and discuss ways to improve their model. 

3. How Much Water Does It Take? 

As consumers, we are often unaware of how much water is required to make many of the products that we buy and use every day. In this investigation, students have the opportunity to test their theories on the amount of water it takes to manufacture a list of common items by researching the manufacturing process for each item. This eye-opening experience helps students recognize that the choices we make about what we eat and goods we purchase can have a positive impact on the amount of water needed and used in production. 

As we approach World Water Day (March 22) and Earth Day (April 22), now is the time to identify engaging resources that will help students understand how to apply the principles of sustainability and conservation to their everyday lives to create habits that will have an impact well into the future. Explore additional Conservation Station resources at LearntoConserve.com or in the Discovery Education Experience platform on the Conservation Station channel.