Fresh Water Issues Activity Kit - River Pollution Clean Drinking Water Access

Explore various issues impacting our world's limited freshwater supply 1-2 week activity kit.

Topics covered include:

• The limited supply of fresh water available for human use
• River pollution chemicals from "fast fashion" textile factories
• Gender inequality in water collection
• Your own water current issue!

These 5 activities are perfect for exploring our natural resources in your Human Geography, Current Global Issues, or Environmental Science course.

All student materials come in both print PDF and editable digital Google files.

This kit's routinely revised to keep up-to-date with the most current statistics, data displays, and outside sources. You'll have free access to all future updates. It was last updated in 2023.

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Greatness is believing in the impact one can have on making change.

Many teenagers don’t know the world beyond their own of accessible, safe, and unlimited water. But in much of the developing world, all sorts of threats harm local sources of water, from pollution to too many competing stakeholders fighting over water rights to not having access to nearby improved water sources.

Guide your students through 5 eye-opening activities that cover a wide range of issues, then let them explore their own, culminating in an authentic discussion to grapple with the hard-to-face question: “How can I help solve these water issues?”

Teacher Materials

• Activities overview and detailed daily lesson plans
• Lesson takeaways and planning tips
• Detailed answer keys
• Links to Google versions of student activities

Student Materials & Activities

• Concept Definition sheet for developing a deeper understanding of fresh water
• Simulation to illustrate the limited amount of fresh water available to humans
• The World's Most Polluted River documentary notes sheet to explore the Citarum River
• Case Study Analysis on the human rights issues of worldwide water collection largely burdened on women
• New media and political cartoon analysis sheets for bringing in own current issue or independent student research
• Socratic seminar notes, starter statements reference sheet, and student-friendly rubrics for a powerful discussion about the world's water
• Skill sheets to teach proper source analysis

Note: the documentary, The World's Most Polluted River, is produced by DW, a German public broadcasting station, and is available for streaming on YouTube.

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Want to turn this into a whole unit?

• Water Supply & Pollution: a 3-week unit exploring our finite fresh water supply and the human rights, pollution, and conservation issues that need urgent solutions

Looking for more sustainability topics?

These units can be easily integrated into your Current Events, Human Geography, or Environmental Science course

• Plastic & Garbage: a 3-week unit exploring the modern invention of garbage, landfills, and single-use disposables, the effects it is having on our oceans, and how a zero-waste lifestyle can be possible
• Fossil Fuels & Alternatives: a 3-week unit exploring our addiction to oil, the harsh impact it is having on our air pollution and greenhouse gas levels, and the urgent need to switch to clean renewable energy sources
• Sustainability Unit: an 8-week thematic unit that explores all three: water, fossil fuels, and garbage

This listing is for one license for regular, non-commercial classroom use by a single teacher only. Commercial use like online teaching (ex. Outschool) or sharing with other teachers (ex. shared drive, in a Facebook group, in a professional development training) is strictly prohibited.

By purchasing a license to this resource, you have access to all future updates at no cost, available under “My Purchases." Multiple and transferable licenses are available for purchase. PDF files are uneditable, other files have editing abilities, unless otherwise stated. All files are protected under federal copyright laws.

To request a complete terms of use prior to purchase or if you have any questions about this resource, please leave a question below under Product Q&A.