Project Progress Report

Being part of Sustainable Youth has been a great experience so far; I am excited to continue next year as well, not just for this quarter. Tuesday, April 27th was my second visit to Nora Sterry Elementary School and our lesson plan was about water. There are three of us, including myself, that work together in this classroom. We had been brainstorming ideas throughout the week (I often found myself Googling lesson plans for elementary kids) and met on Monday night to finalize the lesson agenda. It took quite a while—being a part of this group makes me realize the huge workload and responsibility that comes with being a teacher!
On Tuesday morning, Tony first reviewed the definition of sustainability, and also what we had discussed last week during the Energy Lesson. Then, we had the kids split into pairs and talk about wasting water (how they defined it) and guess where the water comes from when we turn on the tap. We then discussed their guesses and thoughts as a class. Tony then led the class in a slideshow that depicted our different water sources—the Colorado River, Sierra Nevadas, Owens Valley, rain, groundwater, etc.
After this, I led a really fun activity that I had thought of the week before. I wanted to make a point about wasting water while brushing teeth. We brought two large, clear basin buckets, two toothbrushes, and some toothpaste, and chose two volunteers. We started a stopwatch for two minutes and each of the two volunteers brushed their teeth over a separate basin while the rest of the class watched. One kid brushed sustainably (Stefania played “the sink” and poured water out of bottles that we brought only when it was necessary to rinse the brush). The other kid “wasted water” because Tony was the other “sink”, meaning that he continuously poured a steady stream of water into the basin for the whole two minutes. After the time was up, I held the buckets in front of the class and compared the large difference in water level. We told the kids to imagine this difference, but multiplied by millions of people. They really enjoyed this activity and I think it made a big impact as well. I challenged them to go home and turn off the tap each time they brushed their teeth, and share with their families!
After discussing about wasting water, Stef led another activity where we simulated the four regions where Southern California gets its water. The kids split up into four groups in the four corners of the room; the group sizes we proportional to the amount of available water in each region. Then, we shifted, and the number in each group was now proportional to water USE in each region. This demonstrated that Southern California has little available water, but uses much, much more than it can produce.
We wrapped up the lesson by discussing solutions to water wasting (shorter showers, planting native plants, collecting rain water, turning off the tap, fixing leaks) and new technologies like desalination and reclamation.
Finally, our writing activity tied everything together—wasting water, water sources, and sustainability.
Overall, it was a successful day. The teacher was also happy because she is planning a field trip to the National Geographic Water Exhibit, and our lesson was a good introduction.
I think that this project is really going well. It takes lots of time and effort to plan a successful lesson, but I feel like I am improving, as well as our dynamics of teaching together. I am becoming more comfortable in front of the class and understanding how they learn. The kids are excited about sustainability, and I hope that they continue to incorporate our teachings into their lives!