Grade K Download the lesson plan Water Is Your Best Friend

Students drink water every day but rarely think about why their bodies need it. Through simple demonstrations, this lesson teaches why water is important to all life and all the places it may be found in the students’ bodies. Students draw and color in life-sized body outlines to illustrate the proportion of water in their own bodies.

Grade 1 Download the lesson plan Round and Round the Water Cycle

Students are introduced to the water cycle through the adventures of Ms. Frizzle's class in the Magic School Bus story Wet All Over. They witness water changing into its three states of matter—ice, water, and vapor—through an exciting “rain machine” and make take-home bracelets from colored beads that reinforce each stage of the water cycle.

Grade 2 Download the lesson plan Water Use in Pioneer Days

Students learn about water conservation from a fictional character who takes them back over 100 years to life on the Monterey coast when folks consumed water much more conservatively. Students gain greater understanding of the period through artifacts, photographs, and documents from the time. Through guided discussion, a graphing activity and a Venn diagram, students draw conclusions about past and present water consumption for typical daily activities.

Grade 3 Download the lesson plan The Amazing Watershed

In urban settings, car wash detergent, litter, paint and oil all wash into the street and down the storm drains. Students learn what happens to aquatic life and the water supply when these substances ultimately flow into our creeks, rivers, and the San Francisco Bay. The lesson stresses community and individual responsibility to prevent pollution. Students draw posters to share with their families what they’re learned.

Grade 4 Download the lesson plan The Incredible Journey

In earlier grades students were introduced to the water cycle as a one-dimensional process. This lesson builds on that knowledge with an exciting activity that shows the complexity, efficiency, and beauty of the water cycle. Each student becomes a water droplet, traveling to and from nine different stations: soil, plant, river, clouds, ocean, lake, animal, ground water, and glacier. Students produce and interpret a graph showing where water accumulates in the cycle.

Grade 5 Download the lesson plan Every Drop Counts

Most students have accepted the need for recycling our natural resources and are active participants in the process. However, many are still unaware of our ability to recycle water. Through an eye opening demonstration, students recognize how little potable water we have on the Earth and the need to recycle it. Then, using the scientific method, they conduct tests to compare the qualities of recycled water to drinking water. In the process, they demonstrate why recycled water may be advantageous for irrigation.