After learning about water as a resource and the challenges the Earth's population faces, this module asks students to propose a solution for maintaining Colorado's water supply. Students will explore methods of conservation, finding a new water supply and recycling and/or reusing water. This module asks students to think globally, but act locally by writing a letter to a member of the Colorado Congress proposing their solutions and sharing their evidence and reasoning in the body of their letter.
In this module students will build on their knowledge and apply it to a real world situation. This module connects to the following year long 6th grade science standard:
SC09-GR.6-S.3-GLE.3: Earth’s natural resources provide the foundation for human society’s physical needs. Many natural resources are nonrenewable on human timescales, while others can be renewed or recycled.
This module best fits when implemented following the unit "Water as a Resource". In this unit students are learned about the following.
The water cycle consists of evaporation, condensation, and precipitation.
Water distribution and recycling in various forms and locations.
How to describe water by its properties, including mass, weight, volume, and density. Different phases of water (i.e., solid, liquid, gas) and each phase’s unique properties. Reasons why changes in temperature are not always equivalent to changes in state.
Unique properties of solids, liquids, and gasses that make them useful in different situations. How gravitational force can change objects’ weight (and not mass).
Reasons why mass, weight, and volume affect density.
Specific tools that gather information about mass, weight, volume, and density.
Causes and effects of water pollution in local and world water distributions.
Relationships between water systems and local, regional, and world population development.
Following this module students will be exploring more about water, specifically around water rights in 7th grade Language Arts (Expeditionary Learning).
This module also connects to the fall module about Hydraulic Fracturing. Students can be asked to make connections regarding the amount of water required through the process of Fracking.
Special Note:
This module’s instructional ladder uses several fields in ways not conventional to LDC for the purpose of meeting requirements of Denver Public Schools and its common module approach.
SkillandMini-TaskRepetition. Toprovideclarityaroundthesequencingoftheteachingofthesameskill multiple times in this module, the same skill and/or mini-task sometimes appears multiple times in the Instructional Ladder’s “Reading Process.”
Mini-TaskPrompts. Tomeetthelocalmandateofincludingcontent/languageobjectives(CLOs)ineverylesson, these mini-task prompts include the sentence starter “students will be able to (SWBAT).” While these are not strictly “student-facing” as required by LDC, each CLO is always communicated to students in this format as a daily goal.
