technology description: water and the community · wangari maathai of kenya, winner of the 2004...

1 Water Watchers – Technology Description Excerpt

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Technology Description: Water and the Community

The technology introduction is a cool way to introduce your students to something new and

exciting in science while giving them a chance to work on their informational text reading.

The next few pages contain copies of the technology description targeted for three different

reading levels—A, B, and C. Reading level A roughly maps to kindergaten, reading level B grades

1 and 2, and reading level C grades 3–5. Reading level A also comes with a teacher/adult version

of the story as it is intended that the student will listen as the teacher reads.

Grades K–2

Wangari Maathai of Kenya, winner of the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize, put it best when she said,

“When our resources become scarce, we fight over them. In managing our

resources and in sustainable development, we plant the seeds of peace."

Another way to say this is, “when people don’t have enough to eat and drink they begin to fight.”

Can you imagine what it would be like to not have enough to eat or drink?

What do you know about water? Did you know that we use water to move around? Can you

think of how? You can also use water to make energy. Can you think of some ways? One of the

most important things about water is that all plants and animals need it to live, but not all water

is safe to drink.

Purification

Everyone needs clean water to live. Where does it come from?

Most of the water we drink comes from rivers and lakes and must

be cleaned before we can drink it. A fancy word for ‘cleaning water’

is purification. Cleaning water—or purification—takes many steps.

Water engineers figure out which steps they need to use by figuring

out what is making the water dirty, how much water they need, and

what tools they have to use.



Distribution

How does clean water get to your home,

school or playground? A lot of people get

their water from pipes that are

underground. Not everyone lives in a place

where there are pipes for water, so they

must figure out a different way to get clean

water.

Conservation

Why is it important to not waste water? If you

live near an ocean, lake, or river, you may think

that we will never run out of water. Some

people do not live near a lake or a river and they

must be very careful not to waste water. Can

you think of some ways to use less water?

Writing, Drawing, or Discussion Prompts

Grades 1 & 2:

1. Pretend you live next to a clean water stream (maybe you actually do). Write a letter to

your neighbors to convince them to work to keep the water clean and make sure they

don’t waste it.

2. After reading the introduction, rewrite the Wangari Maathai quote in your own words.

“When our resources become scarce, we fight over them. In managing our resources

and in sustainable development, we plant the seeds of peace."

Kinder: Why is it important to keep rivers and lakes clean? Write or draw what you think.



Grades 3–5

Wangari Maathai of Kenya, winner of the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize, put it best when she said,

“When our resources become scarce, we fight over them. In managing our

resources and in sustainable development, we plant the seeds of peace.”

What does water mean to you? It sounds like a simple question, but it can have a complex

answer. We know that people, animals, and plants cannot live without clean water, but we also

know that too much water can cause streams to overflow, homes to flood, and plants to die.

Water-based technologies that help with energy generation and transportation have been in use

since humans began spreading out around the world. Throughout history water, with many

forms and functions, has been at the center of our communities, influencing our prosperity and

driving innovation—both in times of plenty as well as in times of scarcity. Outlined below are a

few of the many ways in which water continues to be the center of our global community.

Purification

We all know people need clean drinking water to live, but how many

people know where their water comes from? In some cases, people

can get drinkable water directly from the ground by using a well.

However, in most cases water must be purified before it is used.

There are many different steps and methods to purify water. The

steps and methods that are used depend on what needs to be

removed from the water (contaminants), how much water needs to

be purified, and the equipment available to use for purification.

Conservation

If you live near an ocean, lake, or river, you may

think that the world has endless water to drink.

That isn’t true, and many communities struggle to

provide enough water for the people who live

there. Many individuals, community groups, and



businesses are focused on water conservation. There are many different ways to conserve water,

including encouraging people to use less water and working at cleaning up lakes, streams, and

oceans that are already contaminated.

Distribution

A third thing to think about is how to get good drinking water from

the water source to people’s homes, schools, and community

buildings. Historic records suggest the ancient Romans were the

first ones to invent a way to get drinking water to people

throughout the city—they invented aqueducts. Today many

companies are thinking about and designing new ways to make

sure everyone has clean water to drink, clean water to give to their

animals, and clean water to use to grow their food.

Energy Generation

Hydropower and tidal power both generate electricity derived from the motion of the water.

Hydropower uses the energy from a flowing stream or dam to generate power from moving

turbines. On the other hand, tidal energy systems are based on the repetitive motion of the

water hitting the shore.

Writing Prompts

1. Pretend you live next to a clean water stream (maybe you actually do). Write a letter to

your neighbors to convince them to work to keep the water clean and make sure they

don’t waste it.

2. After reading the introduction, rewrite the Wangari Maathai quote in your own words.

“When our resources become scarce, we fight over them. In managing our resources and

in sustainable development, we plant the seeds of peace."



Reading Level A

Student

Teacher/Adult



Student

Teacher/Adult



Reading Level B



Reading Level C

technology description: water and the community · wangari maathai of kenya, winner of the 2004...

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