How to Teach Second-Graders How to Conserve Water

Make lessons on water conservation fun for second-graders.

Water conservation is a topic of ever-increasing importance to our planet and all of it inhabitants. Bringing students to an awareness of finite resources can be a delicate thing, particularly if those students are very young. Second-grade students, usually between the ages of 7 and 8, are just old enough to start to engage in more abstract material, such as what a resource is, but are not yet old enough to handle the heaviness of the reality of limited resources. Teaching students this age about water conservation should be light and fun, and should be tailored to their life experience.

Instructions

1. Design your water conservation lesson to include and build off of the current science lessons in which the students have participated. Incorporate state standards for elementary science and make sure you create a strong connection between the new information you are introducing and previous material; this is called scaffolding and will significantly assist your instructional process as well as the students' learning process.

2. Introduce the way water works. Show pictures of the water cycle to show students (or remind them if this has already been taught) where water comes from and how it functions. Find pictures that are clear and accessible to students--language abilities are growing at this stage of child development, but reading has not yet become a natural function, so visuals are an important part of the learning process.

3. Ask students to share with you ways in which they encounter water throughout a normal day. Make a concept web with students on the board. Write the word "water" and circle it and then write down what the students say as they offer their thoughts. Combine reading and speaking and thinking by writing down the words and pointing to the board as you repeat the words the students offer. Introduce any other important water uses that the students may have missed.

4. Ask students to tell you what the word "conserve" means. Explore synonyms (save, keep) until the students have a firm understanding of the concept of conservation. Give students three examples of ways they can save water, such as making sure the faucet doesn't drip, turning off the faucet while brushing teeth or using rain water to water grass. Make a class list with the students about how they can all conserve water.

References

• PBS Parents: Your Seven Year Old
• Kid Cyber: Saving Water