Water
Water is one of our most precious natural resources on Earth! This set of resources will help you design learning experiences specific to the needs of your students and their community around water usage. Students will learn about where water comes from (water cycle), who needs water to survive, how the world’s water is distributed, what is happening to water in their environment and how to conserve water.
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Kindergarten Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)
These resources are aligned with the following Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) for kindergarten. They help students learn and apply the Science and Engineering Practices to investigate environmental concepts and develop solutions for environmental problems. In addition, they are aligned with the Headstart Early Learning Outcomes Framework in the scientific reasoning, approaches to learning, exploration and discovery domains from infancy through the preschool years.
Weather & Climate
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K-ESS2-1: Use and share observations of local weather conditions to describe patterns over time
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Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems: Animals, Plants, and Their Environment
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K-ESS3-3: Communicate solutions that will reduce the impact of humans on land, water, air, and/or other living things in the local environment.
Engineering Design
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K-2-ETS1-1: Ask questions, make observations, and gather information about a situation people want to change to define a simple problem that can be solved through the development of a new or improved object or tool.
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K-2-ETS1-2: Develop a simple sketch, drawing, or physical model to illustrate how the shape of an object helps it function as needed to solve a given problem.
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K-2-ETS1-3: Analyze data from tests of two objects designed to solve the same problem to compare the strengths and weaknesses of how each performs.
Children’s Books
These children’s books can be used as read alouds to give students background knowledge about the water cycle and water conservation. Many of these titles can be found at your local library.
We Are Water Protectors by Carole Lindstrom Inspired by the many Indigenous-led movements across North America, We Are Water Protectors issues an urgent rallying cry to safeguard the Earth’s water from harm and corruption―a bold and lyrical picture book.
Project WET's Children's Story Books A series of children's books with water as the central force driving the plot.
National Geographic Readers: Water Water is all around us; we drink it every day. In this level 3 reader, kids will learn about the water cycle, discovering how rain and snow flow into our lakes, rivers, and oceans, and later evaporate into the sky again. Vivid photography and accessible text make this book an ideal introduction to the science of water.
The Water Cycle at Work by Rebecca Jean Olien Why does it rain? This title introduces readers to the water cycle. Evaporation, precipitation, condensation, and other vocabulary words are defined. Each stage of the water cycle and why it is important to humans is explained. Graphics provide additional support. An activity to help readers understand the concept is included.
Drop: An Adventure through the Water Cycle by Emily Kate Moon Meet Drop. She's water! And she's seen a thing or two--even dinosaurs. Everywhere Drop flows--and she flows everywhere--she makes life on Earth possible, and has a great time doing it. Have you ever plummeted from a rain cloud? Or taken a thousand-year nap in a glacier? Drop has! She'll tell you all about it. With delightful panache and a steady stream of funny one-liners, Drop takes readers on an adventure through the water cycle.
Water (Why Living Things Need) by Daniel Nunn This book explores the concept of water, and why living things – i.e., animals, humans and plants – need it.
Why Should I Save Water? by Jen Green Children will gain a whole new understanding of the world we live in with this fun, first-look at our most precious natural resource, water. In this book, kids are told about dozens of ways in which they and their families can avoid wasting water.
Hey, Water! by Antoinette Portis Join a young girl as she explores her surroundings and sees that water is everywhere. But water doesn't always look the same, it doesn't always feel the same, and it shows up in lots of different shapes. Water can be a lake, it can be steam, it can be a tear, or it can even be a snowman.
Water by Frank Asch Water is beautiful and useful and, in its many forms, vital to life. In this lyrical companion to The Earth and I, Frank Asch encourages young readers to appreciate anew one of our most precious resources.
Digital Content
The videos below are another way that you can provide background knowledge to your students about water topics in a developmentally appropriate way.
Interactive activities about water topics including water cycle, ocean, fresh water, watersheds, water conservation and protection, indirect and direct water use and water and health for elementary and middle school students and their teachers.
Brain Pop Jr: Natural Resources A video on water as a natural resource.
Crash Course Kids: The Basics of Freshwater We have a lot of water on Earth, but we also can't actually drink much of it... or use it for farming. That's because most of the water on Earth is saltwater. We humans, like a lot of living things, need freshwater to survive. In this episode of Crash Course Kids, Sabrina talks about the difference between freshwater and saltwater and why freshwater is so important.
Crash Course Kids: Water Water Everywhere So you know about Freshwater and Saltwater now and you know that there's not that much Freshwater for us (and other life) to get to. So how do different animals deal with different amounts of water where they live? In this episode of Crash Course Kids, Sabrina talks about the adorable Nerpa and how they deal with rough conditions to live in Freshwater!
Brain Pop Jr: Water Cycle A video on the water cycle.
Brain Pop Jr: Seasons A video on the four seasons.
Curriculum Guides
Project WET’s curriculum guides provide young learners with hands-on, interactive activities to explore different aspects of water. The Curriculum and Activity Guide 2.0 is only available through a Project WET workshop or training. Please see workshop and training information in the professional development section. Project Green Schools provides a variety of resources related to water education.
Developed specifically for teachers working with young children (ages 3-6) and in coordination with early childhood experts and educators, Getting Little Feet Wet is Project WET’s early childhood curriculum.
The award-winning, NSTA-recommended Project WET Curriculum and Activity Guide 2.0 continues Project WET’s dedication to 21st-century, cutting-edge water education.
A list of ground water and surface water activities that can be found in Project WET Curriculum & Activity Guide 2.0
A set of resources like apps, games, videos, and other useful links to get you started teaching about clean water and sanitation.
Lesson Plans/Activities
These are specific lessons or activities that teach students topics such as the water cycle, water conservation and more.
*TOP PICK* In this lesson plan, students are water and travel through the water cycle.
A set of children's activity booklets about the role of water in supporting life on our planet.
Lessons about watersheds, water quality, and water stories.
A stewardship themed toolkit for early childhood programs.
Tools/Materials
These are specific tools and materials to help get students involved in water quality monitoring by testing the health of their local lakes, rivers, oceans and/or other water bodies.
Get students involved in water quality monitoring by testing the health of their local lakes, rivers, oceans and/or other water bodies. Students get the chance to share their data with decision makers!
Give educators and students a background on what a water quality tests is, how it works and what the data means.
Explore this interactive map that is refreshed every few minutes. View over 13,000 real-time stream, lake, reservoir, precipitation, water quality, and groundwater stations.