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Celebrate Earth Day With Lessons on Water

In honor of Earth Day, a water utility firm offers teachers an online toolkit to facilitate water education.

Available free to teachers and parents at www.amwater125.com, the downloadable 12-part lesson plan is geared to students in grades 5 through 12. It is one component in a series of consumer education programs by American Water, the largest publicly traded U.S. water and wastewater utility company.

The toolkit was created by science educator Ron Smith, who has more than 18 years of experience teaching biology and environmental science. Its 12 lesson plans address issues covering everything from “where water comes from” to ways that it is treated and delivered, to what is required to keep it flowing. Teachers can use the lesson plans in a variety of classes, from science to biology.

“A great deal of work goes into providing the public with the high-quality water they need and expect,” said Mark LeChevallier, director of Innovation and Environmental Stewardship for American Water. “It is important that we foster awareness of the process – from water treatment to delivery – especially as the nation faces the realities of an aging water infrastructure that is inadequate to accommodate a growing population, as well as supply challenges caused by increased demand and climate change.”

The toolkit is not the first educational initiative that American Water has undertaken in recent months. The firm has already worked with Student Conservation Association and EPA's WaterSense program to produce the “Save Water Today” PSA campaign.  The PSAs feature celebrities sharing easy tips on how consumers can do their part to use water wisely and start making a difference in a matter of hours or days.  The PSAs are airing on approximately 90 stations in 24 markets nationwide and are also available at www.savewatertoday.org.

This year, American Water is celebrating its 125thanniversary with a yearlong campaign to promote water efficiency and the importance of protecting water from source to tap.

Related resources

Water Use Around the World
Creating Energy From Water

 

Article by Jason Tomaszewski, EducationWorld Associate Editor
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