A guide for using our resources

Children identify reasons we need clean water, as well as ways they can help keep it clean.

Vocabulary: polluted, planet, storm drains

Social Studies Focus: Earth Day, water pollution

Simple, spectacular ideas to boost your lessons.

• This lyrical book explains how everything and everyone on Earth needs water. That’s why we have to keep it clean!

• Kids can write and draw what they love most on Earth with this poetic skill sheet!

• Use pages 2-3 of the issue to do this scavenger hunt as a group.

1. Find the heading. Underline it.
2. Find the picture of a plant that needs water. Put a ✔on it.
3. In the blue box, find the name of the planet we live on. Circle it.
4. Look at the sidebar. Find and point to the storm drain.

Skill: simple experiments

Materials: celery, 2 clear jars, red food coloring, water

• This super-simple experiment shows kids the effects of water pollution in a concrete way.
• Fill two clear jars about halfway with water. Add red food coloring to only one jar. Tell kids that the clear water represents clean water, while the red water represents polluted water.
• Then place a stalk of celery in each jar. Check every few hours to see how the celery changes. (You can observe the celery over a few days.) Kids will see that the “pollution” affected all parts of the celery and changed its color, while the celery in the clear water stayed the same.
• Finally, put the “polluted” celery into the clean, clear water. The celery will improve and start to go back to its natural color, showing kids just how important clean water is!
• NOTE: Make sure to let kids know that although the red food coloring was easy to see, you cannot always see pollution. Water may look clean but still be polluted! We all have to do our part to keep water truly clean.