Humans have been affected by severe drought throughout history, which in some cases has led to the collapse of civilizations. While technology has increased our ability to deal with drought, it still causes significant economic damage in the United States today.
Context for Use
This lesson provides a virtual alternative to the HEART Force Expo curriculum.
The Xeriscape Demonstration Garden, located at the headquarters of Denver Water in Denver, Colorado. Photo credit: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Xeriscape_Demonstration_Garden.JPG
Goals Header
Learning Goal
Students will create a project proposal to increase community resilience to drought that they could implement.
Materials
User note: To make an editable copy of the teaching materials in Google Drive, select File > “Make a copy”. This will make a copy for you to save to your own drive and edit as you see fit.
Description
Students will identify a resilience strategy to make their community more resilient to drought.
- Activity 1 - Identify (30 minutes) What strategy will you investigate?
Students review the virtual expo and identify a drought resilience strategy they would like to focus on.
- Activity 2 – Research (30 minutes) Would your strategy work? Is it needed?
Students interview family and friends about what they know about drought, and look into the feasibility of their idea.
- Activity 3 – Prototype (45 minutes) Create a pitch for your idea
Students create a draft of their idea proposal.
- Activity 4 - Iterate (30 minutes) Improve your idea based on feedback
Students present their prototypes to their peers, and/or a community expert for feedback.
- Activity 5 - Launch (45 minutes) Create your presentation.
Students incorporate feedback to create their final presentation for submission.
