Life in a Drop of Water
at Robert E. Willis Elementary School

October 3, 2011 thru December 16, 2011

County: Manatee
Categories: Water conservation Water quality

1. Describe the project

This project will introduce the students to the life that is teeming in a drop of pond water, the importance of freshwater resources, and the importance of water quality and conservation.

2. What will project participants learn about water resources? How will you measure what they learned?

The students will learn where we get our freshwater from and the importance of conservation of that source.

3. What activities will participants in your project complete?

First I will assess the prior knowledge the student have regarding water conservation and quality. We will be completing the following activites:

1. Making and studying slides of pond water life.

2. Learning the importance of water filtration and creating working water filters.

3. Testing water samples for quality.

4. Building terrariums to illustrate the water cycle.

I will finish by assessing knowledge learned through presentations to the Willis community of parents and teachers.

4. How will your project's message and/or lesson be shared with the greater community (school community or neighborhood)?

Assessments will include a pretest to learn what prior knowledge the students have, a presentation to parents and peers, and a posttest.

5. What is your project's timeline? Please include project start and end dates and project milestones.

October, 2011 — Pretest for prior knowledge, research freshwater sources, research microscopic waterlife, research the water cycle.

November, 2011 — Make and study slides of pond water life, learn the importance of water filtration and create working water filters, test water samples for quality, build terrariums to illustrate the water cycle.

December, 2011 — Present projects and finding to Willis community of parents, students, and teachers. Posttest for learned knowledge.

6. Will water savings be documented as part of this project? If yes, how will this be documented?

The students will create posters to display in school with tips on water conservation.

7. How will you acknowledge SWFWMD support of your project?

SWFWMD will be acknowledged and thanked when the parents participate in the hands on activities with their children.

8. Is there a connection to your School Improvement Plan? If so, please explain.

My Professional Development Plan contains a component to build and improve our current Science Lab. The following standards will be addressed:

SC.5.E.7.1: Create a model to explain the parts of the water cycle. Water can be a gas, a liquid, or a solid and can go back and forth from one state to another.
SC.4.E.6.5: Investigate how technology and tools help to extend the ability of humans to observe very small things and very large things.
SC.2.E.7.3: Investigate, observe and describe how water left in an open container evaporates, but water in a closed container does not evaporate.
SC.1.L.17.1: Through observation, recognize that all plants and animals, including humans, need the basic necessities of air, water, food, and space.
SC.2.P.8.4: Observe and describe water in its solid, liquid, and gaseous states.
SC.3.P.9.1: Describe the changes water undergoes when it changes state through heating and cooling by using familiar scientific terms such as melting, freezing, boiling, evaporation, and condensation.
SC.4.P.8.2: Identify properties and common uses of water in each of its states.
SC.5.E.7.2: Recognize that the ocean is an integral part of the water cycle and is connected to all of Earth’s water reservoirs via evaporation and precipitation processes.

Additional information

I am not very experienced at writing grants and hope that I was clear and concise in the explanation of my project. Water conservation and quality is very important and hasn’t really been sufficiently addressed in our school science lab.

Project budget

	Item	Cost	Notes from SWFWMD staff
	Class Water Test Kits Carolina Biological Item #652747	$1104.75
	Small Terraria Carolina Biological Item #674339A	$570
	Microscopes Carolina Biological Item #597100	$954
	Shipping Carolina Biological Shipping	$263

= approved
= denied