OVERVIEW

Activity Overview:

Using the Svalbarði Water - The most expensive water in the world as a hook, students will produce a computational artifact communicating the amounts and percentages of water and fresh water in various reservoirs to provide evidence about the distribution of water on Earth (5.ESS2-2). Students will use Microsoft Excel to create a data table and then a graph. This artifact will be analyzed to answer questions about water availability and conservation.

Meta description

• Subject Area: Computer Science, Science
• Grade Level : 3-5
• Computer Science Domains:
  • Data Analysis
• Computer Science Principles:
  • Collaborating Around Computing, Creating Computational Artifacts, Testing and Refining Computational Artifacts, Communicating About Computing
• Materials:
  • Website, iPads, Microsft Excel
• Considerations:
  • So far, there is nothing anyone would add. We will know better when we go through the lesson together.

Lesson Plan

Overview

Using the Svalbarði Water - The most expensive water in the world as a hook, students will produce a computational artifact communicating the amounts and percentages of water and fresh water in various reservoirs to provide evidence about the distribution of water on Earth (5.ESS2-2). Students will use Microsoft Excel to create a data table and then a graph. This artifact will be analyzed to answer questions about water availability and conservation.

ASSESSMENT PRE/POST-TEST

1. The Earth is called the Blue Planet because…
2. Most of Earth’s water is located in…
3. Explain what it means when hydrologists say that ‘The earth has an abundance of water, but unfortunately, only a small percentage (about 0.3 percent), is even usable by humans.’
4. Why is Svalbarði water the most expensive water on Earth?
5. How might climate change affect the amount of water on Earth?

OBJECTIVES

1. Create a data table and graph using Microsoft Excel.
2. Describe the amounts and percentages of water and fresh water in various reservoirs.
3. Use their graph to communicate ideas about water availability and conservation.

CATCH/HOOK

Svalbarði is selling polar iceberg water for over $50 USD/cup or 16 oz bottle of water. You can see them gathering icebergs in this short video. The company is situated in the Svalbarði Islands in the northernmost city in the world. The islands are a part of Norway and are situated halfway between mainland and the north pole. According to Svalbarði unlike most water labeled glacier water: “Iceberg water has never touched ground. After originally falling from the sky as snow and compacting into a glacier, it has stayed as ice for potentially thousands of years.” Why is this water so expensive?

ACTIVITY INSTRUCTIONS

See attached lesson plan

Supplements

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REVIEW

See attached lesson plan

STANDARDS