Explore a Flood of World Water Day Activities
On March 22, 1993, the United Nations called for the first observance of World Water Day to raise awareness about the water crisis on Earth and what we can do to fix it. Teach your students about the human impact we have on the water cycle and what we can do to protect water in nature and resources like clean drinking water each day with curated texts, activities, and assessments from Newsela:
Teach more about water on Earth
There are plenty of ways to work water content into your lesson plans. Use Newsela’s science resources to explore why water is such a valuable resource on Earth and the life and ecosystems it supports:
World Water Day
Make your students aware of our global water crisis and share ways they can take action against it:
Watch interactive videos about the water cycle and ways to test if water is safe to drink.
Have students read about the effects of contaminated drinking water around the world, and why it’s considered a global problem.
Explore how certain water resources, like freshwater, are depleting and solutions to fix these problems.
Claim-Evidence-Reasoning: The Water Cycle
Help students dive deeper into exploring the water cycle with a Claim-Evidence-Reasoning lesson:
Have students read an article about the water cycle and how it works.
Use EverWrite by Newsela to generate or share a question about the topic—like Why is precipitation an important part of the water cycle and how does it occur?—and have students make a claim.
Encourage students to highlight evidence within the text and explain the reasoning that they plan to use in their EverWrite writing assignment to strengthen their claims.
Aquarium Virtual Field Trips
Show students why water doesn’t matter just to humans, but to animals and fish too! Take a field trip to some famous American aquariums without even leaving your classroom:
Visit the Baltimore National Aquarium to learn about its sanctuary for retired dolphins.
Explore the Georgia Aquarium to discover the benefits of Marine protected areas.
Stop by the Seattle Aquarium to learn more about sea otters, their habitats, and their status as an endangered species.
Exploring water data
Get students thinking like scientists and invite them to explore data about the water in our world:
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Water on Earth
What’s the difference between fresh and saline water? And where does it all come from? Explore resources and data about:
The different types of water on earth
Varieties of water ecosystems, like streams and rivers
Water distribution on Earth and what it means for habitats and ecosystems
Ocean Animals
Water affects how our ocean animals live, too! Use datasets and other resources to explore information like:
The sizes and speeds of different ocean creatures
Why plastic pollution exists in oceans, and what it means for animals
How animal food chains work in the ocean
Pair fiction and nonfiction texts with World Water Day
Go beyond science and bring World Water Day readings and activities into your ELA classrooms:
Water novel studies
World Water Day is a great opportunity to introduce students to novels that feature water as a setting, symbol, or even a secondary character. Newsela ELA’s novel studies for each grade band give students the background knowledge and context to better understand each book:
Elementary: “Upside Down in the Middle of Nowhere” by Julie T. Lamana
Middle school: “Tuck Everlasting” by Natalie Babbitt
High school: “The Old Man and the Sea” by Ernest Hemingway
Articles about water
Bring more informational texts into the ELA classroom with our nature articles. Practice literacy skills by exploring articles specifically about water, like:
Discovering what the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is and how it’s an example of growing plastic pollution in Earth’s waters.
Learning how coral reefs are preparing to survive in warmer waters as Earth’s ocean temperatures rise.
Analyzing how people across the globe react to water and air pollution.
Poems about water
Have students explore the beauty of water and verse together with these nature poems:
“Behold the Water of Waters” by Rumi
“The Lost Lagoon” by Emily Pauline Johnson
“Storm Ending” by Jean Toomer
“The Tuft of Kelp” by Herman Melville
“Lines Written at Castle Island, Lake Superior” by Jane Johnston Schoolcraft
What did your students learn about World Water Day?
Have your students show what they know about World Water Day by assigning interactive Formative activities about the articles, poems, or stories they read! Plus, get real-time data and insights to check their skills for every lesson. It’s as easy as clicking a button. Log in to your Newsela account today and open the activities panel on any article to get started. And if you’re not a Newsela user yet, create your account to get started!