Dams

Read The Hoover Dam: The Story of Hard Times, Tough People and The Taming of a Wild River by Elisabeth Mann. Discuss the reasons we have dams and some of the challenges that face people when they build and use them.

Create a chart that compares some property of ten dams found in the world. Consider dates completed, size, volume of water they retain, or some other aspect of the dams.

Research a dam disaster in history, such as the 1976 Teton Dam collapse in eastern Idaho. Write a report about the event. Include when it happened, what caused it, what the losses of the disaster were, and the final outcome.

Within a small plastic container, students build their own dams from popsicle sticks and small rocks. After constructing, have students measure how much water their dams can retain in the small environment in which they are constructed.

Create a number line showing the height of major dams in the world. Or, chart other measurable properties such as volume of water retained, age, or quantity of concrete used to build, etc.

Things that people do to live comfortably can affect the environments around them. But they can make choices that reduce their impacts on the land, water, air, and other living things.

Living things need water, air, and resources from the land, and they live in places that have the things they need. Humans use natural resources for everything they do.

Things that people do can affect the world around them. People can reduce their effects on the land, water, air, and other living things.

Wind and water can change the shape of the land. Examples of solutions could include different designs of dikes to hold back water. Because there is always more than one possible solution to a problem, it is useful to compare and test designs.

Maps show where things are located. One can map the land and water in any area.

A variety of natural hazards result from natural processes. Humans cannot eliminate natural hazards but can take steps to reduce their impacts. An example of design solutions to a natural hazard could include barriers to prevent flooding.

Energy and fuels that are modified from natural sources affect the environment in multiple ways. Some resources are renewable over time, and others are not. Examples of renewable energy resources could include wind energy, water behind dams, and sunlight; non-renewable energy resources are fossil fuels and atomic energy. Examples of environmental effects could include biological effects from moving parts, erosion, change of habitat, and pollution.

Populations live in a variety of habitats, and change in those habitats affects the organisms living there. Examples of environmental changes could include changes in water distribution. When the environment changes, some organisms survive and reproduce, others move to new locations, yet others move into the transformed environment, and some die.

Nearly all of Earth's available water is in the ocean. Most freshwater is in glaciers, polar ice caps, or underground; only a tiny fraction is in rivers, lakes, wetlands, and the atmosphere.

Human activities in agriculture, industry, and everyday life have effects on the land, vegetation, streams, ocean, air, and even outer space. Individuals and communities can often mitigate these effects through innovation and technology.

Technology and engineering can potentially help us best manage natural resources as populations increase. Examples of the design process include examining human interactions and designing feasible solutions that promote stewardship. Examples can include water usage (such as stream and river use, aquifer recharge, or dams and levee construction); land usage (such as urban development, agriculture, wetland benefits, stream reclamation, or fire restoration); and pollution (such as of the air, water, or land).

Technology and engineering can potentially help us best manage natural resources as populations increase. Examples of evidence include grade-appropriate databases on human populations and the rates of consumption of food and natural resources (such as freshwater, mineral, and energy). Examples of effects can include changes made to the appearance, composition, and structure of Earth’s systems as well as the rates at which they change.

Build a water wheel as a class, in groups, or individually. This lesson can be done in conjunction with lessons that include science, math, and literacy standards.