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National Geographic Society

National Geographic Education — Earth's Freshwater

This seven-chapter educator guide covers freshwater biodiversity, the water cycle, water quality, and water rights with National Geographic's signature maps and case studies, each chapter downloadable as its own PDF. It sits alongside standalone activities such as a porosity-and-permeability groundwater simulation and a Chesapeake FieldScope GIS investigation using real water-quality data.

Visit National Geographic Education — Earth's Freshwater ↗

What you will find there

  • A seven-chapter teacher guide on freshwater biodiversity, the water cycle, water quality, and water rights, each downloadable as its own PDF
  • Teaching tips and student-thinking strategies alongside the content chapters
  • Availability of Fresh Water, a standalone activity modeling porosity and permeability with a hands-on simulation
  • Chesapeake FieldScope GIS investigations using real water-quality data
  • Encyclopedia-style reference entries usable as reading passages

Our take

This guide offers a geography-first framing of water, covering scarcity mapping and global distribution, and it bridges naturally from science into social studies and world geography. The core guide is written for grades 3-8, so high school teachers will want to lean on the standalone GIS and simulation activities for more depth.

Pairs well with our materials