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Classroom activity Grade 7 Art & Music

Parch Valley Recycled Water Branding Charrette

A grade 7 art activity where teams design a logo and slogan that make the case for safe recycled water in a fictional dry town.

Objectives

  1. Students will design a logo and slogan for a recycled-water program.
  2. Students will state a claim and two reasons that recycled water is safe to use.
  3. Students will answer one likely objection to recycled water.

Vocabulary

Recycled water
Wastewater that has been cleaned and used again, often to water parks, golf courses, and crops instead of being thrown away. Purple pipes usually carry it.

Also: reuse, branding, slogan, claim

Teacher overview

When a dry region runs short of water, one answer is to clean used water thoroughly and use it again, a practice called water reuse. Real systems already do this at large scale; Orange County's Groundwater Replenishment System treats 130 million gallons per day. Reuse often meets resistance, much of it from people who dislike the idea before they learn how the water is treated, so good design and a clear argument matter. In this branding charrette, teams of three to four design a logo and slogan for the recycled-water program of the fictional town of Parch Valley, then back it with a short written claim. The activity ties the art to persuasion: the design must carry a claim, two reasons, and an answer to the main objection.

Activity Directions

  1. Before class, post the reuse fact sheet. Form teams of three to four and give each team paper and markers.
  2. Set the scene: the fictional town of Parch Valley has little rainfall and wants residents to accept a recycled-water program for lawns, parks, and later for drinking water after full treatment.
  3. Review the design brief with the class. Each team must produce a program name, a logo, a slogan, and a short written pitch.
  4. Teach the argument frame that the pitch must follow: state one claim (recycled water is safe and smart for Parch Valley), give two reasons from the fact sheet, and answer one likely objection, such as the discomfort many people feel about reused water.
  5. Teams design the logo and slogan (18 minutes), then write the four-part pitch on the back of the design (10 minutes).
  6. Hold a short gallery vote: post the designs, and each student places one mark next to the pitch they find most convincing, not the prettiest logo.
  7. End the activity after every team presents its design and reads its claim and objection answer aloud.
  8. Close with the debrief questions below.
Parch Valley Recycled Water Branding Charrette — Grade 7 Art & Music
Name: ____________________________ Date: ______________

Student Handout

Reuse fact sheet. Recycled water is used water that has been cleaned so it can be used again. Before recycled water is used, it passes through several treatment steps and is tested to confirm that it meets the standard for its use. Many dry communities already use recycled water on lawns, parks, and farm fields. Some go further and treat it fully enough to add to their drinking-water supply. Orange County's Groundwater Replenishment System in California is the world's largest system that treats used water and returns it to underground drinking-water supplies, and it treats 130 million gallons per day. Using recycled water means a town takes less water from its rivers and wells, which matters in a place like Parch Valley that gets little rain.

Debrief questions

  1. What makes a pitch for recycled water convincing?
  2. What is the most common objection to recycled water, and how can a pitch answer it?
  3. Why do the logo and slogan matter to the argument?

From Water for Schools (waterforschools.org). This material is in the public domain (CC0) and may be copied, edited, and shared freely.

Answer Key
  1. Answer: A strong pitch states a clear claim, gives two reasons drawn from the fact sheet, and answers the main objection directly instead of ignoring it, since an argument that answers its critics is more convincing than one that only lists benefits.
  2. Answer: The most common objection is discomfort with the idea of using water that was once waste; a good answer explains that the water is fully treated and tested before use, and points to large systems that already do this safely.
  3. Answer: The logo and slogan matter because they carry the message where words alone may not be read; a calm, clean design supports the claim that the water is safe, while an alarming design would work against it.

Differentiation

Support

Give these teams a pitch template with the four parts labeled (claim, reason one, reason two, objection answer) and a short list of reasons from the fact sheet to choose from.

Extension

Ask teams to design a second version of the campaign aimed at a reader who strongly opposes reuse, and to explain what they changed in the words and the art to reach that harder audience.

ELL supports

Provide the fact sheet with simple images and short sentences. Allow the slogan and pitch to be brief phrases, and let students plan their argument in a home language before writing the English version.