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Classroom activity Grade 5 English Language Arts

Comparing Furrow and Drip Irrigation: A Grade 5 Research Activity

Grade 5 groups combine three short source cards about two fictional farms and a global water-use fact to compare furrow and drip irrigation and answer research questions.

Objectives

  1. Students will compare two irrigation methods using details drawn from separate source cards.
  2. Students will combine information from more than one source to answer an investigation question.
  3. Students will explain why a small difference in water use can matter at a larger scale.

Vocabulary

Drip irrigation
Watering plants through tubes that release water slowly, drop by drop, right at the roots. Very little water is wasted along the way.

Also: irrigation, furrow, source

Teacher overview

This is a small-group research activity for groups of three or four students, comparing two fictional farms near Willow Bend that water their crops in different ways. Each group works with three short source cards, one describing Farmer Reyes's furrow-irrigated field, one describing Farmer Alvarez's drip-irrigated field, and one giving a general fact about how much of the world's fresh water agriculture uses, and must combine information across all three to answer investigation questions. The activity's mechanic directly teaches the standard it targets: students cannot answer the questions from a single card, so they must draw on more than one source, exactly the short-research skill of investigating different aspects of one topic.

Activity Directions

  1. Before class, prepare three source cards per group. Card A describes Farmer Reyes's furrow-irrigated field, where water flows down shallow trenches between rows of crops, soaking in as it travels, with some water running past the last row before soaking in. Card B describes Farmer Alvarez's drip-irrigated field, where a network of thin tubes drips water slowly at the base of each plant, so almost none of the water runs past the crops. Card C states that agriculture accounts for roughly 70 percent of the fresh water withdrawn worldwide, more than any other use.
  2. Divide students into groups of three or four and give each group all three source cards along with an investigation sheet with four questions.
  3. Explain how the activity works before groups begin: no single card answers every question by itself, so each group must read all three cards and combine details from at least two cards to answer fully, the way a real researcher draws on multiple sources.
  4. Groups work together for about 20 minutes, discussing and recording answers to the four investigation questions on their sheet.
  5. Give a five-minute warning before time is up so groups can finish their final answers.
  6. End the activity when every group has answered all four questions, then bring the class together for a debrief.
  7. During the debrief, ask one group to share which two cards they combined to answer the hardest question, and how combining them helped.

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. Investigation question: "Which farm's irrigation method lets more water run past the crops without soaking in?" Answer: Farmer Reyes's furrow-irrigated field. Card A states "some water running past the last row before soaking in."
  2. Investigation question: "Using Card B, explain how drip irrigation is different from furrow irrigation." Answer: drip irrigation drips water slowly right at the base of each plant through thin tubes, so almost none of the water runs past the crops, unlike furrow irrigation's flowing trenches.
  3. Investigation question: "Using Card C, explain why the difference between Farmer Reyes's and Farmer Alvarez's methods might matter beyond their own two fields." Answer: because agriculture uses roughly 70 percent of the world's withdrawn fresh water according to Card C, small differences in irrigation method, multiplied across many farms, could add up to a large difference in how much water agriculture uses overall.
  4. Investigation question: "If Willow Bend wanted to reduce the total water used by its farms, which method from Cards A and B would you recommend, and why, using details from both cards?" Answer: drip irrigation (Card B) is the stronger recommendation, since almost none of its water runs past the crops, compared to Card A's furrow method, which lets some water run past unsoaked.

Differentiation

Support

Highlight the key comparison phrase on each card before groups begin ("some water running past the last row" on Card A; "almost none of the water runs past the crops" on Card B), and allow groups to answer question 4 as a single sentence rather than a full paragraph.

Extension

Ask groups to write one additional sentence proposing a reason that a farmer might still choose furrow irrigation over drip irrigation despite using more water.

ELL supports

Provide a simple diagram of each irrigation method (trenches with arrows for furrow, thin dripping tubes for drip) alongside the text cards. Allow groups to complete the investigation sheet by pointing to and copying phrases directly from the cards rather than composing original sentences.

Extensions

Have groups reason, using only the three cards provided, what a third irrigation method (sprinklers spraying water over an entire field from above) might have in common with furrow irrigation, and write one sentence predicting whether it would run off more or less water than drip irrigation.