Grade 6 Lesson plan
The Dunmere Aquifer Model: Porosity and Groundwater Storage
A 50-minute grade 6 science lesson where students model an aquifer with gravel and sand, then calculate porosity to explain why some ground stores groundwater well.
NGSS · Middle School (6–8)
MS-ESS3-1 Explain the uneven distribution of groundwater and other resources
Construct a scientific explanation based on evidence for how the uneven distributions of Earth's mineral, energy, and groundwater resources are the result of past and current geoscience processes.
Clarification statement: Emphasis is on how these resources are limited and typically non-renewable, and how their distributions are significantly changing as a result of removal by humans. Examples of uneven distributions of resources as a result of past processes include but are not limited to petroleum (locations of the burial of organic marine sediments and subsequent geologic traps), metal ores (locations of past volcanic and hydrothermal activity associated with subduction zones), and soil (locations of active weathering and/or deposition of rock).
Why water teaches this standard well
Groundwater is named directly in this performance expectation, making it a natural home for aquifer lessons. Students can explain why some regions sit atop vast aquifers while others have little, and why heavy pumping, as in the Ogallala, is drawing down a resource that recharges only slowly.
Materials tagged with this code are written to the full standard , including its clarification statement , and each carries a written note explaining the alignment. See how we review materials.
15 materials aligned to MS-ESS3-1
Lesson plans
Grade 6 Lesson plan
Vellmont's New Well: Measuring Drawdown as You Pump
A 50-minute grade 6 lesson on groundwater where students measure well drawdown from static and pumping water levels and reason about the limits of a shared aquifer.
Grade 8 Lesson plan
Sunflower Flats Aquifer: A Linear Model of Storage Loss
A 50-minute grade 8 science lesson where students build a linear function for a fictional aquifer's storage as pumping outpaces recharge, then interpret its slope.
Grade 8 Lesson plan
Basalt Hollow's Water Budget: Where a Year of Rain Actually Goes
A 50-minute grade 8 lesson where students calculate how a fictional town's yearly precipitation splits among evapotranspiration, runoff, and groundwater infiltration.
Worksheets
Grade 7 Worksheet
Marren Falls Well Water: Hardness Testing and Percent Softening
A grade 7 science worksheet where students classify the hardness of two Marren Falls wells and calculate the percent of hardness a softener removes.
Grade 6 Worksheet
Hazel Run's Aquifer: Withdrawal, Recharge, and Unit Conversion
A grade 6 worksheet where students convert a fictional town's groundwater withdrawal and recharge from acre-feet to gallons and compare the yearly gap.
Grade 7 Worksheet
Cinderwood's Well 3: Reading Drawdown in a Pumping Test
A grade 7 groundwater worksheet using a fictional town's well-pumping data to calculate drawdown, compare two wells, and reason about the cone of depression.
Math problem sets
Grade 8 Math problem set
Ostrick Gorge Dam: Turning Falling Water Into Electricity
A grade 8 science problem set on a fictional gorge dam: the constant of proportionality between flow and power, two turbines compared, and a Hoover Dam scale check.
Grade 8 Math problem set
Pinehurst Well Drawdown: Linear Functions for Pumping
Grade 8 students model a fictional well's drawdown and pumping level as linear functions of pumping rate, then check finite aquifer storage with scientific notation.
Grade 8 Math problem set
Saltmarsh Cove Water Blending: A System of Equations
Grade 8 students write and solve a system of two equations to blend reverse-osmosis water with brackish well water to a target at a fictional coastal plant.
Grade 8 Math problem set
Verdigris Aquifer: Scientific Notation for Groundwater
A grade 8 science problem set where students write huge aquifer and city-use volumes in scientific notation, compare magnitudes, and reason about groundwater depletion.
Labs & experiments
Grade 7 Lab / experiment
Kelby Flats Aquifer Materials: A Grade 7 Porosity and Flow Lab
A grade 7 lab where students measure porosity and soak-in time for gravel, sand, and a mix, then use a boring log to compare a sand-gravel aquifer with clay.
Classroom activities
Grade 6 Classroom activity
The Cindermoor Valley Aquifer: A Shared Groundwater Pumping Game
A grade 6 science game where small groups pump from one shared aquifer of counters, learning why groundwater is limited and recharges slowly.
Reading passages
Grade 7 Reading passage
How Dams Store Water and Make Electricity: A Hoover Dam Reading
A grade 7 informational passage on how dams store water for supply and flood control and generate hydropower, using Hoover Dam's real power capacity.
Writing prompts
Grade 7 Writing prompt
Penmoor's Well Field: Argue for or Against the Truck Depot
A grade 7 science argument prompt on building a truck repair depot inside a fictional town's wellhead protection area, with background, organizer, exemplar, and rubric.