Grade 6 Lesson plan
Redfern Farm's Water Footprint: Comparing Foods and Irrigation
A 50-minute grade 6 science lesson where students use water-footprint figures and a fictional farm's irrigation switch to argue how food choices affect water supply.
NGSS · Middle School (6–8)
MS-ESS3-4 Argue how population and consumption impact Earth's systems
Construct an argument supported by evidence for how increases in human population and per-capita consumption of natural resources impact Earth's systems.
Clarification statement: 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 impacts can include changes to the appearance, composition, and structure of Earth's systems as well as the rates at which they change. The consequences of increases in human populations and consumption of natural resources are described by science, but science does not make the decisions for the actions society takes.
Why water teaches this standard well
Freshwater consumption is one of the clarification's named datasets, so water demand is a built-in way into this standard. Students can graph rising population against per-person water use, then argue how growth strains reservoirs, aquifers, and the aging pipes that deliver the supply.
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.
14 materials aligned to MS-ESS3-4
Lesson plans
Grade 7 Lesson plan
Datchford Valley Menus: The Hidden Water Behind Our Food
A 50-minute grade 7 lesson where students compute the water footprint of foods, then build an evidence-based argument about how food choices add to water demand.
Worksheets
Grade 6 Worksheet
Thornbury Orchard Irrigation: Furrow Versus Drip Water Use
A grade 6 science worksheet comparing furrow and drip irrigation at a fictional orchard, using ratios and percents to find how much water each method delivers and saves.
Grade 8 Worksheet
Dry Hollow Orchard: Water Use for Three Irrigation Methods
A grade 8 science worksheet comparing flood, sprinkler, and drip irrigation at a fictional orchard using scientific notation, savings, and acre-foot conversions.
Grade 8 Worksheet
The Okafor Household Water Audit: Flow Rates and Per-Person Use
A grade 8 science worksheet where a fictional family audits its water use: per-person demand, two showerhead flow rates as slopes, and toilet and leak losses.
Math problem sets
Grade 7 Math problem set
Corbray Reservoir in a Dry Year: Acre-Feet and Days of Supply
Ten problems in which students convert acre-feet to gallons, compute days of supply for a fictional town, and test how growth and evaporation shorten it.
Grade 6 Math problem set
Bellhaven's Desalination Unit: Reverse Osmosis Recovery Problems
A grade 6 math problem set where students calculate a fictional town's reverse-osmosis recovery rate and test whether it meets a growing population's water demand.
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.
Grade 8 Classroom activity
Vesper Valley Drought: A Reservoir Allocation Simulation
A grade 8 science simulation where student teams negotiate how to split a shrinking reservoir among a city, farms, and a river across four drought years.
Reading passages
Grade 6 Reading passage
The Fibers in the Ossley River: Counting Microplastics
A grade 6 science reading passage on how a fictional volunteer team samples and counts microplastics, with a data table and seven comprehension questions.
Grade 8 Reading passage
The Hidden Water in a Hamburger: Comparing Food Water Footprints
A grade 8 informational passage comparing the real water footprints of beef and wheat through a student's research project on food and freshwater use.
Writing prompts
Grade 6 Writing prompt
The White Crust at Tessendale Farm: Where the Salt Came From
A grade 6 science argument prompt: students use water, soil, and rainfall records from a fictional farm to explain why salt is building up in an irrigated field.
Debate kits
Grade 6 Debate kit
Capping the Pumps Over the Tanmoor Flats Aquifer
A grade 6 science debate on whether a fictional district should limit yearly pumping to what an aquifer gains back, with two-sided well and recharge evidence.
Grade 7 Debate kit
Recycled Water or a New Reservoir? A Grade 7 Water-Supply Debate Kit
A grade 7 debate on whether a community should treat wastewater to drinking-water standards instead of building a reservoir, with evidence on cost and trust.