EDUCATION PROGRAM
Taking Action for Safe Water
Grade Range: 6-12
Duration: 3 hours and 30 minutes
In this cross-disciplinary highly interactive STEM program, students will learn about the civic actions and scientific innovations that gave us the ability to easily access safe drinking water in our homes today.
Students will be challenged to use a Yoke and Bucket to transport water, to analyze a variety to primary sources in effort to determine the factors that led Boston to build its public waterworks system, and to understand the concepts behind the massive machines in our Great Engines Hall. Then, students will take on the role of water biologists to test the health of a nearby body of water and experiment with water filter design, just as the biologists who worked here at the Chestnut Hill Biological Laboratory did over a century ago. They will also hear about some of the latest innovations in technology that have led to increased safe water access around the world and be inspired to take action for safe water access themselves.
$7 per student.
Enduring Understanding
Our ability to have safe water brought directly into our homes would not have been possible without the actions and innovation of many people throughout history. There are still places in the world without reliable access to safe water and the actions we take can help change that.
Essential Question
What actions have people taken to provide their communities with safe water both in the past and today?
Objectives
Students will be able to:
- Experience the difficulty of manually transporting drinking water
- Analyze primary sources to determine what trends led to the need for a public waterworks system
- Understand how increased immigration, urbanization, and industrialization led to the need for a public waterworks system in Boston
- Understand the basic concepts behind steam engines and water pumps
- Recognize the important role of the Chestnut Hill High Service Pumping Station in the Boston Waterworks system
- Understand how Temperature, Turbidity, Dissolved Oxygen, and pH tests can help one assess the health of a nearby body of water
- Engage in the design process to build an effective water filter and assess its efficiency in comparison to their classmates’ designs
- Understand the ways in which technological progress has improved and will continue to improve access to safe water
Curriculum Connections
MA Science Standards:
Grades 6:
- 6.MS-ETS2-2(MA). Given a design task, select appropriate materials based on specific properties needed in the construction of a solution.
Grade 7:
- 7.MS-ESS3-4. Construct an argument supported by evidence that human activities and technologies can mitigate the impact of increases in human population and per capita consumption of natural resources on the environment.
- 7.MS-ETS1-7(MA). Construct a prototype of a solution to a given design problem.
Grades 8-12:
- HS-ETS4-1(MA). Research and describe various ways that humans use energy and power systems to harness resources to accomplish tasks effectively and efficiently. Clarification Statement: Examples of energy and power systems can include fluid systems such as hydraulics and pneumatics, thermal systems such as heating and cooling, and electrical systems such as electronic devices and residential wiring.
MA Standards for History and Social Science Practice (K-8):
- Organize information and data from multiple primary and secondary sources.
- Analyze the purpose and point of view of each source; distinguish opinion from fact.
- Evaluate the credibility, accuracy, and relevance of each source.
- Argue or explain conclusions, using valid reasoning and evidence.
MA Grades 6–8 Reading Standards for Literacy in the Content Areas: History and Social Science [RCA-H]
Key Ideas and Details
- Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide accurate summary of the source distinct from prior knowledge or opinions.
Craft and Structure
- Determine the meaning of general academic and domain-specific words and phrases as they are used in a text, including vocabulary specific to domains related to history/social studies.
Integration of Knowledge and Ideas
- Integrate visual information (e.g., charts, graphs, photographs, videos, or maps) with other information in print and digital texts.
- Distinguish among fact, opinion, and reasoned judgment in a text.
- Analyze the relationship between a primary and secondary source on the same topic.
MA Grades 6–8 Speaking and Listening Standards for Literacy in the Content Areas [SLCA]
Comprehension and Collaboration
- Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher led) with diverse partners on discipline-specific topics, texts, and issues, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly.
- Come to discussions prepared, having read or researched material under study; explicitly draw on that preparation by referring to evidence on the topic, text, or issue to probe and reflect on ideas under discussion.
- Follow rules for collegial discussions and decision-making, track progress toward specific goals and deadlines, and define individual roles as needed.
- Pose questions that connect the ideas of several speakers and respond to others’ questions and comments with relevant evidence, observations, and ideas.
- Acknowledge new information expressed by others, and, when warranted, qualify or justify their own views in light of the evidence presented.
- Analyze the purpose of information presented in diverse media and formats (e.g., visually, quantitatively, orally) and evaluate the motives (e.g., social, commercial, political) behind its presentation.
- Delineate a speaker’s argument and specific claims, evaluating the soundness of the reasoning and relevance and sufficiency of the evidence and identifying when irrelevant evidence is introduced.
Presentation of Knowledge and Ideas
- Present claims and findings, emphasizing salient points in a focused, coherent manner with relevant evidence, sound valid reasoning, and well-chosen details; use appropriate vocabulary, eye contact, volume, and pronunciation.
Upcoming Events
Current Exhibit
Moving Water: From Ancient Innovations to Modern Challenges
Ancient civilizations engineered water systems that sustained communities for thousands of years. This exhibition spotlights six places that innovated ways to deliver, and control water for human use. It also looks at how climate change is impacting all of those places, forcing public officials to consider new ways to keep the water flowing.