Skip Navigation
Search

Drought

Drought

TEKS Objective

The student is expected to describe environmental changes such as floods and droughts where some organisms thrive and others perish or move to new locations.

Essential Understanding

The student knows that organisms have characteristics that help them survive and can describe patterns, cycles, systems, and relationships within the environments.

Science Background

Drought: US Geological Survey (website) - Helpful facts, descriptions and graphics related to the causes, impacts, and usual locations of droughts, and ways to combat them.

Drought
US Geological Survey, www.usgs.gov

Drought for Kids: National Drought Mitigation Center (website) - Navigate this website for a large collection of useful information related to what a drought is, how drought affects our lives, how drought affects organisms, and how me can protect ourselves from drought. Includes a glossary and links to additional resources.

Drought for Kids
National Drought Mitigation Center, www.drought.unl.edu

Signature Lesson

Discovering Drought: Project WET (pdf) - A series of seven brief lessons describing climate conditions, cause and effect and conservation.

Discovering Drought
Project WET, www.projectwet.org

Supporting Lessons

Do Plants Need Water? Utah Education Network (website) - Plant lima beans at successively farther distances from a water source to observe the impact of water (or lack thereof) on plant growth. Focus on Investigation #1.

Do Plants Need Water?
Utah Education Network, www.uen.org

Droughts Lesson Plan: Australian Government, Emergency Management for Schools (website) - Investigate the Australian climate and water table, and the impacts of drought on people, wildlife and the environment.

Droughts Lesson Plan
Australian Government, Emergency Management for Schools, www.ema.gov.au

Elaboration Lessons and Extensions

Hot Weather, Rain Mean Fewer Pumpkins: Education World (website) - Download and print the article linked to this web page. Give each group of 3 or 4 students a copy of the article and a small pumpkin to observe. Have the groups read the article and discuss how drought is affecting the pumpkin crop. Then allow students to cut open their pumpkins to observe the insides. Cook the seeds and the pumpkin flesh and allow students to investigate the pumpkin using their sense of taste.

Hot Weather, Rain Mean Fewer Pumpkins
Education World, www.educationworld.com

Living Through a Drought: National Geographic (website) - Using a drought map of Afghanistan, students learn how to recognize drought, where drought can occur, and how drought affects people who live in drought-stricken places.

Living Through a Drought
National Geographic, www.nationalgeographic.com

Global Water Supply Elementary School Curriculum: Water.org (pdf) - Integrated unit on water use, lack of water and global outlook.

Global Water Supply Elementary School Curriculum
www.water.org

Assessment Ideas

Have students research animals, such as the turkey vulture or desert toad, that have specialized water-retaining adaptations. Then have each student write a paragraph that compares these animals to other, similar animals without the adaptations.

Literature Connections

Drought (Wild Weather, 2nd Edition). Chambers, Catherine (ISBN-13: 978-1403495761)

Witness to Disaster: Droughts. Fradin, Judy and Dennis (ISBN-13: 978-1426303395)

Saving Water (Water All Around). Olien, Rebecca (ISBN-13: 978-0736836999)

Droughts (Disasters Up Close). Woods, Michael (ISBN-13: 978-0822565765)

Related Science TEKS

(3.1A) Science Safety
The student is expected to demonstrate safe practices as described in the Texas Safety Standards during classroom and outdoor investigations, including observing a schoolyard habitat.

(3.2C) Graphs, Tables, Charts
The student is expected to construct maps, graphic organizers, simple tables, charts, and bar graphs using tools and current technology to organize, examine, and evaluate measured data.

(3.2D) Analyze Evidence and Explain
The student is expected to analyze and interpret patterns in data to construct reasonable explanations based on evidence from investigations.

(3.3C) Develop a Model
The student is expected to represent the natural world using models such as volcanoes or Sun, Earth, and Moon system and identify their limitations, including size, properties, and materials.

(3.4A) Tools for Collecting and Analyzing Information
The student is expected to collect, record, and analyze information using tools, including microscopes, cameras, computers, hand lenses, metric rulers, Celsius thermometers, wind vanes, rain gauges, pan balances, graduated cylinders, beakers, spring scales, hot plates, meter sticks, compasses, magnets, collecting nets, notebooks, sound recorders, and Sun, Earth, and Moon system models; timing devices, including clocks and stopwatches; and materials to support observation of habitats of organisms such as terrariums and aquariums.

(3.4B) Safety Equipment
The student is expected to use safety equipment as appropriate, including safety goggles and gloves.
 

Related Math TEKS

3.13A  The student is expected to collect, organize, record, and display data in pictographs and bar graphs where each picture or cell might represent more than one piece of data.

3.13B   The student is expected to interpret information from pictographs and bar graphs.

3.13C   The student is expected to use data to describe events as more likely than, less likely than, or equally likely as.

3.14B   The student is expected to solve problems that incorporate understanding the problem, making a plan, carrying out the plan, and evaluating the solution for reasonableness.

3.15A  The student is expected to explain and record observations using objects, words, pictures, numbers, and technology.

Additional Resources

Drought 101: National Geographic (video) - When changing weather patterns cause drought, the rains fail and the land, animals and people suffer a wide variety of problems, including severe water shortages and even death.

Drought 101
National Geographic, www.nationalgeographic.com

Drought in the Marsh: National Geographic (video) - As the Everglades suffer from drought, water levels drop and fish are forced to live into higher concentrations, causing the food chain to swing out of balance.

Drought in the Marsh
National Geographic, www.nationalgeographic.com

Surviving the Dust Bowl: PBS (video) - The story of farmers who moved to the southern plains of Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas seeking prosperity and a better life, but instead experienced ten years of drought, dust, disease and death.

Surviving the Dust Bowl
PBS, www.pbs.org

Drought Information for Kids: Delaware River Basin Commission (website) - Learn what droughts are, how to save water during a drought, and how droughts impact plants and wildlife.

Drought Information for Kids
Delaware River Basin Commission, www.state.nj.us/drbc/

Close Comments Button

Comments

Post a Comment
Close Comments Button