Water in Texas is as important to our lives as the air we breathe. Yet our water supply is not always certain in many parts of the state. And as our population continues to grow, greater and greater demands are placed on this limited resource. So it is important that we be aware of water where it comes from, how much we use, and how we can use it wisely.
The Major Rivers Water Education Program is intended to help fourth-grade children throughout Texas learn about how we get and use water and how important it is for us to conserve water. The program contains teacher and student materials keyed to specific instructional objectives.
Objectives
The instruction in the program focuses on five specific reaming
objectives.
1. Water Cycle
Students identify the various steps in the water cycle --
precipitation, surface runoff., percolation, evaporation, and
condensation.
2. Water Supply
Students identify basic facts about the water supply in Texas,
including the regional difference in rainfall, the amount of
water supplied by surface water and by ground-water, and the
state's major rivers and aquifers.
3. Water Distribution
Students identify the steps and processes of the water
distribution system in Texas -- wells and reservoirs, treatment
plants, pipelines, wastewater plants and septic tanks, reclaimed
water.
4. Water Use
Given three ways water is used in a typical household (e.g.,
brushing teeth, watering lawns, washing clothes), students
identify which would use the most water over a year's time.
5. Water Conservation
Students identify water conservation practices and assess how
often their own specific water conservation practices are
followed.
These objectives not only define important knowledge and skills related to water, but they also support many of the Texas Education Agency's Assessments of Academic Skills for science, social studies, and writing. A chart showing the correlation of program lessons to Academic Skills follows.
| Science Grade 4 |
Lessons in Major Rivers | |||||||||||
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| Subject | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | ||
| 1A | Manipulate objects and models |  |
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| 2A | Observe science models |  |
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| 2B | Observe properties and patterns of objects and events in the environment | |
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| 2C | Observe similarities and differences in objects and events | |
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| 2D | Observe phenomena resulting from the life, earth, and physical sciences | |
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| 3A | Arrange events and activities in sequential order | |
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| 4A | Obtain science information from varied sources | |
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| 4B | Describe objects and events from the environment | |
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| 4D | Describe changes that occur to objects in the environment | |
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| 4F | Record data and interpret the arrangement of data on bar graphs | |
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| 6A | Predict the outcomes of actions based on experience or data | |
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| 6D | Draw conclusions from observed data | |
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| 7B | Relate classroom objects, science principles, and activities to daily life | |
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| 8A | Use observations to form definitions of objects, events, and processes | |
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| 9A | Set up and conduct experiments using a control group and experimental groups | |
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| Social Studies Grade 4 |
2A | Explain the importance of economic interdependence within and among regions of Texas | |
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| 2C | Identify examples of the factors of productions | |
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| 3A | Describe the influence of geography on the history of Texas | |
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| 4A | Distinguish among city, county, state, and nation | |
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| 5A | Describe how the various geographical regions of Texas are similar and different | |
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| 5B | Understand how people adapt to physical environment | |
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| 5C | Know how landforms and climate interact | |
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| 5D | Describe landforms and climates of various regions of Texas | |
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| 5E | Locate major geographical features of Texas on maps | |
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| 7B | Interpret visuals | |
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| English (Writing) Grade 4 |
Objective 1 Target: Use ideas and information from sources other than personal experience |
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| Objective 1 Target: Present a set of reasons intended to persuade |
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| Objective 2 Target: Arrange ideas and information |
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| Objective 4 Target: Expand topics by collecting information from a variety of sources |
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