Phillips Elementary School fifth graders Imagine A Day Without Water

The fifth graders at Phillips Elementary School spent time learning about the value of water. Imagine A Day Without Water is a project of Hampton master gardener water steward Pam Henifin. She and Betsy McAllister, HCS stem teacher specialist and fellow master gardener, spent time with the Phillips fifth grade teaching team of Angela Dandridge, Whitney Davis, and Jennifer Gomez, and their learners demonstrating the scarcity of the Earth’s drinking water by having students participate in the Project Wet activity A Drop in the Bucket. Students learned about the indirect ways they use water through the hands-on activity Water Works.

The students recorded and calculated their daily water use in their water-use journals that were generously provided by Jacobs Solutions. They toured Hampton Roads Sanitation District’s SWIFT Research Center (Sustainable Water Initiative for Tomorrow) to learn about the innovative and advanced processes SWIFT uses to treat wastewater to drinking water quality standards. Led by HRSD community educator Lacie Wever, students engaged in an engineering design challenge to build an effective water filtration system.

On October 19, the U.S Water Alliance celebrates Imagine A Day Without Water, a national education campaign highlighting how essential and invaluable water is to all of us. With the Phillips fifth graders’ heightened awareness about the importance and preciousness of this valuable resource, they can share with their family and friends what they have learned. 

Why not take the challenge with Phillips fifth graders and monitor your own water usage in a water usage journal.