Clean Water, Safe Communities
The purpose of this unit plan is to help students explore the sources and effects of water contamination, analyze the environmental and public health impacts of natural disasters like wildfires and floods through data interpretation and real-world examples, and understand how the EPA’s Water Safety Program and the Safe Drinking Water Act protect public health.
Overview
Students investigate how wildfires and floods affect water and air quality, using the Mescalero Apache Reservation as an example, and how the EPA protects drinking water under the Safe Drinking Water Act. The lesson opens with a guest speaker and a story circle about water access, smoke days, and floods. In the exploration, groups act as contestants on a survivalist show, choosing materials for a kit, building a water filter, and judging filtered samples with water testing kits or visual criteria. Students then create water quality storyboards, learn about Maximum Contaminant Levels, and meet virtually with another school. They finish with a claim-evidence-reasoning task, a worksheet, and an optional poster. The plan allots one 50-minute period to Engage, two 50-minute periods to Explore, and one 45–60-minute period each to Explain, Elaborate, and Evaluate.
Lesson Objectives
- Describe the purpose of the EPA’s Water Safety Program and how it protects public health through the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA).
- Understand the importance of having clean drinking water and protecting our fresh water sources.
- Identify common water contaminants and explain how the EPA sets Maximum Contaminant Levels (MCLs) to ensure safe drinking water.
- Explain how wildfires or floods affect water quality and air quality in communities, for example, on the Mescalero Apache Reservation.
- Analyze how the EPA collaborates with local governments to respond to wildfires/floods through monitoring, funding, and technical support.
- Interpret data or visuals (maps, graphs, videos) to understand the impacts of wildfire/floods on environmental health.
Standards
NGSS · 4
- HS-ESS3-1Construct an explanation based on evidence for how the availability of natural resources, occurrence of natural hazards, and changes in climate have influenced human activity.
- HS-ETS1-1Analyze a major global challenge to specify qualitative and quantitative criteria and constraints for solutions that account for societal needs and wants.
- HS-ETS1-2Design a solution to a complex real-world problem by breaking it down into smaller, more manageable problems that can be solved through engineering.
- HS-ETS1-3Evaluate a solution to a complex real-world problem based on prioritized criteria and trade-offs that account for a range of constraints, including cost, safety, reliability, and aesthetics as well as possible social, cultural, and environmental impacts.
CCSS Math · 1
- HSS-ID.B.6Represent data on two quantitative variables and describe patterns. Connection: Graph PM2.5 levels vs. distance from fire, or rainfall vs. contaminant concentration in runoff.
CCSS ELA · 2
- RI.9-10.1 / RI.11-12.1Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly and inferences drawn. Connection: Students examine primary sources (e.g., EPA reports, tribal news releases) to support environmental impact claims.
- W.9-12.2Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas clearly and accurately. Connection: Students explain how the EPA’s water safety protocols work and their relevance to wildfire recovery.