LifeStraw®: STEM & Service

Did you know that each year, children miss 443 million days of school due to water-related illness? Every 20 seconds, a child dies from a water-related illness, and more than 783 million people do not have access to an improved water source. Hundreds of millions more use municipal water systems that are poorly maintained and deliver contaminated water. Without safe water, there is no sustainable future for much of the developing world. Safe water is vital for economic growth and, in many nations, water shortage is a cause of violent conflict.

Teachers and Community Leaders: Use our Water Resource Guide to bring awareness of the Freshwater Water crisis to your community. Explore water-related issues from multiple perspectives.

Grades 3-5

Student Pullout Grades 3-5

1. Experiment: Water at the Window
2. Activity: Where’s the Water
3. Experiment: The Weight of Water
4. Investigation: What’s your “Water Footprint”?
5. Connection: Meet the Pathogens
6. Activity: Disease Transmission Tag
7. Activity: Down the River and Role Play Cards
   1. Connection: Connection to Water Stories Supplement
8. Experiment: Make Your Own Water Filter
9. Activity: Design a Solution

Grades 6-8

Student Pullout Grades 6-8

1. Experiment: Water Cycle Bag
2. Connection: Traveling Through the Water Cycle
3. Activity: Where’s the Water
4. Experiment: The Weight of Water
5. Investigation: Carrying Water
6. Investigation: Water Laws
7. Activity: Down the River and Role Play Cards
   • Down the River Connection: Water Stories Around the World
8. Connection: Potable Poison-1832 Cholera Epidemic in NYC
   • Unit Materials: 
   • Student Instructions & Handouts
   • Group Handouts
   •  Teacher Answer Key
9. Experiment: Make Your Own Water Filter
10. Experiment: What’s in Your Water?
11. Activity: Design a Solution

Grades 9-12

Student Pullout Grades 9-12

1. Investigation: Water Laws
2. Connection: Who Owns the Water: Irrigation Methods and Water Rights Disputes in the Late 1800s and 1900s
   1. Is Water a Human Right? The International Conflict
3. Activity: Down the River and Role Play Cards
   • Down the River Connection: Water Stories Around the World
4. Connection: Potable Poison- 1832 Cholera Epidemic in NYC
   • Unit Materials: 
   • Student Instructions & Handouts
   • Group Handouts
   •  Teacher Answer Key
5. Experiment: Make Your Own Water Filter
6. Experiment: What’s in Your Water?
7. Activity: Design a Solution