Water is Life Project

Please join the freshman class of YSHS on Wednesday, December 14, from 6:00-7:30 in the YSHS Cafeteria for their Exhibition Night presentation of: WATER IS LIFE.

Students will be sharing a creative response to the global water crisis in this coffeehouse style event that aims to raise awareness as well as money to build a water tower in an area of water scarcity (in partnership with YSI).

As a hook activity, students visited YSI, a water testing instrument company with a humanitarian outreach group. YSI introduced them to the water crisis and presented a need for action. Our driving question to frame this work was:

How can we, as student activists, promote access to safe water?

In the “information gathering” phase, students studied the global water crisis from multiple perspectives in World History, English, Math, Biology, and Art.

Biology: Began with need-to-knows around the scientific method and lab protocols; learned about the properties of water, how to collect and use scientific data, and tested water from various sources to determine pH, turbidity, dissolved oxygen, and contaminants.

History: Learned how water has played an important part in survival and politics throughout history and in the modern world, often leading to conflict. -After studying water issues of a nation of choice, engaged in a model UN debate with water as the main point of concern.

Math: gathered information in a small setting and extrapolated it to a larger water system; tracked and documented the flow activity in a two-liter bottle and extrapolated it to learn about the flow rate in a river. -Also participated in a water carry simulation; students weighed the buckets of water, walk

ed around the school’s track, and calculated stride length, water loss, and the walk to water over the course of a day, month, and year.

English: Nonfiction reading selections focused on water issues in Flint, Michigan. -Read poetry, prose, folktales, and myths related to water, and studied water symbolism in five major religions. -Wrote original poetry from the perspective of children living in areas of water scarcity, and plays dramatizing water myths and folktales. -Worked to balance their writing as more than just a cry for help, but also a call to action and performed selections on Exhibition Night.

Art: students learned how to communicate an idea visually, using the elements of art. They began with a study of persuasive art and simple poster designs, focusing on color and symbols. Later, they collaborated on group installations of 3-D paper casts, focusing on texture, relief sculpture, and effective papermaking techniques. Each student wrote an artist statement explaining their work and its representation of the water crisis, which they presented at Exhibition Night.