Middle Grades 6-8

WHAT’S THE BIG DEAL ABOUT WATER?  Explore water in our world, the natural water cycle (the hydrologic cycle) and how it interacts with the land to define a watershed. Cultivate a basic level of appreciation for water before exploring the next topic, how Philadelphia  sources, manages and treats our freshwater to provide clean and reliable tap water.

WHAT DOES IT TAKE FOR US TO DRINK A GLASS OF FRESH, CLEAN, DELICIOUS WATER?  Students will develop a basic understanding of safe and reliable urban water systems, infrastructure and management of drinking water (supply). For over 200 years,  Philadelphia has committed to  access to a clean drinking water supply as a civic responsibility for the public good.

WHAT BECAME OF PHILADELPHIA’S NATURAL STREAMS AND VALLEYS?
Just as cities developed a collective drinking water supply system to ensure the public health of its citizens, they also developed ways to collect and dispose of its waste or “used” water. Students will discover that it was no small task to engineer an effective system of drains and pipes to carry human and industrial waste away from where people lived.

This series of 6 extensive units was part of the original development of the curriculum, designed, tested and implemented with classroom teachers to  explore the development of the city’s drinking water, wastewater and stormwater systems as well as ways to act