Lesson Plan - "Water Is Life"

Build Background Knowledge

Provide these questions for students to think about as they watch the video “Improving Water Access for Navajo Families”: How do you feel about the fact that about 2 million Americans don’t have clean running water? How is DigDeep’s Navajo Water Project helping people on the Navajo reservation? What questions do you have? Discuss students’ responses.

Preview Vocabulary

Use Words to Know to preteach the domain-specific terms reservation, constitution, Indigenous, federal, Congress, pandemic, nonprofit, infrastructure, legislator, discrimination, sanitation, and contaminate. Have students refer to the Skill Builder as they read.

Read the Article

Read the article aloud or have students read it independently. As students read, direct them to highlight or write a P next to details that show how not having access to water is a problem.

Answer Close-Reading Questions

Have students write their responses or use the Close-Reading Questions to guide a discussion.

• How does a lack of running water affect many Navajo people? (Key Details)
The estimated 37,000 Navajo people who lack running water frequently have to spend a lot of time and money driving long distances to collect it. They have to use water carefully, rationing it for washing, cooking, and drinking. Additionally, some people end up using water from springs or ponds that could be contaminated, which puts their health at risk.

• What does Emma Robbins mean when she says “Water is life”? What helped give her that perspective? (Making Meaning)
Robbins means that water is an essential part of everyday life. People literally cannot live without it. She says that she’s seen injustice firsthand in how her grandparents didn’t have indoor plumbing on the Navajo reservation. Now Robbins is trying to improve lives as the director of the Navajo Water Project.

• Summarize the sidebar “Understanding the U.S. Water Gap.” (Summarizing)
A lack of access to water is a problem in every state, and more than 2 million Americans don’t have running water or basic indoor plumbing. The problem particularly affects rural and lower-income communities. Black and Latinx households are twice as likely to lack water access as white households, and Native American households are 19 times as likely. Congress is considering a bill that would spend about $35 billion a year to improve water infrastructure.

• Why is a lack of water access a problem on the Navajo reservation? How are people trying to solve it? (Problem and Solution)
Indigenous communities have long faced discrimination, and the U.S. government excluded many tribal communities when it invested heavily in water systems 100 years ago. Much of the reservation is rugged and some parts of it don’t have many people. Some natural water sources on the reservation are contaminated from hundreds of uranium mines that operated there for decades. The Navajo Water Project is trying to help solve the problem by bringing running water to families. The group has given families huge underground water tanks connected to indoor sinks. The Navajo government, the Indian Health Service, and other groups are also increasing access by connecting more homes to existing water lines.

• How does the map “Where Water Is Needed” support the article? (Text Features)
The map shows the location of the 110 chapters of the Navajo Nation in Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It also shows the level of access to running water in each of them. In some chapters, like the one where Emma Robbins’s grandparents lived, more than 200 homes don’t have running water.

• How has the Covid-19 pandemic affected the Navajo water crisis? (Cause and Effect)
During the pandemic, many Navajo people have had to continue gathering in public places to get water and have had challenges accessing enough water to wash their hands frequently. Also, the Navajo Water Project hasn’t been able to enter homes to install plumbing, so it has switched to distributing bottled water and installing smaller outdoor water systems. The Navajo Nation secured $5 million in federal relief money to install 59 temporary water access points and give out water storage containers. Families don’t have to travel as far to access water now, and many families will be able to get free water for up to two years.

Watch Another Video

Before students watch “U.S. Water Crisis Hot Spots,” prepare them to take notes about each of the six hot spots by setting up a piece of paper with space to record the location and details about the problem in each place. After watching, discuss: What are some of the main reasons people lack access to clean water in the U.S.? How might people be able to help?

Analyze a Map

Assign Map Reading: Where Water Is Needed to have students answer 10 questions about a version of the map that appears on page 11.

Write for a Task, Purpose, and Audience

Use the Choice Board Skill Builder to have students choose from eight activities. Options include researching a water crisis hot spot, creating a PSA, and calculating their personal water footprint.

Assess Comprehension

Assign the 10-question Know the News quiz, available in PDF and interactive forms. You can also use Quiz Wizard to assess comprehension of this article and three others from the issue.