Month: December 2025

As i have finished my lesson and gotten to present it at the water fair. There were many steps that I took. One was the data collection where I annotated different articles and lesson plans that help me build on my idea of building a lesson plan. After reading and researching lesson plans I was able to be inspired to make my own lesson plan. My lesson was a fun interactive plan which was to match pictures with the world to a definition. The building of the game was fun. I got to choose pictures where kids were able to see clearly and understand. The definitions were very detailed to have a good understanding for kids to read. 

After the water fair presentation, I received very good feedback from Zach at JJK and our partners. From teaching the kids I was able to build a better understanding and see ways that I can improve my lesson game. I want to improve the game by making the definition more easy because I saw that during the game with the kids some of the definitions were confusing because they could be mixed with other words. With this information and my feedback, I saw the kids were very interactive with the lesson and showed interest in the game and asked questions. They also asked if they could read the definition. Some of the things I learned is that this type of learning approach can be used for other subjects but overall I am very happy with the results of the kids and our partners. Based on our group size that I was working with at the water fair it would have been easier if I made smaller game packets, so that’s one thing I made a note on. I will make small modifications to involve the lesson game. 

Community and neighborhood                    

1. Online Lesson example 

This website is an educational site with many different examples of lessons to teach students about the world and around their city. For this article in particular it’s about the community lessons to get students to think about their surroundings and get them to think about what makes a city and what they have in their city. These types of lessons are more fun. They write, color, draw, and do criteria think. Distinguish different types of communities, rural communities, urban communities, suburban communities. Overall I found these lesson examples very inspiring for my lessons with building community understanding and knowledge with the kids. 

“Neighbor and Community Activities and Lessons for Social Studies.” Chalkboard Chatterbox, www.chalkboardchatterbox.com/blog/neighborhood-community-lesson-plan-activities. 

Unity in community 

2. Choose your source: Lesson through music inspiration 

This song is sung by many children in different languages to promote unity and peace, and to inspire others through music. After hearing the song, I see how music brings people together and encourages them to work together to build a song about their community and take care of it. The love you have for friends, family, and neighbors, too, can inspire others just as the song “One World, One Heart Breathing” does. To take action one step at a time, one song can change the country. Key points I learned from this lesson are music, connection with understanding of kids around the world, and building peace through music inspires all of us. 

    The song was created by Loving World One Song At A Time, and songwriter Oona McOuat. A 9-year-old Kasper Packford sang the music video. 

“One World, One Heart Beating.” Creating a Loving World One Song at a Time, One World, One Heart Beating | Creating a Loving World One Song at a Time and https://youtu.be/kY9HieCkT9c 

Water lesson

3.  PDF Lesson Activity. 

This lesson plan was created for teachers to educate students about the source of their water. The lesson is made for K-6. The teacher who created this lesson plan provides a brief note explaining the basics of water and that it needs to be purified before it can be used for everyday life. Overall, the lesson can be easily adapted if needed. It also uses very minimal supplies that can be found outside the questions that the kids would answer, and go through a kinda of scientific project. This lesson would be fun, and they can participate and even do it at home with outside matters. 

Source: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, adopted from “Water Wizards,” Massachusetts Water Resources Authority, Boston, MA, 1993

“How People Get Their Water.” U.S Environmental Protection Agency, www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2016-03/documents/activity_grades_4-8_howpeoplegetwater.pd.  

Education communities 

4. Website article 

This article is called “Sustainability Media Lab.” It encompasses many aspects that contribute to water conservation. It breaks down the information into short sections. Their goal is to educate communities of all ages, also offering different opportunities to learn sustainable practices and build knowledge in the importance of water. This article’s goal is to inform and educate people on why it’s essential to create good sustainable practices and why targeting children to teach them about water conservation has so many benefits to our future and water resources, as we use more water in our growing population.  Overall, they aim to modify their behavior for the betterment of our water resources. 

“Educating Communities on Water Conservation.” Sustainability Media Lab, 3 Sept. 2024, sustainabilitymedialab.com/educating-communities-on-water-conservation/. 

Community and water conservation 

5. Choose your source 

This packet is an educational lesson packet containing various lessons for kindergarten through 8th grade. This packet also provides resources for teachers and parents, offering easy access to lessons. They also made sure they offer fun, interactive lessons. The reason the packet was created was that a school district in California was struggling with droughts, and it was crucial to educate students on the importance of water and build their knowledge on the topic. The lesson range from world puzzles to reading and understanding pictures on what water is and where it comes from. They also offer numerous resources and website links to help parents teach their own kids to develop good environmental habits that support the environment. 

“Water Conservation Education Packet: Less Plan Activities &Resources for Grades K-8.” OTAY WATER DISTRICT ESTABLISHED 1956, 30 Jul. 2015, www.otaywater.gov/wp-content/uploads/files/Water%20Conservation%20Education%20Packet%20%281%29.pdf. 

Through this journey in our research, I have found a new me in the area of education for all. From working with our partners JJKFAN and my research group, I found out that I have a lot of creativity, and if I can’t find something that I feel will work, then I try to make it. In this case, I made the education Matching game learning definition and pictures. Throughout this research, I have enjoyed looking at and learning from educators and programs in other parts of the world and the approaches they take to conserve water. Having the opportunity to speak with Zack from JJKFAN through our journey of learning and understanding what they looked into. Inspired me to also take action in my everyday life to live a sustainable life, taking care of my environment, no matter where I am. Also, finally, I have decided to change my major to public health because I want to make changes in the future to prevent problems that could harm the human population. The health of the public also affects my health, so taking care of the public health is also taking care of my own health, and for future generations too. 

In my research, most teachers employed similar approaches to interactive and outdoor time with nature. Some of the information I found came from programs implemented in schools to support education, particularly in areas where there was already concern about water resources. 

Now that I have performed my interactive matching game with our partners JJKFAN and finished my research.  I had the opportunity to speak with Zack and to understand what they are looking for in teaching. Made it easier to focus on interactive teaching methods. With some difficulty, I actually liked the lesson and made the matching game. 

From my research, I found information on the following topics: community and neighborhood, unity in community, active lesson, unity through music, and lesson packet. From the lessons, I observed physical activities that involved a plastic water bottle and a world puzzle. One thing I noticed in the packet was that as the grade level increased, the lessons shifted to focus on reading and analysing on paper, so they became less engaging and interactive, losing the connection that makes learning about water fun. 

One thing that I learned from researching these different ways of teaching is that unity is essential when wanting to make a greater change, in the case of educating children on why it is so vital that we take care of our water resources and let others know why they, too, need to take action so that our future water supply isn’t put in jeopardy. 

Based on my research, I would like to change or test several aspects to determine whether they would work. I developed a game that was engaging, and students learned definitions and images related to water conservation. I would now like to modify the game so that all K-8 students have their own version. 

Lesson explanation    –   Water Lesson Plans:

Lesson Plans:

Title:  Water Word Wonders 

supplies(list)

• A paper sheet cut into squares for a game

Procedure to develop game:

1. I researched different approaches in water education lesson plans for young kids. I looked into a variety of lesson plans to see which teaching methods teachers use. 
2. I brainstormed about topics and then searched and found good lesson plans; some of them were on songs and drawing your community, but not exactly what I was hoping to find that aligned with my ideas for a lesson plan for our partners. 
3. After analyzing the lessons, I was inspired to build my own lesson that went with what JJKFAN wanted, so fun and interactive. My inspiration was to make a game that kids would like, and it’s a fun way to teach them definitions and terms through a matching game. 
4.  I started building a matching game, then looked into the words that I wanted for the game and definitions, and the last part was just to add pictures. Send them to Dr. Martinez for feedback and make some last-minute modifications. 

Steps for students:

Questions for student interaction – interactive portion (what did you do?)

From just looking at the picture, can you tell what they are trying to explain? 

What are the definitions that can be related to other pictures and words? 

Does the group have any questions about the pictures?

Tips and tricks or things to avoid (recommendations):

Avoid having more than three people per group so everyone gets a turn and can work together to match the picture words to the definitions. 

Sometimes it’s easy to read the definition for the kids so they can understand the meaning if they don’t understand a word. Also note that every group is different, and some kids will want to read the definition themselves.