What If We Run Out of Water?

1. Set Focus
Pose this essential question to guide discussion: Why is it important to protect our water sources?

2. List Vocabulary
Share with students some of the challenging vocabulary words in this article (see below). Encourage them to use context to infer meanings as they read.

• depleted (p. 13)
• replenish (p. 13)
• fissures (p. 14)
• objective (p. 15)
• torrent (p. 16)
• extraction (p. 17)

3. Engage
Ask students to share what they think might happen if a city or community ran out of water. Revisit this discussion after the lesson, having students share any new insights they’ve gained.

4. Read 
Have students read the article, marking the text to note key ideas or questions.

5. Discuss
Distribute or project Up Close: What If We Run Out of Water?, a close-reading activity for students to work on in small groups. (Note: The questions on the PDF also appear on the following page of this lesson, with possible responses.) Follow up with a class discussion. If you’re short on time, have each group tackle one or two of the questions. Collect students’ work or have each group report its findings to the class.

• What are the central ideas of the article? What is the authors’ main purpose in writing the article? (Central idea, author’s purpose) (This article explores how the depletion of America’s underground aquifers affects communities, describes what’s causing the crisis, and explains the struggles in finding a solution. The authors’ main purpose is to inform the reader of the situation.)

• In the first section, the authors describe the methods they used to research the story. What do they say, and why do you think they included this information? (Analyze purpose, summarize) (The authors explain that their investigation was “months-long” and that they traveled the country, interviewing more than 100 experts and using millions of data readings to create a database. Students’ answers as to why this explanation is included may vary, but they should note that the amount of work that went into the article may help persuade the reader to trust the article’s findings and interpretations and to regard the article’s subject as especially important.)

• According to the section “Barely Regulated,” what are the main reasons for aquifer depletion? What can you infer from the text about the solutions to each problem? (Problem & solution, make inferences) (According to “Barely Regulated,” poor government oversight has led to poor practices, such as growing water-intensive crops in dry areas or relying too heavily on groundwater in heavily populated areas. In addition, people’s concern about property values has made it difficult to openly discuss the problem, and climate change is exacerbating the issue. From this section, the reader can infer that stronger governmental regulations, some assistance with property values, and more intense action to stem climate change might help.)

• How does the information provided in the text features “What Is an Aquifer?” and “Drying Up” add to the central ideas of the article? (Analyze text features, integrate information) (“What Is an Aquifer?” not only explains what an aquifer is and shows what it looks like but also explains in more depth some of the problems caused when these underground water resources are pumped too quickly. “Drying Up” uses a map to show the places in the lower 48 U.S. states that currently have wells at record-low levels. The map shows that while this is a nationwide problem, the wells with record-low water levels tend to be concentrated in locations that have a lot of farms, as well as along the heavily populated East and West Coasts.) 

• In the last section, “When the Ground Collapses,” the authors say that the effects of the dwindling water supply are becoming increasingly “visible.” What do they mean and how do they support this claim? (Analyze language, Claims & evidence) (The authors mean that the effects of dwindling water supply underground are becoming harder to ignore because they are causing visible cracks and sinkholes aboveground that, in some cases, are destroying properties. The authors support this claim by citing a specific example in Enoch, Utah, noting that Arizona has 169 miles of “mapped earth fissures” and including a photo of a sunken home in Hudson, Florida.) 

• Based on the information provided in the article, do you think the groundwater crisis is likely to be solved anytime soon? Why or why not? (Make evaluations)(Students’ evaluations of whether the crisis will be solved soon will vary, but students should support their points with text evidence.)

6. Writing Prompt
Take on the role of a member of Congress. Write a short speech to tell your colleagues about the problem of water depletion and what you think should be done about it. 

7. Video
Watch the video about climate change. What does it add to your understanding?

8. Classroom Debate
Can the U.S. do more to protect its groundwater supplies?

9. Quiz & Skills
Use the quiz to assess comprehension.