Bucket Brigade
Grades: Any
Group Size: Any
Length: 30 minutes - 1 hour
Location: Outside is best, but a large room or gym will work too,
if the floors can get wet. Have a mop handy!
Materials Needed
70, one gallon plastic water or milk jugs (a screw type cap is better if possible)
Markers to define points "A" and "B"
Something to draw or mark the start line
Statistics on water use (i.e. the amount that different activities consume)
Find out what the average daily per capita water use is for your state. Check with local health departments.
Optional: a flip chart and pen to list student answers to the questions about water use
Description
This activity gives students a hands-on way to think about their water use. The activity has the students form teams to move the amount of water a person uses in a day from one point to another. The competition is meant to be fun and the pre- and post- discussions help the students understand more about their water use choices, and the importance of water.
Pre-activity Discussion (5-10 min.)
Begin by focusing the students on water use and water conservation.
Questions to ask the students:
- Does anyone know what water conservation means?
- What do we use water for, in and around the home? (Drinking, washing dishes, clothes, and ourselves, cooking, watering lawns, etc.) Extension: ask them how much water is used in different activities (see reference sheet).
- Ask the students how much water they think the average person uses in a day (State of Maine Plumbing Code uses 70 gallons per day per person as an average).
- Does anyone get their water from a well?
- Has anyone had their well go dry, or the water taste or smell bad?
The Activity (10-15 minutes)
#1 Explain the activity: Each team of students will need to move 35 gallons of water from point A to point B and then back to point A. Seventy gallons (35 x 2) is the amount of water it would take to supply the needs of one person for one day. The groups will be timed, and the fastest group wins. (Note: How you break up the students depends on where you are doing this activity, how much room you have, how much time you have, how many students you have competing).
Let the students decide how to move the water (i.e. as a bucket brigade, all kids moving the water or just a few). Give them a minute or two to discuss how they will move the water.
(There aren't many rules, but if you are doing this inside, especially in an auditorium, the students should NOT run up and down the stairs; outside, running would be okay. Also to minimize chaos, all the containers have to be at point B before students return them to point A).
#2 Break the group of students into two or four teams (make 2 or 4 teams out of the class depending on the size of the group); If you have many students, you may want to have them break up into 4 teams and have the fastest from the first two "heats" compete in a "final", whether you can do this will also depend on the amount of time you have to run the activity.
