Drinking water, food, clothing, manufacturing, swimming – there are so many ways water touches our daily lives. We’re fortunate to live in a country where clean water flows from the tap and is readily available. Perhaps though, this convenience results in unfamiliarity with where water comes from and how it impacts our lives.
Water is required to sustain life, and educating our young people is one of the most crucial things we can do to protect our water supplies. Equipping youth with a foundational knowledge of water and its role in growing our nation’s, food, fiber and fuel is critical to maintaining our lifestyle and livelihood for the future. Benjamin Franklin once said, “an investment in knowledge pays the best interest.” Check out these three ways you can sow seeds of knowledge to help invest in a more sustainable future.
Get Out & Experience It
David Smith, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension program specialist, has spent more than 25 years teaching kids and adults about water-related issues. He said the best way to gain an appreciation for water is by getting out and experiencing it.
Smith has witnessed the positive results of helping kids experience water first-hand by leading them through the Texas 4-H Water Ambassadors. As part of the program, high school students visit river authorities, groundwater districts, water treatment facilities, farms, regulatory agencies and more. He said families can take this same concept and do simple water-related activities, too.
“I think it takes the family getting away from home. I think it is important that you go into nature, and you go to your local pond, rivers and streams, if it’s nothing more than just walking around and observing what’s going on,” he explained. “Kids, especially in my experience, they’re going to retain more if they can engage their senses. So, if they see things, they hear things, they smell things – they can touch the water, they can see the wildlife and the birds and the fish – you just can’t replicate that.”
When observing, Smith said it’s a great time to talk about where your water comes from, what happens to the water you use every day, how much we depend on it and the need to conserve and keep it clean.
“Once we use it, others downstream of us are going to be using that same water. Anything that we do day-to-day affects the quality of water for others. So, I think it’s important early on to get them thinking about that. Areas are getting more urbanized, and so people in general are kind of becoming more disconnected from our natural resources,” he said.
After getting out and experiencing water, he said it is helpful to set aside time for kids to reflect on what they learned by building models or drawing pictures because it helps create a lasting image in their mind. Smith explained that by instilling pride in your local community and educating youth about water, the more likely they will grow to appreciate it and preserve it.
Finding Value in Everyday Life
Haylee Young, who manages Texas Corn Producers’ youth education efforts, said it is vital to help bridge the gap between our youth and understanding where their food comes from, and the water resources needed to grow it.
“Educating our youth is important because they’re the ones that in 10-25 years are going to be making key decisions about the agriculture and water industries that ultimately affect our world,” Young said. “I think it’s important to start creating ideas and conversations around the role of agriculture and water so that we can ensure it remains on the forefront of our youth’s minds.”
One simple activity Young likes to do with students that can also be easily done at home is searching for corn and water in the ingredient list of products we use every day. She said it’s as easy as gathering everyday common supplies from around your home and asking, “Is there corn in this? What about water?”
“It opens conversations for realizing that students and kids in general are touching agriculture, whether they realize it or not – every single day,” Young said. “And without water, quite frankly, we wouldn’t have those products either because it takes water in the order to grow the crops.”
She said she loves doing this activity with kids because it helps them recognize the impact agriculture has in their everyday lives and the role water plays in it. By cultivating these kinds of conversations and learning opportunities, she said it can empower the next generation of advocates.
*Check out Texas Corn Producers’ Corn in the Classroom for other activities, as well as a list of common products containing corn (K-1 curriculum (pages 11-12).
Understanding the Science Behind It
Conner McKinzie, agricultural science teacher in Lubbock, Texas, knows just how important water is and its connection to agriculture. That’s why he spends a lot of time teaching students holistically about what agriculture is and what it takes to be stewards not only of the land, but water and other natural resources that ultimately sustain life.
“Water is vital to all life forms, and especially being out here in West Texas, water is getting pretty scarce and it’s a huge topic of conversation and a huge issue that a lot of different people are trying to tackle,” McKinzie said. “The younger we can reach students to understand its vital importance to life and to agriculture and to crops, the better off we’re going to be for the future.”
These agriculture classes aren’t just for kids who grew up in a farm or ranch family or want to pursue a career in agriculture. In fact, McKinzie encourages all students to consider taking some classes in agricultural science.
“I really think that some sort of ag education class should be mandatory for every student to take at some point in their education pathway because when you look at just the basic necessities of life, food, shelter, water, a lot of that stems from agriculture. A society’s progression is solely dependent on how advanced their agriculture system is and how well they’re able to feed and clothe their society,” he explained.
Encouraging high school students to take an agriculture class not only helps them learn about food and natural resources but expands STEM learning. Many schools offer a host of classes including livestock production, plant science, food science, vet medicine, and many others that possess strong science, engineering and math components.
Taking that science home, McKinzie said a fun experiment a family could do at home is create their own small terrarium. Here’s a simple example to get started.
“We did that in one of my classes this past year, and I think in terms of just looking at how important water is, but also its ability to go through the different cycles and sustain different ecosystems is really enlightening. You could compare that to putting some water in an open container and seeing the evaporation or how much water it lost over time,” McKinzie explained.
The Next Generation of Leaders
Taking every opportunity to help youth understand the importance of water in our lives and its connection to agriculture will help inspire the next generation of agriculture and water leaders.
“The future is going to be in good hands with bright thinkers and with folks who have resources at their hands that previous generations did not,” Young said.
Check out these additional educational resources:
Texas Water Development Board
North Plains Groundwater Conservation District
Corn in the Classroom
Take Care of Texas
Water Grows
