Educators get lesson in water conservation

Victor Alvis

By Victor Alvis

vicalvis@daltoncitizen.com

The South’s record drought continues, despite a much needed soaking rain in Dalton and elsewhere on Monday. For many, the drought has been a cause of alarm — and for a group of area sixth-grade teachers, it is also a prime opportunity to teach a lesson.

A group of about 20 teachers and administrators from Dalton, Murray and Whitfield County schools met at Dalton Utilities on Monday to see how teachers can use the environmental phenomenon to teach water conservation and awareness in their earth science lessons.

“Some students were saying ‘I can’t believe it’s finally raining’ today, but a lot of others don’t watch the news or hear their parents talk about the severity of the drought,” said Elena Jas, a Dalton Middle School teacher. “Some were griping about the rain, and you say, ‘Oh, no. Don’t say that. We need it.’”

Greg Bailey, director of teaching and learning for Whitfield County Schools, led the session, encouraging teachers to use newspaper accounts of the drought as part of their lesson plans for their classrooms. A story by Greg Bluestein of the Associated Press that appeared in Monday’s Daily Citizen likened the legal battle over water rights in Georgia, Alabama and Florida to “three thirsty children trying to drink from a single hose,” Bailey noted.

“It’s a given that many of the wars of the 21st century will be fought over water,” Bailey said. “A clean water supply to support the population explosion is going to be a huge issue in the next century. What will we do in Georgia? Are Tennesseans going to give us their water? Should we dam the Conasauga? It’s one of the most pristine rivers remaining in the South.”

Lori McDaniel with Dalton Utilities explained the Water Smart program the Georgia Environmental Protection Division has implemented to educate and inform state residents. Dalton is a part of the pilot program, which includes a lesson plan and activities aligned with the Georgia Performance Standards curriculum.

Terri Myers of the Youth Science and Technology Center of the North Georgia Mountains, a teacher resource center at Dalton State College, introduced a classroom project called “Balancing the River.” Teachers poured water from graduated cylinders into old plastic 2-liter Coke bottles with holes poked in the bottom to show how reservoir levels must be renewed to stay balanced.

Myers recounted a recent trip to El Salvador.

“You had to have bottled water for everything there — to brush your teeth, wash your hair,” she said. “We drug 10-gallon bottles everywhere. It’s something you don’t think about until it’s not available.”

Dalton Middle School teacher Jerry Moss said he recently hiked Blood Mountain, the highest peak on Georgia’s portion of the Appalachian Trail near Dahlonega, and water was scarce.

“We usually stop at Slaughter Creek Gap about a mile down the trail, which has always been a reliable water source,” Moss said. “Now we have to go all the way down to Lake Winfield Scott.”

Jo McKinney, a teacher at Dalton Middle, said some of her students say their parents get up in the middle of the night to water their lawns. An outdoor watering ban, with some limited exceptions, has been in place in parts of north and west Georgia — including Murray and Whitfield counties — since Sept. 28.

“But many of my students are very in tune to the environment,” McKinney said. “That’s just the nature of my gifted students.”

Cheryl Thomasson, curriculum services director for Murray County Schools, said the drought is on the minds of many in her area.

“Some students have begun to talk about it. It’s on the mind of many in the farming community,” she said. “It should be on everybody’s mind.”

Bailey said the issue is more important than one science lesson — it’s a subject to prepare students for their futures.

“We need to make sure our students have the tools available to them so that when they go to the voting booths as adults, they can make informed decisions,” he said. “The carpet industry is always looking for ways to reduce and reuse water. Our students are the scientists of the future who will try to solve those problems.”

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