Activity 1: Irrigation Practices

1. Project the world map on the board. 
2. Ask students to look at the six countries that are highlighted in blue. On a sheet of paper, ask students to rank these countries in order by the acreage of land that is irrigated—highest to lowest. Students should use their own logic and background knowledge to formulate a guess. Tell them to specifically consider the number of acres irrigated to produce crops, trees, and pastures. 
3. Share the correct answers¹¹:
   • China 171.5 million acres
   • India 164.8 million acres
   • United States 65.2 million acres
   • Italy 9.8 million acres
   • Egypt 9.0 million acres
   • Australia 6.3 million acres
4. Remind students that one acre is approximately the size of a football field. Were they surprised by the correct answers and the amount of irrigated land in these countries? Do they see any correlations between irrigated land and population, climate, or the amount of land area in each country?
5. Ask, "Why do farmers irrigate their land?" After students share their ideas, review the Water in Agriculture slide deck to discover consumptive vs non-consumptive water use and explore statistics related to water in agriculture.
6. Return to the questions from the Engagement portion of the lesson. Answer the first question. Yes, it is estimated that 92% of all water that is consumed (not withdrawn) is from the agriculture industry. Water use varies throughout the world and is determined by factors such as climate, available technology, and the presence of manufacturing.

Teach with Clarity Prompt students to study statistics carefully. In this lesson they should pay close attention to the words withdrawn and consumed to better understand each statistic. They should also be aware of the region it represents. Some statistics give global averages and others are specific to a particular country or region. Misconceptions arise more when these details are overlooked.

Activity 2: Dinner Party Menu Challenge

1. Give each student one copy of the Dinner Party Menu Challenge.¹³
2. Divide the class into groups of 3-4 students. Inform the class that they have been challenged to create a water-conscious dinner menu. Instruct students to follow the step-by-step instructions. Students will need internet access to use Water Footprint Network's Product Gallery to discover the water footprint of the foods in the menu they are creating.
3. When students reach Step 3, project the Water Footprint Team Totals chart on the whiteboard for each team to record their totals. Determine the winning team(s) for the lowest WF for the entire meal as well as for each course. 
4. Summarize the activity by reviewing the discussion questions in Step 4 with the entire class.

Activity 3: Types of Water

1. Now that students have a general idea of the water footprint of many different foods, ask students what they think are some solutions to shrink our water footprint from the food we eat. Students will likely begin to conclude that we should eliminate or decrease our consumption of foods with a high water footprint.
2. Draw the students' attention back to the remaining questions outlined in the Engagement portion of the lesson. Ask students to think critically about the claims made in the video about red meats, tree nuts, and animal-source foods. Are they scientifically correct? Do they look at multiple perspectives? Are there any other details that if evaluated could change the perspective of the (water) sustainability of specific foods? Explain that we want to dig a little deeper to see if these claims are true.
3. Project Water Footprint Network's Product Gallery on the board and select any food. Point to the green, blue, and gray water drops. Ask students if they know what these colors represent and if they considered them in their Dinner Party Menu Challenge from Activity 2. Explain that to evaluate water footprint thoroughly, the type of water used is important to the big picture.
4. Project the Green, Blue, and Gray Water image on the board and explain the differences between each type of water. 
5. With this new information, go back to the Product Gallery and slide to view the information about beef. Beef has the highest water footprint (per kilogram) of any food in the gallery. Ask students to reevaluate beef looking at the type of water used to produce it. Ask students if this information changes any of their thoughts or perspective. Slide through other foods to gain perspective of other ratios of green, blue, and gray water. 

   Teach with Clarity To understand why beef and lamb have such a high percentage of green water in their water footprint, students must recognize that beef cattle and sheep spend the vast majority of their lives eating grass and other forages that grow from rainwater. These livestock animals have a 4-chamber ruminant stomach. This unique digestive system allows them to obtain nutrients from grass and other forages that grow on marginal lands.

6. Introduce the video clip by explaining that it's common to see media stating that reducing or eliminating red meat from our diets will improve the health of our planet (For example, the video viewed in the Engagement portion of the lesson). Encourage students to focus on the question "Do cattle really take all the water?" as they watch a portion of Eating Less Meat Won't Save the Planet. Here's Why. In this video clip the host discusses the water footprint of beef with Dr. Frank Mitloehner, a professor at UC Davis. Begin video at 2:56 and stop at 4:26. 
7. Ask students to share their reflections and questions. Lead a class discussion to summarize that evaluating the water footprint of food (and other environmental issues) has multiple dimensions. Only looking at one measurement or perspective (such as the total water footprint of food) is just the start and can be misleading if we stop there. Asking more questions and finding more details (such as types of water) adds to our understanding and evaluation of the big picture of sustainability. 

Concept Elaboration and Evaluation

1. Open the Water in Agriculture slide deck. Project slide 13 and discuss the concept of sustainability. Water management is one factor in sustainability.
2. Discuss more topics in sustainability (slide 14) and how each element is connected (slide 15). Like a web, each connection is important to the other. No element stands alone and every element relies on another.
3. Define myopia as the ability to only see things up close. Display slide 16 and explain that looking at water use alone does not accurately evaluate sustainability in regards to our food supply. Sustainability needs to be evaluated holistically (slide 17). 
4. Take a final look at the three questions from the Engagement section of the lesson:
   • Does agriculture really use 92% of our water? (Yes)
   • Why are shelled nuts and red meat considered water intensive? (They require the most water to produce. In the case of red meat such as beef and lamb, over 90% of the water they use is the rainwater that grows the grass and forages these livestock eat. Meat, predominantly beef, has a higher water footprint because it has a longer lifecycle.)
   • Would a vegetarian lifestyle really reduce our water footprint by 1/3? (Animal-source foods require more water than plant-based foods. However, elimination of entire food commodities would lead to unintended consequences that impact other areas of sustainability. See slides 18-20 for examples. Remind students of the web demonstration from steps two and three. All factors of sustainability need to be considered. Eating meats (if desired) within healthy serving recommendations supports overall sustainability.)  
5. Ask, "How can we reduce our water footprint?" To discuss the question, break it into categories. Make three columns on the board—Consumer Choices, Conservation Practices, and Farm Technology. Ask students to help brainstorm actions we can take to reduce our water footprint. Each student should come to the board and share one idea. Use ideas from the examples below to help prompt students if needed.