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Show School and Home 7 by Dr. Daryl J. McCorty Exoxutiv Scrtory J I Utoh Education Association .xJi mJ Do not be surpirscd, kind father, if you emerge from the bathroom and find your 1 1 -year-old son staring intently intent-ly at his wristwatch, clucking his tongue and shaking his head in disapproval. He may have just graduated from a new short course that is being Introduced In elementary elemen-tary schools across the stale. It's a dry subject: Drought. 1 his "unit" on water conservation is teaching fourth, fifth and sixth-grade students everything from making mak-ing rain to computing the amount of water Dad used while taking that shower. The "textbook" for this course Is presented partly in comic strip form; but that's only half the story. This hook is sliifled with projects aimed at making kids aware ol something we adults know, but often forget to pniitue: You don't have to (Item h to quench. Students taking this course will Irani how to read the home wiilrr meter, nicasuie i . i i i I . how much wnlcr It takes lo (Mow a bran plant, and figuie how many gallons of water cm ape through the nozzle ol your gulden hose. The course encompasses such subjects as arithmetic (finding a leaky faucet and calculate its rate of water loss each day); climatology (plotting (plot-ting the water needs for two cities using temperature graphs); science (distilling ocean water); social science (if City "A" on a map were settled 50 years before City "H", what effect would the development of C have on A's water supply?); language (a water use crossword puzzle); and even music (a song on page 2). It's a good example of making lessons significant. Besides all the water conservation con-servation material In the book, there's a message on the back cover from Governor Scott Matheson. He asks the students stu-dents to relay their ideas on saving water to him via the teachers. Who knows? Youngsters are surprisingly bright, and maybe may-be we adults will be helped through the coining diy spell by those who nre not wet behind the cms. Why not sit down and discuss this matter with your child? In learning, you'll help the diought situation. |