Now You See It, Now You Don't

Objective: Students will learn that water is used by all segments of a community.
Participants will experience how they feel when they have to take and give up some of their
water supply. Students will see how each major water user can affect, destroy, waste and
use water.

Materials: Now You See It, Now You Don't water game board - enlarged to 11 x 17" (teacher
may want to laminate and copy), One set of Character Cards, 1 set of dice, 185 white beans,
30 red beans, 25 blue beans

Background: Water users - agriculture, mines, industry, residences, business and wildlife,
must all share the same water. Any pollution from one user affects the water for everyone.
All users put different values on their water supply. Drinking water is a necessity. Water
used for farm crops is an economic necessity for the farmer but he could use less water by
planting crops that require less water. Mining and industry need water in their processing
but have developed sophisticated ways to re-use water many times before it goes down the
drain.

In this game, as in real life, once water is unavailable (whether it's polluted, wasted or
over-used) all the users have a price to pay.

Procedure:
The object of the game is to collect as many blue and white beans as possible without
gaining red beans. Students are not expected to win or lose at the end of the game.

Students are to be given a specific amount of time to complete the game. We suggest one
class period with discussion follow-up during the next class period.

Following the completion of the game, ask the students which role they preferred being.
Ask them to imagine how a real farmer, rancher, or homeowner would feel if he/she were
required to give up water or uses more water than his/her neighbors. Have a class
discussion about why the wasted pile grew so quickly.

The Beans:
Blue: represents rewards for being water conscious.
Red: represents pollution to the aquifer or water supply.
White: represents water from both aquifers and surface water.

Setting Up The Game:
A maximum of 6 players can play.
The wasted and weather areas begin the game with no beans in the pile.
Each player and the wildlife pile begin with 15 white beans.
The water supply pile begins with 40 white beans.
The pollution pile begins with 30 red beans.
The reward pile begins with 25 blue beans.
The recharge pile begins with 40 white beans.
The Homeowner starts the game with the first roll of the dice. Play continues to the
homeowner's left unless otherwise specified on the Character Card.

The Rules:
Each player chooses a character card. There are six character cards representing major
water users. Each player must be a separate water user.

Each player takes a turn rolling the dice. The number they roll on the dice corresponds to
the numbers on their character card. For example: player rolls a total of 4 (two 2's or a 3 &
1) then refers to their individual character card for instruction listed beside #4. After
rolling the dice, the player must read his/her situation aloud to the group and then do what
it says.

Pile Meanings:
Wasted Water Pile: Water that is used that may not have been used properly. In wasting
water (using more than you really need) you could contribute to an overdraft of the supply.
This pile shows how fast wasted water accumulates.

Pollution Pile: Any type of polluted water, whether the substance in the water comes from
natural or man-made events.

Wildlife Pile: No single player is responsible for this pile. It is a collective effort of all 6
players to maintain the wildlife.

Water Supply Pile: The water can come from aquifers or from surface sources, like rivers
and lakes. Both the aquifer and surface waters rely on rainfall for replenishment.

Weather Pile: Represents where water is lost or gained due to natural causes.

Recharge Pile: Water which refills the aquifer. Recharge water usually results from rain and
floods.

Reward Pile: Represents a community citation for being water conscious.

Extensions:
Have students compile their own water/water conservation dictionary. Have them illustrate
as many terms as possible. Have students assemble their dictionaries with an illustrated
cover that demonstrates a specific water topic. Display the water dictionaries in a school
hallway display case.

Put together a "People's Water Court" and stage a mock trial for a major water waster.

Have the class develop their own classroom water law and penalties - forgetting to turn off
water, lose a recess period; letting the water get cold before drinking, write a conservation
poem, etc.

Vocabulary Glossary:
Aquifer: A water bearing stratum of permeable rock, sand, or gravel.
Drought: A long period with no rain.
Erosion: The wearing away of the land surface by wind, water, ice or other geologic agents.
Erosion occurs naturally from weather and runoff but it is often intensified by human land
use practices.
Overdraft: The act of using more groundwater than is recharged. The part of groundwater
withdrawals which exceed recharge are also referred to as groundwater overdraft.
Pollution: The presence of matter or energy whose nature, location or quantity, produces
undesired effect upon the normally existing environment.
Rainwater harvesting: Capturing rainwater and diverting or storing it for use.
Recharge: The inflow to an aquifer. Natural: water added to an aquifer principally from
rainfall seeping through porous layers of earth. Incidental: water that seeps into the aquifer
after having been used once by humans.
Surface water: Water on the earth's surface exposed to the atmosphere, such as rivers, lakes,
streams, oceans, etc.
Water table: The top of the zone of saturation in the ground, where free water exists in
pores and crevices of the rocks and other earth strata. The level at which water stands in
wells.