What is drought?

What you'll need

• Laptop, projector, and screen 
• Drought or not drought slide show 
• Video: Drought - The Dr. Binocs Show (4:10) by Peekaboo Kidz

Slideshow activity

1. Start by asking students to share how the weather differs in the summer and winter in B.C. They may share that winter is cold with rain, snow, or sleet, and that summer is hot and dry with little rain, sometimes for many months like from May to October.
   
   
2. Tell the class that when it's hot in the summer and does not rain for many months, this is called ‘drought’.
    
3. Start the Drought or not drought slide show.
   
   
4. At slide 2, describe how water moves around our planet: 
   • When the sun heats water it evaporates from a liquid into the air as vapour. 
   • The warm air rises, hits the cold air above and condenses, forming clouds.
   • The water droplets then precipitate down as rain, snow or sleet and gather in streams, rivers, lakes and oceans. 
   • This is called the water cycle as it describes how water cycles around our planet.
     
     
5. At slide 3, ask students to spot what is missing from this picture. Precipitation like rain is missing. Remind students that if there is little or no rain for many months then we have drought. Tell students you will show them pictures in the summertime and ask them to identify if they think this is drought (dry with no rain) or not drought (wet and rainy). Assign a specific action for them to do indicating ‘drought’, for example put hands on head and a different action for ‘not drought’, for example jazz hands.
   
   
6. Slide 4 shows a kid playing in puddles in the rain (not drought)
   
   
7. Slide 5 shows dry, cracked soil (drought)
   
   
8. Slide 6 shows ducks in mucky soil (not drought)
   
   
9. Slide 7 shows dry forest after hot summer. The brown trees are showing evidence of drought or wildfire aftermath (drought)
   
   
10. Slide 8 shows salmon swimming up a river (not drought)
    
    
11. Slide 9 shows a more challenging one of green trees but dry soil and yellow grass, indicating that there is drought but the trees are still healthy (drought)
    
    
12. Now ask students if we can have drought here in summer? Yes we can! Ask students to recall what happened last summer with the weather. Often in summer here in B.C. we have drought, meaning that it does not rain as much and we could run low on water. Have students consider how this might affect us, fish, animals and the environment. Students may reflect that we must be careful to use only the water that we need and not waste water so there is also enough water for the fish, animals and environment to share.  
    
    
13. Have students consider different ways we can save water. See teaching notes for ideas.
    
    
14. Finish by showing a video that summarizes these concepts: Drought - The Dr. Binocs Show (4:10) by Peekaboo Kidz. As students watch the video, have them look for new ideas on how to save water, such as only running dishwashers and washing machines when full, or only filling the bathtub halfway.