Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock () or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

This is not the current EPA website. To navigate to the current EPA website, please go to www.epa.gov. This website is historical material reflecting the EPA website as it existed on January 19, 2025. This website is no longer updated and links to external websites and some internal pages may not work. More information »

JavaScript appears to be disabled on this computer. Please click here to see any active alerts.

Children's Health Curriculum Lesson 6: Keeping All of Our Waterways Clean

Lesson 6

This lesson helps kids understand the importance of water in our lives and describes the life cycle of freshwater. It also discusses how to keep trash from getting in storm drains and polluting our waterways.

Kids Will Be Able To:

define rainwater runoff, drainage pollution, freshwater, saltwater, and potable;
name three different types of waterways;
explain three ways to stop drainage pollution; and
explain how keeping our waterways clean benefits the entire community.

How to Get This Lesson:

The complete lesson plan offers everything you need, including all visual materials.

Download the complete lesson plan

Lesson 6: Keeping All of Our Waterways Clean (pdf) (2.91 MB)

Download parts of the lesson plan

Instructor materials:
Lesson Cards (PDF) (9 pp, 3 MB)

Handouts for students:
Take Home Talk (PDF) (2 pp, 685 K)

Visuals:

Poster 1 Waterways (PDF) (2 pp, 416 K)

Additional Resources:

Instructor Resources

EPA: Water Resources for Kids
District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority: DC Water for Kids - Cartoons, activities, lessons, and workbooks to learn about water and ways to conserve.

Kids' Activities / Coloring Sheets

EPA: Water Cycle Coloring Sheet (PDF) (1pp, 214K)