Passive Rainwater Harvesting
These activities engage youth in passive rainwater harvesting, which uses contours in landscapes to capture and store rainwater.
Note: To download a PDF file, please Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Mac) on its link, then choose Save.
Activities:
Soak or Splash?
Youth experiment with different materials to determine whether they are pervious or impervious.
Keep the Rain!
Youth explore passive rainwater harvesting techniques that can be used to capture water in a landscape.
Water Zig Zag Race
Youth team up to create race courses where the winning team's water moves the slowest through a designed course.
Rock RipRap
Youth explore ways that rocks can influence the movement of water, learn songs about the water cycle and conservation, and write their own conservation songs, raps, or poems to highlight rainwater harvesting concepts.
Bunyip-ee-ty-o
Youth create two tools to measure slope and use them in a landscape to determine the direction that water will naturally flow in order to design a passive water harvesting system.
Please note that both the PDF Activity file and the Appendix link below are needed to complete the activity.
- Bunyip-ee-ty-o Activity
- Appendix 2 of Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands and Beyond, Volume 2: Bunyip Water Levels and A-frame Levels
Living Sponge
Youth experiment to determine if a sponge's capacity to hold water is sufficient to grow a plant.
Rain Barrel Cactus
Youth create a model of a cactus that demonstrates its adaptation to low-water environments through its ability to store rainwater for dry periods.
Waffle Garden
Youth explore the water saving benefits of a traditional farming method used by the Zuni Nation and still practiced today. Youth investigate how a waffle structure holds water and plant their own waffle gardens.
Water Harvest
Youth experiment with different water needs of plants and determine what plants grow best in an arid environment.
Please note that the PDF Activity file and both Article links below are needed to complete the activity.
- Water Harvest Activity
- Article: Tepary: The Bean that Laughs at Drought
- Article: Ten Steps to a Successful Vegetable Garden
