Track your family's water usage
Student handout
Step 1: Determine your family's water usage
•Software: Microsoft Office Excel 2007, Microsoft Office Word 2007
•What to do: Determine your family's water usage and report on your findings
1. Open the Office Excel 2007 water usage worksheet template (Office Excel 2007 spreadsheet, 36 KB) on
your computer.
2. Save the worksheet, and use your first name and last initial as the document title.
3. Open Internet Explorer, and visit the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Web site
(http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/sq3.html).
4. Review and answer the questions about water usage. Be sure to record your answers on your Office
Excel 2007 worksheet and also on the Web site. You will use the worksheet to compare and analyze your
family water usage when you show it to your classmates.
5. Record the total number of gallons of water.
6. Go to the Water Usage Chart tab at the bottom of your Office Excel 2007 worksheet. Print your chart.
7. Open a new Office Word 2007 document, and then answer the following questions about your water
usage:
•What activity uses the most water for your family?
•What is the average number of gallons each member of your family used?
•What three things can you do to reduce the amount of water used at your house?
•What are three reasons to conserve water? What are three benefits of conserving water?
•How does your water usage compare to others in your class?
Step 2: Present your recommendations
•Software: Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2007
•What to do: Create an Office PowerPoint 2007 presentation to share your recommendations
based on your research
1.Open Office PowerPoint 2007.
2.Create slides that communicate three ways your family can use less water at home.