The Water Footprint of Food Quiz
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Provided by: Water Footprint Calculator|Published on: October 27, 2025
Activity - ClassroomScientist Reviewed
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Scientist Reviewed This resource has been reviewed by SubjectToClimate's climate scientists and verified for scientific accuracy and up-to-date information. Learn about our review process →
Synopsis
- This resource from Water Footprint Calculator includes a quiz for students to test their knowledge about how much water is used to produce various foods.
- Students will understand how different types of foods use different amounts of water, learn how they can waste less water, and see how crops are watered.
Subjects: Science
Authors: Water Footprint Calculator
Region: Global
Languages: English
Teaching Materials
Positives
- The quiz is brief, and students can quickly and easily take it again and again to improve their score.
- The resource provides multiple avenues for extension after students finish the quiz.
Prerequisites
- Teachers may want to walk students through the drag-and-drop on Question 5. Students need to drag the numbers up or down to fall in line with the food they want to match it to, rather than dragging and dropping it on top of that food. Students who don't have this explained may become frustrated.
- For the scoring, teachers should note that, while most of the questions are each worth a point, Question 3 and Question 5 are worth points for each correct answer in the multi-select or drag-and-drop.
Differentiation & Implementation
- Since students are not given a run-down of the questions they got right and wrong, teachers may want to have students record their answers on a piece of paper.
- After completing the quiz, teachers can have students write down one of the questions and answers that surprised them or made them think. Then, using this information, teachers can sort students into jigsaw groups to explore the Learn More pages that correspond with their questions of interest.
- After completing the quiz, students can evaluate the water usage in their personal diets with this calculator or the one linked below the quiz answers. Teachers and students can then discuss individual and systemic actions that can be taken to address this problem, for example, eating a plant-based diet (individual) or government subsidies for less water-intensive growing practices (systemic).
- Teachers can use this quiz as an activity in a lesson about Sustainable Development Goal 6, Clean Water and Sanitation.
This resource is a short quiz designed to test knowledge about the water footprint of food. It is straightforward and can be used either before or after learning about the topic. A link to a guide on water footprints is provided before the quiz, and after completing the quiz, additional resources related to each question are made available. This concept is important in relation to climate change and conservation, as fresh water is a natural resource that is impacted by climate change and human activities. Some strategies for mitigation include growing and/or purchasing food with a lower water footprint. The information presented is accurate, and this resource is recommended for teaching.
Teaching Tips
Standards
Resource Type and Format
About the Partner Provider
Water Footprint Calculator
The Water Footprint Calculator is a website that gives educators and students innovative tools and content about water use and the water footprint concept. The website contains the Water Footprint Calculator tool, high school and middle school lesson plans, in-depth information pages, water-saving tips, reports and more. This educational content helps students recognize that consumption of food, energy and consumer goods has a greater impact on their water consumption than they might realize.
Scientist Reviewed
This resource has been reviewed by SubjectToClimate's climate scientists and verified for scientific accuracy and up-to-date information. Our review process ensures that every resource in our library reflects the current state of climate science.
Learn about our review process →
