Originally appears in the Spring 2012 issue
Imagine waking up in the morning to prepare for a busy day. You hop in the shower, but there is no running water. Disappointed, you go downstairs for your morning coffee. You turn on the tap, but the water runs murky and brown. Although you’re upset, you know that this is only a temporary crisis, to be quickly resolved by your local water utility. Unfortunately, for many in the developing world, lack of access to clean, safe drinking water is not a temporary situation; it is their everyday reality.
Nearly 1 billion people, a seventh of the world’s population, do not have access to safe drinking water. A further 2.6 billion are without basic sanitation, like toilets and latrines. Lack of safe water and adequate sanitation is the world’s single largest cause of illness. At any one time, half of the world’s hospital beds are occupied by patients needlessly suffering from water and sanitation-related diseases. It also accounts for the second largest cause of childhood mortality worldwide. For example, every year 1.5 million children under the age of five die from diarrhea, caused primarily by dirty water and poor sanitation. This is the equivalent of 16 airliners full of children under the age of five crashing each day.
We all know that besides the air we breathe, nothing is more fundamental to our existence than clean, safe drinking water. Whether we live in Canada, Bangladesh, the United States, Ethiopia or Australia, access to clean water doesn’t just keep us personally healthy, it also contributes to vibrant and productive communities. Water unites us all and is a valuable resource that we all need to steward through conservation and equitable distribution.
Teachers play a vital role in helping foster an early appreciation of this most precious resource. For this reason, WaterCan developed curriculum resources in both English and French which can be freely downloaded from our “Water Wisdom Portal” at www.watercan.com/students.
There are many engaging and informative ways to bring water education into your classroom, and help students understand the the importance of water in their daily lives, and the lives of others around the world. All subject areas have the potential to include water-based activities. Here are a few of our favourite lesson plans.
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K-3 Lesson: SOUND OF WATER
Time: 45 minutes
Materials: Digital Recorder or audiocassette recorder, rubber toy.
Description: A series of group activities in which students can learn about the benefits of regular hand washing through visualization and role-play.
Teaching Strategies
- Before the lesson, the teacher makes short recordings of different sounds made by water use around the house: washing dishes, a bathtub draining, a toilet flushing, a water sprinkler… Make sure the sound of washing hands comes in last.
- Sitting in a circle, the children close their eyes and listen to each recording. They raise their hands when they can recognize the sound.
- Talk about what each activity is for and the part of the house we do it in. Then, ask students to imagine what people would do if there wasn’t water to perform these tasks, or if there were no water taps in the house.
Application
- Ask how many children have been sick before. Explain that sickness comes from germs that we often get from people’s hands, and that washing gets rid of these germs.
- Show a rubber toy and ask the class to pretend that it is a germ. In this game, one child steps out of the circle and closes his/her eyes. The teacher then gives the germ to another child to hold. The student at the front now has to guess who has the germ, i.e. who has not washed their hands. In the same way, we don’t usually see where we get our germs from.
- Find an area with enough room to move around in, such as the gym or the hallway outside of class. To sing the following song, the class needs to line up in two rows facing each other. The two children at the end of the line are the germs.
Sing to the tune of “If you’re happy and you know it”
If you’re healthy and you know it, wash your hands (clap)
If you’re healthy and you know it, wash your hands
First the soap, and then the water (left, then right palm up)
Then you rub your hands together
When you wash your hands the germs go down the drain.
(The two children at the end of the line join hands and run “down the drain,” taking their place at the other end. Repeat the song for the next pair of germs, and on down the line).
Grade 4-6 Lesson: WATER ALIVE!
Time: 2 hours spaced over several classes
Materials: Books on African animals, computers with Internet access.
Description: This is a research-based activity designed to help generate an understanding about universal dependence on water. The students are asked to create an advertisement from the perspective of an African animal, challenging humans to take action on a water issue related to their animal of choice.
Teaching Strategies
- Explain to the class that living beings are dependent upon water for their survival and that the purpose of the activity is to explore this relationship from the perspective of an (African) animal of their choice. It is suggested that an African animal be selected as water scarcity and water access are of particular concern on that continent.
- Instruct the students to conduct some preliminary research and pick an animal for study whose habitat is in Africa. Should you prefer students to work in groups, suggest that they select one of the following animals as a basis for group formation: Cheetah, Baboon, Elephant, Giraffe, Zebra, Eland, Kudu, Rhinoceros, Warthog, Waterbuck and Lion.
- Ask students to do some research on the animal in order to answer these questions:
- Describe the animal, its habitat, and where in Africa it is found (country, body of water).
- Describe the relationship between the animal and its habitat (i.e. ducks live in marshes because they need marsh plants for food and shelter and water for movement).
- Describe how the animal finds and uses water (drinking, bathing, cooling, etc).
- Identify any water issues (such as pollution, scarcity) that affect the health of this animal and its habitat.
4. Based on their research, have students, individually or in groups, create an advertisement (pamphlet, poster, magazine advertisement, TV or radio commercial) from the point of view of the animal, telling humans why water is important to them. Through the advertisement, students should try to convince others to take action on the issue (conserve water, stop polluting, etc) to help protect their species. The advertisement should contain relevant information from the research phase of the activity.
5. Have students present their advertisement to the class.
Grade 7-10 Lesson: WATER AROUND THE WORLD
Time: Two 75 minute periods, plus one week for student data collection at home.
Materials: CIESE website (www.ciese.org/curriculum/drainproj/), 5 x 1-L clear plastic container, faucet (access to water).
Description: This class project introduces students to water usage, and to data gathering and analysis. The Center for Improved Engineering and Science Education (CIESE) has set-up an Internet-based collaborative project which allows students to share information about water usage with other students from around the world. Students and others in their household will collect data for one week and use the information to determine the average daily water use per person. This data will be submitted to a world-wide data base to compare their average to others around the world.
Teaching Strategies
DAY 1: How much water do you and your family use per day?
- Present a one-litre clear plastic container filled with water. Ask your students to estimate how many litres one would use to:
- wash their hands
- brush their teeth
- take a shower
- water the lawn
- take a bath
- do a load of laundry
- Using a faucet, measure the amount of water flowing from a faucet in one minute. Repeat this exercise twice; once with water running slowly and once running quickly. (Note: have multiple empty one-litre containers available for this exercise.)
- Identify with the class the flow rate of water per minute for slowly and quickly running water. This will be used as the estimate for the remainder of the lesson.
- Have students calculate how much water they would use if they washed dishes for 3 minutes with water running slowly and water running quickly.
- Distribute the Family Tally Chart (from the website) to students and have them record their personal and family water use for a period of one week. Students should also check with their parents whether they have a standard or low flow shower head, and either a standard or low flow toilet.
DAY 2 – A week later
- Students will calculate the average amount of water used by each member of their household. This information will be written in a comparative table. They will calculate the average daily water use for their family.
- Students will record their daily family water use amount on the board and together calculate the average daily water use for the class.
- Visit the Project Data section of the CIESE website. Students can then compare their results to that of students from around the world
- By examining the data, have students answer the following questions:
- How do you think the average amount of water you use in one day compares to what others in our country use? Other North Americans?
- Do you think people in other parts of the world use more or less water than we do? Why?
- What factors contribute to water usage? (ie. Water distribution and availability)
- Do people in drier climates use more water than people in rainier climates?
- Do North Americans use more water than people in Europe and Asia?
- Does water usage depend on geographical location?
- Do people who live near oceans use less water than people who do not?
Learning about water-related issues and the importance of global cooperation is not only important, it’s fun. Through these activities, students and teachers can gain valuable knowledge about water and how we can all contribute to a better global future. Emily Harris is a student at the University of Ottawa and volunteer for WaterCan. For more information about WaterCan and further lesson examples, visit www.watercan.com/students/ where you will find videos, activities, and resources to promote Water Wisdom in your classroom.
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