World water day

Summary information

Preparation:

Teachers will need to plan in advance to include World Water Day in the school calendar.

Resources needed:

• A computer in the assembly hall with a speaker to play sounds of frogs accessed from animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/topics/frogCalls.html
• Access to teacher background information on fresh water at www.wwf.org.uk/freshwaterwww.wwf.org.uk/gowild/happeninghabitats/freshwater.asp
• Access to the following WWF Canon photos resources 1 - 2:
  1)White-lined tree frog WWF Canon/Roger LeGUEN Image No. 105014
  2)Lady carrying water, Papua New Guinea. Credit Brent Stirton/Getty Images/WWF-UK. Image no. 112768.
• large jug of clean water and a glass on a table at the front of the assembly hall
• a bucket full of water on the floor beside the table
• A digital projector (optional)
• Flipchart and marker pen or interactive white board

Procedure:

• As children are coming into the assembly have on display a frog photo e.g. white-lined tree frog from WWF Canon library using a digital projector or hand round photos to the children. Play the frog sounds at the same time. Sounds from the website given above can be quickly downloaded and easily repeated as children are gathering for the assembly.
• Ask the children what they think is making the sounds. Some frogs make amazing sounds and are surprisingly loud considering their size. Tell pupils that male frogs often make unusual and surprising loud sounds when trying to attract females and that some males make calls to frighten off other males.
• Frogs depend on fresh waters for their young (tadpoles) to develop. Around the world many frogs are declining. Frogs (and other amphibians) are particularly sensitive to changes in the environment and the changes in their numbers acts as an early warning for problems that could affect other animals including us! Tell older pupils that in 2005 biologists announced that about a third of amphibians were declining worldwide.
• Tell the children that today we are looking at fresh water in preparation for World Water Day, a day when people around the world celebrate the importance of fresh water and how they can save water.
• Pour out a glass of water from the jug on the table at the front of the assembly hall. Say to the children any time we want a glass of clean water all we have to do is to go the nearest tap and we can have as much as we like.
• But many people in poor countries do not have enough safe water. Each year as many as five million people, mostly children, die from illnesses caused by unsafe water.
• Use a digital projector to show children the photo of a lady carrying water in Papua New Guinea or hand round copies of this photo to the children.
• Refer to the photo and let children know that many people in poor countries, usually women and children, have to spend up to six or eight hours a day carrying water to their homes.
• Ask for a volunteer to try and lift the bucket of water on display in the assembly. This holds about 10 litres. At least three buckets a day are used by a poor person in Africa.
• A person in the UK uses far more water than this in a day. Many people in the UK and other rich countries waste water because there seems to be plenty of it.

Reflection

Tell children that it is easy to take water for granted and to turn on the tap at any time for as much water as we like. But there are shortages of water in many parts of the UK today, so remember that every drop counts. It’s important that we use water sustainably, that means using water wisely and save as much water as we can.

Ask them to think for a minute or two about how they could save water. Then ask for their ideas and write these on an interactive white board or a flipchart. Follow up with more suggestions if necessary and add these to the list. Add some facts on water use for older children.

• Never leave taps running while you wash your hands or clean your teeth. For older children point out this can waste up to five litres of water a minute.
• Turn off a dripping tap whenever you see one. They can waste up to four litres of water a day.
• Take a shower instead of a bath. A five minute shower uses about a third of the water of a bath. But remember that power showers can use more water than a bath in less than five minutes.
• Wash vegetables and fruit in a bowl instead of under a running tap and use the water on your house plants.
• Use a watering can for the garden, not a hose. A hose can use as much as 35 litres of water a minute.

Introduce children to the idea of having a World Water Day in school. Ask children for their ideas for events they would like to hold to encourage people to save water.

Here are some suggestions for activities:

• Hold an art poster competition with the theme ‘How to save water’
• Raise funds for fresh water conservation by running a raffle, or organising a boot sale or school jumble sale
• Host a party with contests and freshwater-themed prizes.

Additional resources:

Pupils:
WWF GoWild photos and fresh water information. An interactive site with information on species and habitats, games and how to help.
www.wwf.org.uk/gowild/happeninghabitats/freshwater.asp

Sustainable School
Information and ideas on how to help save water, for young people. 7-14 years.
www.suschool.org.uk/water.html

Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust www.wwtlearn.org.uk
Activities and resource sheets

A trip with drip, the water drop
An educational interactive website teaching kids about water on our planet. www.ceeindia.org/drip/start.swf

Teachers:
WWF International. Twelve photos illustrating Freshwater Precious Resources with captions are at the WWF Canon Photogallery, Gallery list at www.panda.org

WWF-US Background information www.worldwildlife.org/freshwater

Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust. Online lesson plans for 4-14 year olds and background information www.wwtlearn.org.uk

Southern Water
Advice on saving water in schools and online teaching resources for 5-16 years.
www.southernwater.co.uk/homeAndLeisure/waterEfficiency/

World Water Day www.worldwaterday.org

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