Geography at key stages 1 and 2    (Year 5)

• Ask the children to note as many clues to the presence of water as possible, using a map of the area around the school. Then ask them to use an atlas to identify places with very high and very low rainfall.

• Ask the children to walk around the school grounds and mark on a plan all signs of water movement, eg downpipes, gutters and, possibly with the assistance of a school keeper, investigate where water enters and leaves the school, and find out what a stopcock is.
• Divide the children into small groups and ask them to work out how they would transport water from another tap in the school grounds to their classroom if their nearest tap were not working.
• Ask the children to find out how water is taken to farmland (irrigation), using photographs from Thread of the Nile, or similar resource pack.

• As a class, compile a list of the various uses of water. Divide the children into groups and ask them to sort the list into categories - home, farms, industry, leisure, others.
• Read to the class Bringing the rain to Kapiti Plain by Verma Aardema.
• Ask the children to keep a diary of water use in the home for a week. Explore the issue of wasting water and discuss what happens to water once it has been used.
• Ask the children to record their use of water in the home on a spreadsheet. Discuss with the children the patterns of water consumption and how reducing consumption might improve the environment.

• Discuss with the children what makes water dirty. Ask the children to collect water samples and examine their smell and appearance (BUT NOT TASTE) and carry out experiments to find out how water may be cleaned, eg boiling, filtering. Ask them to consider whether there are things in the water that cannot be seen.
• Ask the children to find out from the library about times when people did not have clean water and how changes were brought about. They may also find out what is meant by 'usable water' and the comparative importance of a plentiful supply of clean water.
• Visit a sewage treatment plant.

• Ask the children to label selected items with the name of their owner, eg scissors, felt pens, personal items, litter, jugs of clean and dirty water.
• Discuss with the children water bills and the breakdown of costs, how a water company can own water, whether water belongs to everybody, and who owns rain.
• Ask the children to use secondary sources to find out about the work of aid agencies in water provision in less economically developed countries and how building wells in farming areas can affect the local environment.