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International Year of Fresh Water
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2003 is the International Year of Freshwater.
The world's freshwater – what humans and a host of plant and animal species
need to survive – is under threat.
The International Year of Freshwater is our opportunity to become involved
in water conservation by raising awareness of the potential crisis in
our own communities, actively reducing our own water usage, and becoming
involved in worldwide efforts to reduce the contamination and wastage
of water by industry and farming.
Quick facts from the International Year of Freshwater website:
- More than half of the world's major rivers are either heavily polluted
and/or drying up in their lower reaches because of over-use.
- Every day, 2 million tons of human waste are disposed of in water
courses.
- Water-related diseases kill more than 5 million people each year
– 10 times the number of people killed in wars.
- 300-500 million tons of heavy metals, solvents, toxic sludge, and
other wastes accumulate each year from industry.
- It takes 1,000 tons of water to produce just one ton of grain.
- 69 percent of all water withdrawn for human use is soaked up by agriculture.
Industry accounts for 23 percent and domestic use (household, drinking water,
sanitation) accounts for only 8 percent.
Why not see how clean the water is in your local area? A number of water
testing sites are listed at the bottom of this page.
Water is not only a conservation issue – it also has a social impact.
For example, the building of dams has displaced up to 80 million people
worldwide from their homes. Contamination and overuse of river basins
displaced 25 million environmental refugees in 1998/99.
You can celebrate the International Year of Freshwater by figuring out
what you can do to save water in your daily life, and put these strategies
in place this year and every year from now on! Why not consider creating
a school-wide or community-wide awareness programme or create posters,
fliers, or a web page dedicated to spreading the freshwater message?
Resources
on TKI
2003 International
Year of Freshwater
This is the website of the United Nations International Year of Freshwater
2003. It contains information on the world's freshwater supply and the
issues faced by people in acquiring and maintaining supplies of freshwater,
as well as articles on issues and events, and international contacts.
http://www.wateryear2003.org
Ideas
for Water Awareness Campaigns
Want to raise awareness about the importance of water conservation? This
website offers you advice on different ways to do this – from small-scale
campaigns in your school or neighbourhood to larger public campaigns involving
web and print publications.
http://www.collinsassoc.ca/water
Drink
Anyone?
Access to safe water and sanitation can be regarded as a basic human right.
This level 5 unit, intended for years 9 and 10, examines factors that
prevent people from gaining access to water. It encourages students to
consider what types of social action could be taken to improve people's
access to this essential resource.
http://www.tki.org.nz/r/socialscience/curriculum/SSOL/water/index_e.php
Educate
the Children: Investigating Rivers
Students learn, through fieldwork and research, about rivers and the effects
they have on the landscape. The unit focuses on the components of the
water cycle, and how rivers erode, transport and deposit materials which
produce particular landscape features.
http://www.educate.org.uk/teacher_zone/classroom/geography/unit14.htm
Water conservation
Save
Our Disappearing Water – Teacher Resource Kit
This teacher resource kit, put together by the Christchurch City Council,
provides a series of pdfs to encourage you to conserve water. Downloads
include a research project on water around the world, an emergency water
rationing scenario, checklists for saving water around the house, and
how to read a water meter.
http://www.ccc.govt.nz/publications/saveourwater
Take
Action for Water
Take Action for Water is an environmental education programme from the
Wellington Regional Council helping year 4-8 students understand and care
for fresh water in the Wellington region. It provides online interactive
activities for students, a resourced programme for teachers with educator
support in the Wellington region, and an opportunity to share actions
and projects with schools.
http://www.wrc.govt.nz/ta/water
Streams
and Waterways: Strife in Streamville
This level 2-4 environmental education and social studies unit plan for
years 5 to 8 looks at the impact humans have on the environment. Māori
values related to use of streams and waterways are also included. Students
research local heritage sites, and create an environmental project.
http://www.tki.org.nz/r/environ_ed/primary_units/streams_water_e.php
Down
the Drain: How Much Water Do You Use?
This Internet-based collaborative project allows students to share information
about water usage with other students from around the world. Students
can submit their findings and post their work (e.g. awareness-raising
letters) online. The site also provides a teacher’s area that includes
curriculum standards and a publishing policy.
http://www.k12science.org/curriculum/drainproj
Drinking
Water for Kids
The Environmental Protection Agency has created a number of downloadable
resources on water conservation that are free to use. The Water Source
Book Series and a number of environmentally-focused activity sheets are
amongst the pdfs available.
http://www.epa.gov/safewater/kids/exper.html
Earth
Day Network – Water
Learn about the threats to the world’s water and what you can do
to support its conservation by becoming part of the “Water for Life”
campaign.
http://www.earthday.net/goals/water.stm
Freshwater
Ecosystems
This web page looks at the importance of rivers, streams, ponds, lakes,
and wetlands, and describes the plants and animals within these ecosystems.
http://mbgnet.mobot.org/fresh/index.htm
Water testing
National
Waterways Project
This project website supports learning experiences in water quality monitoring
for primary and secondary students. It includes a database, newsletters,
teacher training opportunities in waterways management, and field trip
organisation.
http://www.rsnz.govt.nz/education/nwp/content/index.htm
Bio/1/4
– F version 2
This assessment material entitled "Bothering the Bugs", relates
to New Zealand biology achievement standard 1.4. Students carry out a
field study into the bug life and stream health of two contrasting stream
communities.
http://www.tki.org.nz/r/ncea/bio1_4Fv2_30june02.doc
Sci/3/1
– B version 1
This assessment material entitled "A Local Stream Study", relates
to New Zealand science achievement standard 3.1. It examines students
planning, carrying out, and reporting on a correlation exercise which
investigates relationships between physical and biological variables which
influence the 'health' of the stream.
http://www.tki.org.nz/r/ncea/sci3_1Bv1_10feb02.doc
Technology/1/2
– Waterways project version
This assessment material entitled Nitrate Contamination of Local Bore
Water, relates to New Zealand technology achievement standard 1.2. It
assesses students formulating a brief to address the issue of an increased
level of nitrate contamination in local bore water.
http://www.tki.org.nz/r/ncea/tech1_2W_30oct01.doc
Please note: These links were valid
when this page was posted. However the Web is very volatile, and TKI has
no control over outside websites. Please let us know if you find anything
inappropriate, if you find a broken link, or if you have an update for
a link by emailing links@tki.org.nz.
Te Kete Ipurangi recommends that teachers view all websites we link to
before using them with students.
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