Water Saving Education Pack

Herts Schools KS2 Water Saving Information Pack

Curriculum Links

Geography/Science with links to Numeracy/Literacy/ ICT

Geography/Science lesson with links to literacy/numeracy/ICT

Literacy/Drama

Art and PSHE

Numeracy/ICT/ Geography/PSHE

1. Introduction

2. The Water Cycle

3-4. School water audit

- teachers notes

5. School water audit worksheet

6. TV storyboard worksheet

7. Water poster template

8. Home water audit

- teachers notes

9-11. Home water audit worksheet

12. Water saving tips

13. Links to further information and resources

14. School feedback form

Contents

During the past three decades our daily consumption of water per person has been steadily increasing. Water is often taken for granted in the UK, with each of us expecting a plentiful supply every time we flush the toilet or turn on the tap. The East of England receives only two thirds of the average UK annual rainfall and Hertfordshire is located in the driest region in the country. We are also one of the biggest users of water, with each person on average using 162 litres of water per day the equivalent of two bathfuls. Most of Hertfordshires water is drawn from natural underground supplies replenished by rainfall. These supplies also feed the chalk rivers and wetlands in the county which are important habitats supporting a variety of plants and wildlife. 85% of the worlds chalk rivers are found in England with the majority in Hertfordshire. If we use all the water for our supplies, the chalk rivers and wetlands dry up resulting in a loss of habitat. As Hertfordshire residents we can all help by changing our habits to reduce our water consumption by just 12 litres each per day, bringing us down to the national average of 150 litres per person per day. Saving water whether at school, at home or in the garden takes very little effort, but small changes can make a big impact. This is the message we want to teach children, so the next generation will understand why we cannot take our water supplies for granted and how we can all help to conserve this precious resource. This water saving information pack for schools has been designed to encourage children to investigate and consider the way they use water. It contains activities for children to carry out at school and at home to help them understand how much water we use and how much is often wasted. Activities including a simple water audit will help children get to grips with the key issue of water wastage and conservation. We have also included some water saving tips and provided web links to further information and educational resources for teachers to follow up should they wish to. Water is an exciting topic that can develop pupils skills in many curriculum areas including geography, ICT, numeracy, literacy and PSHE. This pack has been designed based on KS2 pupils, however the activities could be adapted for pupils at all levels.

Introduction

The water we have is always on the move in a never-ending cycle. We need to take care of what we already have because every living thing needs water to survive. There are six important processes that make up the water cycle.

1. Condensation - Condensation occurs when a gas is changed into a liquid.

2. Infiltration - Infiltration is an important process where rain water soaks into the ground, through the soil and underlying rock layers.

3. Runoff - Much of the water that returns to Earth as precipitation runs off the surface of the land, and flows downhill into streams, rivers, ponds and lakes.

4. Evaporation - the process where a liquid, in this case water, changes from its liquid state to a gaseous state.

5. Precipitation - When small droplets of water join together in clouds to form larger droplets which become heavy and the raindrops fall to Earth as precipitation.

6. Transpiration - As plants absorb water from the soil, the water moves from the roots through the stems to the leaves. Once the water reaches the leaves, some of it evaporates. This process of evaporation through plant leaves is called transpiration.

The Water Cycle

Image courtesy of Affinity Water

Teachers Notes: Pupils should be encouraged to be water detectives and find out where water is going down the drain unnecessarily in your school. Data collection can form part of a geography or science lesson typically with follow up work linked to numeracy, literacy and ICT skills development.

Why do a water audit at your school? By completing a water audit, pupils can improve water efficiency, save money and help the environment by identifying areas where water is being wasted.

How to complete a water audit?

1. Planning

Introduce the topic of water in your school. Does your school have a commitment on water education and conservation? If not have a go a writing one down together. Encourage pupils to think about why water is important and how we can be water efficient.

Decide who will be responsible for completing the audit. This could be done by the school council, eco-council, a class, a year group or small group such as lunchtime or after school clubs.

Tell everyone what you are doing so they know you might need access to all areas of the school.

Look at a map of the school to identify where to visit and plan your route or assign different areas to different groups.

Copy enough worksheets for each group/individual to have their own

2. Think about the health and safety

Walk carefully and sensibly around the school

Floors could be wet under foot

There might be hot liquids in certain areas

3. The audit

Remind everyone that you will be conducting the audit on the day

Split the pupils into groups and visit each area of the school.

Use the worksheet provided to record the water using items you find, what type they are and is there anything else you think you can note? Hint: are any of them wasting water?

School Water Audit

4. After the audit?

Plot graphs for the number of water using devices in each area.(Numeracy & ICT)

Develop a water saving action plan for the school which identifies if there are any changes that can be made both short and long term to improve water efficiency. (Eco Schools)

Inform the whole school and the parents of the outcome of the water audit. Try a persuasive writing lesson to get pupils to write letters to the head teacher to make changes in the school. (Literacy)

Look at different types of newspaper articles and write their own to report on water usage and encourage people to use less water. (Literacy)

In groups get pupils to create an idea for a TV advert to promote their water saving message. Write a storyboard for the advert (worksheet 2) and then pupils perform the advert to the class or to whole school in assembly (Literacy and Drama)

Run a water saving campaign in school by designing posters and leaflets, give an assembly on water, put reminder labels on all taps. (Literacy/ Art and design)

Monitor- you could nominate water champions for each class and celebrate your water saving achievements and share your ideas. (PSHE & Eco Schools)

Examples of different types of water devices: Push Taps:

Old single flush Toilets- 9L flush:

Twist Taps:

Newer Dual Flush Toilets- 4-6L flush:

Sensor Taps:

School water efficiency audit Name of school: Number of pupils: Number of staff:

Location Water using device Type of device Notes

Boys toilets 2 Taps (hot and cold) Twist taps

You have to make sure that turn the taps off otherwise you can waste up to 6L of water per minute.

Hot tap is dripping this could be wasting up to 84L of water per week.

Pupil Activity Sheet 1

Television Storyboard

Name


Poster Template

Name


Teachers notes

1. Homework activity Children take home the home water audit worksheet to record how much water their household uses in a day. This could also be carried out over a weekend instead.

2. Why carry out a home audit?

For children to see how much water is used around their home and to look at where they could use less water.

3. Home water audit worksheet

On the worksheet there are questions about the household and on different water use activities around the home. Children choose those relevant to their home and record the number of uses or minutes taken for each water use activity for their household. Part B at the end of the worksheet is a table to calculate the total water use per day for the whole household, this can be done as homework or as an in class activity the following day.

4. After home water audit

Numeracy skills- Pupils should complete section B of the home audit worksheet to calculate the amount of water used per person in their house per day.

ICT skills- Pupils share their final answers to section B of the audit and plot graphs to compare water use between households of a similar size.

Advanced Numeracy and ICT skills- pupils could calculate their water usage for each room in the house and work out what percentage of their total water usage this is. Then plot this as a pie chart to show where they use most water in their house.

Geography skills- Investigate why some households have a much higher daily water use than others (i.e. a lot of baths, hosepipe use). Do those homes with water meters use less water?

PSHE- Ask pupils to think about what they can do around the home to save water (i.e. shorter showers, turning tap off when brushing teeth etc.) and get everyone at home to make a pledge to do one thing each to save water.

Home Water Audit

Home Water Audit Worksheet

Name

This home water audit is for you to see how much water you and your family use in your home each day. Every activity in your home that uses water should be recorded below. You may need help from your family to answer some of the questions. You might also need a calculator.

Part A: Household Information: Type of home: Flat Terraced house

Semi- detached house Detached house

Other (write in).

Does your home have a water meter? Yes No Number of adults living in your home... Number of children living in your home.. Number of toilets Number of showers. Number of baths.. Does your home have a dishwasher? Yes No Does your home have a washing machine? Yes No Water use in the home:

1. Showers: How many showers does your family take a day? How long is each one? Add your figures below:

. .. x = Total shower time per day (no. of showers) (no. of minutes)

Is your shower a traditional one or a power shower? Traditional shower Power shower

2. Baths: How many baths does your family take in a day? ... Total baths per day

3. Toilets: How many times a day does your family flush the toilet? (The average is

four flushes per person)

. . x = .. Total number of flushes per day (no. in family) (no. of flushes)


4. Brushing teeth: How often does your family brush their teeth? Most people will

brush their teeth twice a day for about 2 minutes each time.

. x = .. Total number of brushes per day (no. in family) (no. of brushes)

. x 2 minutes each brush = Total brushing time per day (total no. of brushes per day)

Does your family run the tap while brushing or do they turn it off? Runs the tap Turns the tap off

5. Washing up by hand: How many bowls a day does your family fill to wash up dishes by hand? How long does it take to fill a bowl?

x .. = Total minutes of use per day (No. of minutes (No. of bowls to fill 1 bowl) to wash up)

6. Dishwasher: If your family has a dishwasher, how many times a week do they use it?

7 (days) = . Total number of uses per day (total no. of uses per week)

7. Washing machine: If your family has a washing machine, how many times a week do they use it?


8. Watering the garden: How many times a week does your family water the garden?


Does your family use a watering can or a hosepipe? Watering can Hosepipe for ................ minutes

9. Any other indoor water uses: Is there anything else your family uses water for

inside the home? List them here: .. ..

10. Any other outdoor uses: Is there anything else your family uses water for outside in the garden or driveway? List them here:

Part B: Fill in the third column in the table below with your answers from questions 1 to 8 and calculate the total daily water use for your household.

Water use activity Litres per minute or per use Minutes or use per day

Total household water use (in litres) per day

1. Showers Traditional: 9 litres per min

x =

OR Power: 18 litres per min

x =

2. Baths 80 litres per use

x =

3. Toilets 9 litres per flush

x =

4. Brushing teeth Tap running: 6 litres per min

x =

OR Tap turned off: 1 litre per use

x =

5. Washing up by hand

8 litres per min

x =

6. Dishwasher 15 litres per use

x =

7. Washing machine

70 litres per use

x =

8. Watering the garden

Watering can: 2 litres per use

x =

OR hosepipe: 15 litres per min

x =

Total family water use in litres per day:

For schools: Free to low cost

Report all leaks or drips of taps and toilets

Fit water displacing devices in toilet cisterns

Fix leaking taps

Investigate where any leaks are coming from Medium to high cost

Fit self-closing push taps

Fit flow restrictors if you have high water pressure

Fit sensor taps

Fit efficient automatic flush controls on urinals

Around the home: Bathroom

Turn the tap off whilst brushing your teeth and save around 6 litres of water per minute

Cutting your shower time by just 1 minute saves up to 10 litres of water

Only flush the toilet when you need to; each flush uses up to 9 litres of water. Use a bin for bathroom rubbish like wet wipes or facial tissues

Kitchen

Keep a jug of water in the fridge instead of running the tap for cold water and save up to 6 litres per minute

Whether you are washing fruit and vegetables or cleaning dirty dishes, use a bowl instead of keeping the tap running

Fix leaky taps as soon as you notice them. This could save up to 60 litres of water per week

Outside

Collect rainwater in a water butt instead of watering your garden with a hose for 10 minutes, and save up to 60 litres of water

Water your garden in the evening or early morning so that less water evaporates

Choose plants for your garden which dont need as much water Wash your car with a bucket instead of using a hose

Water saving tips

Waterwise: Tips for saving water in schools http://www.waterwise.org.uk/pages/schools.html Anglian Water: Resources for schools http://www.anglianwater.co.uk/community/education/resources/ Affinity Water: Education services https://education.affinitywater.co.uk/ Affinity Water: Saving water in your home https://www.affinitywater.co.uk/my-water-efficiency.aspx Eco-schools: Water topic http://www2.keepbritaintidy.org/ecoschools/gettingstarted/ninetopics/water Environment Agency: Save Water http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/homeandleisure/beinggreen/117266.aspx Environment Agency: Be Waterwise poster http://a0768b4a8a31e106d8b0-50dc802554eb38a24458b98ff72d550b.r19.cf3.rackcdn.com/geho0606bkza-e-e.pdf Energy Saving Trust: Saving Water http://www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/Heating-and-hot-water/Saving-money-on-hot-water/Saving-water Interactive sites for children: http://www.thewaterfamily.co.uk/index2_content.html http://www.captainsplosh.co.uk/

Links to further information and

resources

1. Name of School: Town:

2. Contact Name: Email:

3. How many pupils have used this pack?

4. Which parts of the pack have you used? Please rank from Most (1) to Least (5) useful sections of the pack:

Please tick if used Please rank

Further Links

Water Saving tips

Homework water audit

School Water audit

TV Storyboard

Poster template

5. What actions have been done as a result of reading this pack?

Water Campaign Water saving devices requested Policy on water usage Water action plan New taps/toilets Other (please state)

6. Have parents been involved? Y / N 7. If you would like to provide any further feedback please provide your comments

below.

If you would like to receive a Green Our Herts Water saving certificate which can be displayed in your school and used to support an application for an Eco School Award,

please print, complete, scan and email your feedback form to: [email protected]

Please put Schools water efficiency in the subject line.

Thank You for your time.

Feedback Form

Water Saving Education Pack

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Transcript of Water Saving Education Pack