Have you used water today? Of course you have – you’ve probably flushed a toilet, run a tap, had a drink of it, or had a shower. You might have walked on it on your way to school this morning, if it’s winter outside, or skated on it this week at hockey or ringette practice.
Water is an amazing substance. It is the only substance on earth that is found naturally in three different forms: liquid (like the water from your school drinking fountain), gas (water vapour), and solid (ice). All living things depend on water to support life. And yet, almost all of the water on earth is not useable because it’s ocean water, which is very salty.
Our planet has been called the “blue planet” because so much of it is covered with water. But most of the water on this “blue planet” is salty ocean water. To give you an idea of how much water on earth there is that humans and other living beings can use, try this demonstration at home or at school. Fill up a one litre container with water. Then, take 30 millilitres (about 2 tablespoons) out of that one litre container and put it in a small bowl; this represents how much fresh water there is on earth. Pour salt into the water left in the one litre container – this is now like most of the water on earth, too salty for humans to use. Next, take a teaspoon out of the bowl of “fresh water” and place it in another small container. That teaspoon represents the amount of the world’s fresh water that is not frozen (only about 0.6% of the total water on earth). But not even all of this water is on the surface – take an eyedropper, and take out one drop of water from the teaspoon; this one drop represents the clean, fresh water on earth that is not polluted, frozen, or underground!1.
As you can see, if all beings depend on water for life, and only a very small percentage of water on earth is available to use, then it is important that the precious “drop” of water is used wisely so all 6.6 billion people on earth, as well as all the other living creatures, have water to drink and use!
We are lucky to live in Manitoba, where there are lots of lakes and rivers. Two rivers, the Red and the Assiniboine, flow right through our city. Lake Winnipeg, just north of us, is the tenth largest body of freshwater in the world!2 In some parts of the world, water is used up by people faster than it can be replaced by rain or surface water. Although that is not true in Winnipeg, we all need to be “water-wise”, and use this precious resource carefully.
There are some simple things we all can do to use water wisely. When you are water-wise, you don’t let the faucet run when you are brushing your teeth and you keep a jug of water in the fridge so you don’t have to let it run when you want a cool cup of it. You can talk to your parents and teachers if you notice any faucets or toilets dripping water, and you can be water-wise by taking a five minute shower instead of a fifteen minute one or a bath. Garden hoses can waste a lot of water, so talk to your family about watering the garden only when it really needs it, and making sure it’s done in the coolest, not the hottest, part of the day. We are lucky to live in a city that has healthy drinking water, so instead of buying bottled water which uses resources and creates packaging waste, buy a re-useable bottle and drink the healthy – and much cheaper – water that comes right out of your tap.
What other things can you think of that would conserve and protect our water?
Yes, our students and teachers are making a difference!
Rain Barrel Poetry at STRATHMILLAN SCHOOL
We created this poem about rain barrels for a poetry contest on CBC radio. CBC broadcasted this poem and announced that we won a rain barrel for our school courtyard! Read this poem (perhaps with help from your parents). Show them how a poem for two voices works.
Drip, drop Drip, drop
The rain is coming
The birds are humming!
Drip, drop Drip, drop
It’s coming down hard in the backyard!
In the barrel it goes
Everybody knows
We’re reducing waste
With colourful taste
We’re growing a garden
The soil mustn’t harden!
We might be eight
But we know it’s great!
Drip, drop Drip, drop
The rain is coming
The birds are humming!
Drip, drop Drip, drop
In the barrel it goes
Down the hose
And our garden grows!!!
Rain barrels are the way
Rain barrels are the way
To make our earth’s day!!!
To make our earth’s day!!!
Written by Grade 3 students at Strathmillan School. To learn more about this initiative, please contact Jonathan Baker, Vice Principal. (September 2009).
Science education at Bruce Middle School has taken on a new dimension. Outdoor, hands-on components are being designed to compliment classroom learning in areas such as Ecosystems (Gr. 7) and Water Systems on Earth (Gr. 8) in Mr. Fisher-Smith, Mr. Thiessen, and Mr. Hamilton's science classes.
The school’s proximity to learning environments near the school, such as the Living Prairie Museum and Sturgeon Creek at Grant’s Old Mill, make it easy for classes to get out of the classroom during regularly scheduled classes. With grants from the Imperial Oil Academy for the Learning of Mathematics, Science and Technology and the Manitoba Youth Corps, the science team, lead by Mr. Grant Fisher-Smith, purchased a variety of water test kits that enable Grade 7 & 8 classes to test various water quality parameters. In addition to enjoying the field studies, students will use the data to track changes in the water over time, graph this data, and write scientific reports on their findings. To learn more about this initiative, please contact Mr. Grant Fisher-Smith, Grade 7 & 8 Science. (October 2009)
Boost Floor Cleaner for St. James-Assiniboia School Division
St. James-Assiniboia School Division recently purchased four new Boost floor cleaners with technology that saves water, energy, chemicals and improves efficiency all at the same time when compared to the old rotary method.
Also, new floor washing equipment purchased for Sturgeon Heights Collegiate cuts the time required to wash hallway floors in half, accurately meters out the amount of cleaning product used and uses the Boost technology to save water as well.
The aim of our Sustainable Living program is to further St. James-Assiniboia School Division’s principles and to challenge students and staff to explore activities and learn about conserving resources, protecting the environment and ensuring human health and welfare through education about the consequences of our actions and our responsibilities to each other and to the planet. To learn more about this initiative, please contact Richard Lyons, Assistant Manager, Facilities and Maintenance. Phone: 888-7085 ext. 2234. (2009)
