Water: Local Pollution, Global Confusion! Activities for raising awareness of water-quality problems and solutions
by Amanda Freedman Tetrault W Page 28
ATER, WATER, EVERY WHERE, / Nor any drop to drink. The ancient mariner’s lament is a frightening reality of everyday life for more
and more people on our planet. Access to clean water is an enormously important issue, both locally and globally, and one of the best ways to teach students about it is through experiential activities. The two activities presented here help students understand the causes of water pollution in their own communities and raise awareness of the global disparity in technology and resources needed for dealing with water-quality problems. The activities have been used predominantly with middle years students.
Who polluted the Red River?
This activity, based on the Population Connection activity “Who Polluted the Potomac?,” provides a graphic demon-
stration of what causes pollution in local waterways and challenges students to think about our collective responsibil- ity to protect the quality of water sources.
Materials: Large aquarium tank, one film canister or other small container for each student, a variety of substances and items to represent water contaminants (see opposite).
Preparation: Fill the aquarium halfway with clean water. Prepare the film canisters or other small containers by placing one water “pollutant” in each canister and labelling it as indicated. There should be one canister per student, so you may need to prepare more than one canister of some of the pollutants. The listed sources of water pollution are the ones mentioned in the accompanying “Who Polluted the Red River?” story (see page 30). Feel free to adapt the story and substitute materials, but keep in mind the nature of middle years students: it is important that all of the “pollut- ants” are safe, and even edible!
GREEN TEACHER 83
Photographs: Amanda Tetrault
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