Maths lesson plan
Introduction
Upper Key Stage 2
Can you imagine getting up every morning and
having to walk miles and miles to collect dirty and
dangerous water for your family to drink? Across
the world, children like you are responsible for
making this long journey every day to collect their
family's water. Often, this leaves them with less
time or energy to go to school, rest or play. The
weight of the water that the children carry can
be up to 20kg – that’s the same as 20 bags of
sugar! This can cause damage to their head, neck
and spine, and the distances walked mean that
children may miss out entirely on their education.
Measurement
Pupils should be taught to:
• Convert between different units of metric
measure (for example, kilometre and metre;
centimetre and metre; centimetre and millimetre;
gram and kilogram; litre and millilitre) Understand
and use approximate equivalences between
metric units and common imperial units such as
inches, pounds and pints
• Measure and calculate the perimeter of
composite rectilinear shapes in centimetres and
metres
• Estimate volume (for example, using 1 cm3
blocks to build cuboids) and capacity (for
example, using water)
• Solve problems involving converting between
units of time
• Use all four operations to solve problems
involving measure (for example, length, mass,
volume, money) using decimal notation, including
scaling.
• Solve problems involving the calculation and
conversion of units of measure, using decimal
notation up to three decimal places where
appropriate
• Convert between miles and kilometres
Young children are most at risk from the diseases
that result from drinking dirty water and not
having safe and clean toilets to use. A lack of
water also means that children cannot wash often
enough and, as a result, suffer from skin diseases
and eye infections.
Curriculum Links
Lower Key Stage 2
Measurement
Pupils should be taught to:
• Measure, compare, add and subtract: lengths (m/
cm/mm); mass (kg/g); volume/capacity (l/ml)
• Measure the perimeter of simple 2-D shapes
• Compare durations of events (for example to
calculate the time taken by particular events or
tasks).
• Convert between different units of measure (for
example, kilometre to metre; hour to minute)
• Measure and calculate the perimeter of a
rectilinear figure (including squares) in centimetres
and metres
Aims
• To introduce the concept of pipes transporting
water to where it is needed and to link this into
the ‘pipeline’ fundraising event
• To work in groups to measure and calculate
distance and volume
• To use calculations to decide upon the best
method of moving water along a pipeline
www.wateraid.org/uk/pipeline
Activity
This activity can be run in small groups and will
require the use of tape measures and/or mete
rulers. It would also be useful to have a small length
of pipe or guttering (that you may already be using
for your Pupil Pipeline fundraising activity) to be
used as a visual aid. You may also choose to have
examples of the different types of water container
mentioned in Table 1 so the pupils can visualise the
amount of water they would be able to carry.
The activity can be tailored to suit the age and
ability of the group. For example, for slightly older
groups, instead of measuring a straight line from
one side of the playground to the other, they could
plot their own ‘pipeline’ to measure and calculate
the pipe usage of the shape they create. You can
also adjust the length of each piece of pipe to
make the calculations more simple or challenging
dependent on the group. Older groups may also
consider an overlap between each piece of pipe (to
reduce water loss) in calculating how many pieces
of pipe they would need for their pipeline.
1) Distance
• Set the scene that the pupils have to transport
water from one side of the hall/playground to the
other through pipes. Ask them to complete the
following calculations.
• Using a tape measure or meter ruler, measure the
length of your playground or school hall.
• If each piece of pipe measures 1.5 meters in
length, how many pieces of pipe will you need to
get the water from one end to the other without
dripping any on the floor?
• How many people will you need to hold each piece
of the pipe? How many people will you need in total?
Imagine if you didn’t have any pieces of pipe
and instead you formed a ‘human chain’ of your
classmates across the hall or playground to pass a
bucket of water from one end to the other.
• Measure the maximum distance you can pass a
bucket between two people
• How many people would you need to get the
bucket from one end of the playground to the other?
2) Volume
Set the scene that the challenge is to move 20 litres
of water from one end of the playground/hall to the
other using ‘human chain’. You may wish to have a
20 litre water container as a visual aid as well as the
various water containers mentioned in Table 1.
Study Table 1 below
• Which container would take the least amount of
time to move 20 litres of water from one end of the
chain to the other?
• Which container would take the most amount of
time to move 20 litres of water from one end of the
chain to the other?
• Which container would be the heaviest to carry?
• What would be the best container to use to move
20 litres of water from one end of your pipeline or
‘human chain’ to the other?
Table 1: Water container volume
Container Volume
Egg cup
40ml
Tea cup
0.3 litres
Milk carton
1 litre
Coke bottle
2 litres
Bucket
5 litres
3) Cost
The pipes used on WaterAid’s gravity fed water
schemes can carry enough water to a tap stand to
provide water for 150 people in a village. This saves
them for walking for miles every day and carrying
the heavy weight of the water. It also means that the
water they drink is safe and clean and won’t make
them ill.
Each section of pipe in a WaterAid project costs £2.
• Refer back to your calculations of how many
pieces of pipe you will need to complete your
‘pipeline’
• How much money would you have to raise to build
your ‘pipeline’?
• How much money would you have to raise to buy
enough pipes to transport water over the following
distances (using pieces of pipe 1.5m long)
• 1km
• 2.5km
• 5km
• 6.5km
www.wateraid.org/uk/pipeline