Unit B7 ■ Water Week
Lower, Middle, Upper Primary
Water Week
by Maiya Edwards
Each big event theme pack contains:
A bumper grab bag of teaching ideas and activities
12 blackline masters
Activities in Writing, Language, SOSE, The Arts, Science,
Drama and more!
■ 2 major activities
■
■
■
Water
Week
by Maiya Edwards
Key Facts
● BOOK BONANZA
● Water Week is celebrated across Australia in
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October each year.
Water covers over 70% of the earth’s surface.
Every living thing needs water to survive.
Water is one of Australia’s most important natural
resources and National Water Week is dedicated
to promoting its sustainable management.
The slogan “Protect, Conserve and Get Involved
for a Brighter Future” helps to focus on the aim of
maintaining and improving this precious resource.
The average Australian household uses 1200 litres
of water per day. Over a year that’s enough to fill
2.5 Olympic size swimming pools. Some countries
use as little as 200 litres of water per day.
Since Australia is the driest continent on earth, we
should be doubly aware that we need to minimise
water wastage.
During Water Week we are encouraged to develop
water-wise habits, and to think about ways in
which we can use less water in our homes and
gardens.
The Department of Land and Water Conservation
in each state is coordinating a variety of
community activities to celebrate Water Week.
Some of these include: Waterwatch and
Streamwatch programs, River Rallies, Rivercare
programs, Canoe Discovery Tours, and Water Bug
Surveys.
For information on these and other activities,
contact the Water Department in your state.
What’s in this pack
● FLYING START
Teaching ideas and activities including:
Brainstorming, Role Playing, Language Exercises,
Ideas for Classroom Design. [BLMs 1, 2, 3.]
Teaching activities featuring The Wonder Thingby
Libby Hathorn and Peter Gouldthorpe; Children of
the Lakeby Percy Trezise and Bluebackby Tim
Winton.
● ART, CRAFT, DRAMA, AND MUSIC
Teaching Ideas and Activities for these subject
areas.
● SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY, PD HEALTH, SOSE
Teaching Ideas and Activities for these subject
areas.
● MAJOR ACTIVIY 1
Waterwatch. [BLMs 7, 8, 9.]
● MAJOR ACTIVITY 2
Be Waterwise in your Community. [BLMs 10,
11, 12.]
How to use this resource pack
This book is designed as a bumper classroom
resource for teachers. The 12 pages of teaching notes
and 12 Blackline Masters provide a cross-section of
activities, which teachers can pick out and use for a
wide range of year levels and curriculum areas. There
are also 2 Major Activities for extended units of work.
Although the activities and BLMs have been divided
into suggested year levels these are intended purely
as a guide and teachers are encouraged to use their
discretion based on their knowledge of the ability of
their students.
Why use this pack
Themes are a way of teaching through the sharing of
discoveries. The theme of Water Week is one that
can be explored in a variety of subject areas. Using
this concept as a central focus, students can explore
many different disciplines and dimensions, using a
balance of content and skill demands.
● WIZARD WRITING
Teaching Ideas and Activities for different types of
writing: Narrative, Recount, Procedure, Report,
Exposition, Poetry. [BLMs 4, 5, 6.]
2
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WATE R W E E K
FlyingStart
Ideas for Classroom Design
Activities
● Fill the room with visual images: seashells, model
LOWER
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ships and boats, driftwood, fish, photographs of
waterfalls, rivers, glaciers, hydro-electric plants.
Read stories and poems with a water theme – both
fiction and non-fiction.
Provide a variety of books that the children can
browse through in the classroom, and encourage
them to look for more in both the school library,
and their local library.
Organise field trips to relevant places, such as
local creeks or rivers, the beach, or water
treatment plants. Encourage students to take their
own photographs, and display these around the
classroom.
Develop Word Banks of water words and display
these around the room.
Build up a collection of water music and art for
classroom use.
Display other material from field trips etc to
stimulate further discussion and learning.
Brainstorming
ALL
Find out what the students already know about
aspects of water (water supply and storage, water for
recreation, water transport) and ask them what they
would like to know more about. Stimulate further
discussion by using focus questions such as:
● What are some of the words you associate with
“water”?
● Why is water so important to us?
● How can we help to conserve water?
● Where do we get our drinking water from?
● How can water be stored?
● Where are some of our main reservoirs?
● Can you name some of our main rivers?
● How is water used for recreation?
● What forms of transport use water?
● Have students list all the ways that they use water.
For example: to drink, to swim in, to sail on. Ask
them to choose different uses to illustrate. Display
these around the room.
● Have students work in groups of 3–4 to choose
one of the above aspects of water to research in
greater depth. For example: one group could
investigate water safety, while another could look
at water transport. Each group could compile a
Big Book of information consisting of descriptions,
news clippings, diagrams, photographs and
illustrations.
MIDDLE
● In small groups, have students select an Australian
lake or river they wish to study. Have each group
prepare an oral presentation on their choice.
Videotape each group as they give a presentation
to the class. Display the research around the
classroom.
● Have students choose one form of water
recreation, such as windsurfing, and research the
history of its development in Australia.
UPPER
● As a whole-class exercise, identify and label all the
main rivers on a map of the world. Have students
work in groups of 3–4 to choose a river to
research. Ask students to prepare a written report
on the ecology and land use of rivers.
● In groups of 4–5 have students select one form of
water transport to research in depth. For example,
a submarine or car fer ry.
ALL
● Have students identify environmental
organisations which are involved in promoting
water conservation in their state, as well as on a
local and national level. Examples of these are
Waterwatch Australia at
www.streamwatch.org.au or the Stormwater
Industry Association at [email protected]
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3
W AT E R W E E K
Role Play &
Descriptive Language Exercises
Role Play
MIDDLE
L Have students, one after the other, role play an
● In groups of 4–5 brainstorm products that come
action involving water and see if the rest of the
class can guess what it is.
M Work with a partner to create a three-minute play
with a water theme. For example: “Out on a
fishing boat in a storm” or “Lost in the dessert”.
U Work in a group of 4–5 to devise a puppet play
with a pirate theme, suitable for performing for
the lower primary grades. [BLM 3]
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Mime
L Have students perform class mimes with a water
theme: crashing waves, a family of dolphins,
walking the plank.
M Working in a group of 3–4 devise a list of people
whose jobs have something to do with water.
Choose three to mime for the other groups to
guess. For example: a swimming coach, a lifesaver,
a marine biologist.
U Prepare a two-minute talk about a venomous sea
creature such as the blue-ringed octopus.
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UPPER
● Write out ten questions you would ask a submarine
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Language Activities
TEACHING NOTES
● Water plays an important role in the environment.
Some of the ways in which it is essential to our
lives can be expanded on.
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LOWER
● Compile a Water Words Dictionary. Have students
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4
illustrate words such as waterfall, waterwheel,
watercress.
Describe a water photograph or illustration to your
partner and have them draw what you describe.
Collect water photographs and write your own
captions. Make this into a class book.
Read the class stories with a water theme and have
them draw the sequence of events.
Write a description of what you would like to find
at the end of the rainbow. [BLM 1]
Have students describe how they would feel if they
were on board a small ship during a heavy storm.
from the sea. Use magazine pictures or drawings
to illustrate the products. Display these around the
room.
Make a rhyming number book with a water
theme, suitable for the lower grades. [BLM 2]
Design a brochure advertising a water holiday.
Make up a series of “what if…” questions about
water conservation. For example: “What if all the
reservoirs in your local area became polluted with
a dangerous bacteria?” Work in groups to provide
answers for these scenarios.
Photocopy an article about water. Cut it up and
ask students to sequence the pieces correctly.
Design a Water Trivia Quiz. Questions could
include: “What are the colours of a rainbow?” and
“Which is the biggest whale?”
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captain. Swap your questions with a partner and
take turns in answering each other’s questions.
Paraphrase an article on water in one paragraph.
Devise the “Top Ten Tips for Conserving Water”.
Find an article about water conservation and
categorise the points under fact or opinion.
Give students ten minutes to list all the movies
and/or television shows that they can think of
with a water theme. For example: “Blue Fin”,
“Water Rats”, “Titanic”.
Prepare a debate on one of the following topics:
1 “Whaling is necessary.”
2 “Drift Nets are an efficient method of fishing.”
3 “The Great Barrier Reef is in danger.”
ALL
● Have students write a description of a cloud, a
shell, a yacht. Ask them to publish it in an
interesting way such as in the shape of the object.
Display these as mobiles, as parts of a diorama, or
against a blue background.
SEE
BLM 1
p5
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SEE
BLM 2
p6
SEE
BLM 3
p7
Name:
Rainbows
What are the 7 colours of the rainbow?
R
B
O
I
Y
V
G
Colour the circles
correctly.
Step 1 Cut 7 pieces of wool to match the colours of the rainbow.
Step 2 Glue each piece of wool in the correct place.
Step 3 Glue cotton wool on the cloud shapes.
Step 4 When the glue is dry, cut out the shape and hang it up as a
mobile. Attach your “Rainbow Story” to the bottom of the mobile.
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5
Name:
Water Number Rhymes
Complete these water number rhymes.
One slimy eel slithered
Two playful platypuses
into a pool.
Four funny frogs
Three tubby tadpoles
swam nearby.
Five
Six
When you have
finished your
rhymes and
drawings, read
them to the Year
Seven
6
Eight
One students.
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Name:
Papier Maché Pirates
Step 1
Mix a small amount of wallpaper paste in a bowl.
Step 2 Tear some newspaper into small pieces and drop them into the paste. Stir well.
Step 3 The mixture needs to be stiff enough to mould into a ball shape. This will
form the head.
Step 4 Make a tube of thin card to fit over your finger. Push this tube half way into
the head and then shape the features of the puppet’s face.
Step 5 When the head is dry, paint the face.
Step 6 Add wool for the hair or beard. Attach clothes to the tube with glue.
Step 1 Use the puppets to practise your pirate play, before presenting it to the
lower grades.
OUTLINE OF GROUP PLAY
Using the pirates you have made, outline a group play and show it to your teacher.
TITLE OF PLAY
CHARACTERS
SETTING
PLOT
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7
WATE R W E E K
Wizard
Writing
Narrative
● Have students describe the procedure of putting
Have students write a story about one of the
following topics:
MIDDLE
on flippers, a snorkel and face mask.
● Design a timetable for a swimming carnival.
● Write the procedure for finding Project Jonahon
LOWER
● The big, bad pirate.
● An Octopus’s Garden [BLM 4].
the Internet. Make sure that the details are clear
enough for another person to follow.
MIDDLE
● A fishy tale.
● Buried treasure.
UPPER
● Have students research and describe the process of
oyster farming.
UPPER
Ask students to choose one of the following proverbs
and describe how they think it originated:
● Every cloud has a silver lining.
● Still waters run deep.
● We never miss the water until the well runs dry.
● Challenge students to design a brand new way for
catching fish. Ask them to explain how it works.
Report
LOWER
● Have students report on the causes and effects of
Recount
wasting water.
LOWER
MIDDLE
● Have students write a postcard to a friend
● Ask students to write a report on looking after a
describing their holiday at the beach or by the
river.
● Have students recount all the ways they could
save water.
MIDDLE
pet turtle. [BLM 5]
UPPER
● Ask students to write a newspaper report on the
pollution of a river through a chemical spill from a
factory.
● Ask students to imagine that they have just found
a bottle with a message in it. Ask them to recount
what it says. Suggest: “Has there been an attack by
pirates, a sea monster or a UFO?”
● Review a book with a water theme. Have students
read their reviews to each other to encourage
further reading.
Exposition
LOWER
● Have students draw a picture and write a sentence
to convince someone against polluting our
waterways.
MIDDLE
● Have students respond to the question: “How does
UPPER
● Describe your ideal getaway island in a postcard to
a friend. Use a map to illustrate locations. [BLM 6]
● Ask students to write the biography of a real-life
pirate such as Henry Morgan, Captain Kidd, or
Grace O’Malley.
drought affect rural Australia?”
UPPER
● Have students pair off and pose a water problem
for their partner to respond to. For example:
“Australia’s rivers are overpopulated by carp. What
solution can you offer?”
Procedure
LOWER
● Ask students to create a pictorial sequence of
building a sandcastle. Ask them to write a
sentence under each picture.
8
SEE
BLM 4
p10
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SEE
BLM 5
P11
SEE
BLM 6
p12
W AT E R W E E K
Poetry
Teaching Notes
Students can choose to write poetry in a variety of
styles and forms. Those listed on this page are
suggestions which could be adapted to the theme of
water.
Lantern Poem
This poem is shaped like a lantern and is composed
of five lines and nine syllables.
Ice
Cracking
Yawning Wide
Crevice
Death
Onomatopoeic Poems
Onomatopoeic poems contain lists of words that
describe the sounds of a place, or of an event.
At a Swimming Carnival
Starter’s gun
Splashing
Cheering
Shouting
Hooray we’ve won!
Suggest to the students:
“Think of a watery event with lots of noise and
action, perhaps a water polo match, a day at the
beach, or going out on a jet ski. Use an
onomatopoeic poem to describe it.”
Now ask the students to make up their own Lantern
Poem about one of the following:
● The sea
● A storm
● A puddle.
Alliteration Poems
Alliteration makes poems sound interesting. Here are
a few examples:
Racing rain rocketing rapidly
Slimy seaweed slithered sleepily
Fierce fishermen frown frostily
Brainstorm others with the students, and display
around the room to help stimulate further poetry
creation.
SEE
BLM 2
p6
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9
Name:
Octopus Mobile
Make an octopus to put in your Octopus’s Garden.
Step 1 Give the octopus a name, then colour it in and cut it out.
Step 2 Cut 8 strips of crêpe paper for the tentacles. Glue these to
the bottom of the octopus.
Step 3 Write an octopus story and attach your octopus to the
bottom of it.
My octopus has
10
legs.
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Name:
Pet Turtles
Step 1 Colour in the turtle then cut it out.
Step 2 Cut along the dotted line and staple A to B so the turtle has a
raised shell.
Step 3 Place the turtle on a background of a blue pond.
Step 4 Glue the Fact Sheet beneath the turtle.
FACT SHEET
Three important facts about keeping a turtle as a pet.
FACT 1
FACT 2
FACT 3
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11
Name:
Getaway Island
Step 1 Draw symbols for each of the
features below and decide if
they are human-made (M) or
natural (N).
Railroad
Marsh
Lake
Aeroport
Mountains
Valley
Town
Forest
Waterfall
River
Lighthouse
Dam
Farm
Highway
Desert
Harbour
Bridge
Landslide
Step 3
POSTCARD
Step 2 Illustrate an island below and
draw in all the features from
Step 1.
Write a postcard
to your friend
telling him or her
about your
holiday on
Getaway Island.
Use the symbols
in your
description.
12
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WATE R W E E K
Art, Craft, Drama and Music
Teaching Notes
Art and Crafts
UPPER
LOWER
● Create a seashore collage using items such as
● Draw a birdseye view of a river.
● Create a class mural with a water theme such as a
seaweed, seashells, pebbles and driftwood.
● Make mobiles suggesting a sea theme.
● Have each student make an underwater “Mystery
Box”. Blindfold students and have them guess
what is inside each other’s boxes.
● Design a scary Pirate Flag featuring characters like
Fearsome Fred or Peg-leg Pete.
● Give each student two pieces of paper. Ask them to
cut one into a fish shape and place it onto the
other piece. Rub some pastel onto a piece of cotton
wool or tissue and then smudge this along the
outer edges of the cut shape, so that the colour
smudges onto the paper below. When the cut
shape is lifted up, the contours will be outlined on
the paper below. The cut shapes can be placed in a
variety of patterns or overlapped.
● Crumple a sheet of paper then unfold it. Fill a
dropper or straw with coloured water and release
it and watch where it flows. Try this with different
colours. Iron out the creases later, using a warm
iron. A variation of this is to release a drop of
coloured water on to a sheet of paper and then
blow gently though a straw to create patterns.
MIDDLE
● Design a Water Conservation poster suitable for
display during Water Week.
● Create a diorama of an underwater scene.
● Design a brochure for a houseboat holiday.
● Create a Water Mosaic. Build up the scene by
gluing torn pieces of coloured paper onto blue
background paper.
● Make paper tie-dye patterns. White paper
serviettes can be folded in a variety of ways: fan
folds, twists, diagonal folds or straight folds. Dip
one end of the folded serviette into one colour
dye, then the middle into another colour. Lift it
up quickly so that only a little colour is absorbed.
Do not unfold until the material is dry.
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yacht race, a storm, or a day at the beach. Divide
into groups or pairs to paint sections.
Paint a picture of before and after an
environmental disaster such as an oil spill in
Sydney Harbour or the pollution of a river with
rubbish and sewage.
Design a car bumper sticker for Water Week.
Explain the meaning and usage of idioms and
then ask the students to select their favourite
water idiom to illustrate. For example: “It’s raining
cats and dogs!”
Create an authentic-looking treasure map.
Drama
L Work with a partner to make up an imaginary
conversation between an octopus and a seal.
L Create a group play around the theme “Lost at Sea”.
M Students work in groups of 3–4. Give each group
three water words such as crocodile, submarine,
pirate and ask them to create a two-minute play in
which only these three words are used.
M After watching a video of the movie “Swiss Family
Robinson” have students act out one of the scenes.
U Enact the story of an environmental disaster. For
example an oil spill on the Great Barrier Reef.
U Think of some interesting “water” book, film,
television or song titles to mime for others to
guess. For example: Jaws, Flipper, T
reasure Island.
Music
L Play some fun water tunes such as Yellow
M
M
U
U
Submarineor The Drunken Sailor. Have the
students move to the music and learn the songs.
Talk to the students about the story of The Pirates
of Penzance. Play the music and discuss.
Encourage the students to see how many water
songs they can find to display and play.
Introduce the students to classical music with
water themes such as Swan Lakeby Tchaikovsky.
Ask the students to create their own water songs.
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13
W AT E R W E E K
Science & Technology and
SOSE/HSIE
Teaching Ideas
Science and Technology
● Create a flowchart of the movement of water
LOWER
pollution in a local area. For example a spill of
fertilisers from a golf course into a waterway.
● Develop an experiment that monitors the
environment of a frog.
● Some substances do not dissolve in water. Devise
an experiment where students add cooking oil to
water. Extend this to making coloured patterns on
water with marbling ink.
● Devise an experiment which shows how water
under pressure creates a small jet which travels at
high speed.
● Study the process of water evaporation with your
class. Pour a container of water onto a flat surface
in the playground and outline it with a piece of
chalk. Make a note of the time. Go back every half
hour to investigate if there have been any changes.
Outline the puddle each time until all the water
has evaporated. Discuss where the water goes.
● What floats and what sinks? Have the students
experiment with various objects in a container of
water. Ask them to categorise the objects into:
things that float, things that sink, and things that
float or sink depending on how they are placed in
the water. Encourage exploration, discussion and
hypothesesising.
● Investigate how water can be added to other
liquids to dilute them. For example, in art the
strength of water-soluble colours can be diluted
(made weaker) by adding water. Ask: “Can you
think of any other substances which can be
diluted with water before they are used?”
Personal Development, Health and PE
LOWER
● Have students discuss all the ways that water is
important for our health.
MIDDLE
● Visit the local pool and demonstrate a series of
water aerobic exercises.
UPPER
● Invite a medic or paramedic to talk to the class
about water safety and resuscitation.
MIDDLE
● Encourage students to investigate buoyancy by
making boats out of various materials such as
paper, wood, plastic, cardboard. Discuss the
relationship of size, weight and construction
material to the stability and buoyancy of boats.
● Write a report on the water cycle and its impact
on our forests.
● Different materials absorb or resist water at
different rates. Devise an experiment in which
students can test various materials for their water
absorbency or resistance. Have students select a
variety of paper and materials (rough, smooth,
shiny paper) and make an hypothesis.
LOWER
● Invite speakers from the State Water Department
or the nearest water treatment plant to speak to the
class about the importance of water conservation.
● List the ways water is naturally supplied.
MIDDLE
● Devise a publicity campaign for Water Week
which will encourage interest in local projects.
● Research the history of a local river or creek.
● Work in groups of 3–4 to research which Aboriginal
Teachings of the Dreamings involve water.
UPPER
UPPER
● Research the types of pollutants which most
● Use the Internet to research a natural disaster in
endanger our waterways in the bush, and devise
experiments which would develop a method to
clean them up.
14
Society and the Environment
Australia involving water. For example, the
Brisbane floods of 1973 or Cyclone Tracy in 1974.
● Research the history of river transport in Australia.
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WAT E R W E E K
Major Activity 1
Waterwatch
Teaching Notes
● Waterwatch is a Federal Government initiative
which encourages community groups to monitor
their local waterways in order to build up a
picture of the health of the catchment. Each state
has special programs for primary school children
which aim to teach about catchments, water
quality and community responsibility. A
Waterwatch facilitator in every state coordinates
activities and provides training and resources.
● The length of time devoted to this unit of work
will depend upon the students’ interest level and
the depth of the investigations but you should
allow at least four to six weeks. Plan a culmination
activity for Water Week.
● Students should be encouraged to find out about
previous Waterwatch projects.
Preparation Activities
● Encourage students to explore the national
Waterwatch website at www.waterwatch.org.au
to investigate other water projects.
● Discuss the location of local waterways. Label the
areas on a map.
BRAINSTORMING
● Pose the question: “Why should sound water
● Send a press release to the local paper, inviting
them to the school to look at the displays.
RESEARCH
● Investigate the importance of local waterways to
the early inhabitants.
● Trace the changes in local waterways during the
last century. [BLM 9]
● Devise ways in which you could regularly monitor
the quality of local water. These could include
checking for pollution and sampling for water
bugs and a healthy frog population.
● Create a flowchart showing the progress of your
Waterwatch project.
The Event
● As part of your culmination activity during Water
Week, display documentation of Waterwatch
projects in the classroom and around the school.
Invite parents and the local community to view
these, and invite a local council representative to
speak at this function.
● Provide experiments in which visitors can
participate.
● Organise a Community Clean-up Day for your
local catchment area to coincide with Water Week.
policy be a long-term concern for all Australians?”
● Ask students to identify all the ways that they
Follow-up Activities
could participate in a Waterwatch project. [BLM 7]
● Ask: “What is a ‘catchment’? Which local
catchment area would be suitable for a
Waterwatch project?”
● Investigate the interactive “eco-competition” called
ROLE PLAY
●
●
● Have students role play animals endangered by
polluted waterways. For example frogs, fish.
●
SPEAKING
● Debate: “Fluoride should be added to all drinking
●
water.”
WRITING
Murder Under the Microscope
by visiting the
website www.microscope.ozeducate.com.au
Find out about the Water Cycle in your state.
Which other rivers and waterways in your state
should be included in a Waterwatch program?
What can you find out about other water
conservation programs such as Rivercare, Salt
Action, Native Vegetation Incentive Scheme?
Plan a follow-up Waterwatch Information Day to
encourage ongoing interest and participation.
● Write a letter to the state Waterwatch facilitator
outlining the project chosen by the class.
● List ten bad and ten good management practices
which would ensure a healthy catchment
environment. [BLM 8]
SEE
BLM 7
p16
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SEE
BLM 8
p17
SEE
BLM 9
p18
15
Name:
Waterwatch
Step 1 Decide if the people below are doing a good or bad thing for
the local water supply. The first one has been done for you.
✓
= Good
✗
= Bad
Step 2 Then do the final two drawings.
This person is spraying presticide
onto crops near the river.
river
This person has put a fence up to
stop sheep grazing on the river bank.
16
✗
This person is planting native trees
along the river bank.
This person is dumping rubbish in
the river.
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Name:
Looking after a
Catchment Area
Step 1 What is a catchment?
A catchment is a basin of land. It may be quite small, or many hundreds
of square kilometres in area. When it rains, the water drains down to the
lowest point forming a river, stream or lake. We all live in a catchment
area.
Draw and label your local catchment area.
Step 2 Write 5 things that are good
and 5 things that are bad for a
water catchment area.
Step 3 Illustrate one way you have
helped clean up a local
catchment area.
GOOD
1 Plant trees along the river
bank.
2
3
4
5
BAD
1 Cut down trees along the
river bank.
2
3
4
5
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17
Name:
ACatchment Adventure
Step 1 How have you participated in the Waterwatch program? Illustrate and
describe two major Waterwatch achievements.
Step 2 What is the meaning of these words?
erosion
salinity
overclearing
ecosystem
revegetation
wetland
Step 3 Catchment Management
Complete the table:
PROBLEM
CAUSE
SOLUTION
Soil Erosion
• Over-clearing
• Maintain native trees and revegetate.
• Over-grazing
• Reduce number of animals on land.
• Animal droppings
•
•
•
• Fertilisers
•
•
•
Town Pollution
Farm Pollution
Riverbank Erosion
Dying Wetland
18
• Sand/gravel extraction •
•
•
• Draining mangroves
•
•
•
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W AT E R W E E K
Major Activity 2
Be Water-wise in
your Community
Teaching Notes
● The length of time devoted to this unit of work
● Create some Water-wise shape poems to display
will depend upon the students’ interest level and
the depth of the investigations but you should
allow at least four to six weeks. Plan a culmination
activity for Water Week.
● Students should be encouraged to share
information, ideas and resources.
● By the end of the activity students should be able
to recognise the many uses of water in our society,
and the importance of conserving this precious
resource.
around the room. For example, in the shape of a
drip, a tap or a cloud.
● Devise a poster showing how water wastage can
be decreased. [BLM 12]
● Imagine that you are a bucket of water. Describe
all the ways you could be useful in saving water
around the home. [BLM 10]
● Create a list of “Top Ten Tips for being Water-wise.”
● Research and write a report on the topic: “How to
Preparation Activities
● Contact your local nursery or the Botanic Gardens
● Introduce students to the theme of Water Week:
Advisory Service about methods of making and
using mulch for your plants. [BLM 11]
● Encourage students to take photographs of
activities such as only using the washing machine
when there is a full load of clothes.
RESEARCH
train your plants to be water-wise.”
“Protect, Conserve and Get Involved”. Ask
students how they would interpret this slogan in
regard to water.
● In groups of 4–5 have students discuss ways in
which water is used in the home.
BRAINSTORMING
The Event
● Pose the question: “How can we be more water-
● Invite parents and students to celebrate Water
wise: (a) in the home (b) in the garden (c) at
school (d) for recreation?” Record responses.
●
ROLE PLAY
● Role play a Water-wise scenario for your home or
garden. For example, fixing a leaking tap or using
a watering can or bucket to water plants.
● Working with a partner, make up a play featuring
the characters Wasteful Wendy and Water-wise
Warren.
●
●
SPEAKING
● Discuss with a partner all the ways that being
water-wise would be cost-efficient.
● Prepare a speech on the topic: “Saving water is
good for the community and for the future.”
Choose the most informative speech to be
presented during the Water Week Open Day at
your school.
WRITING
● Write a letter to someone overseas, explaining that
Australia is the driest continent on earth and
therefore it is important to minimise water
wastage. Talk about some of the ideas that have
been used in your community.
● Write out a Water-wise jingle and set this to music.
●
Week Open Day by designing and sending out
invitations to your Water-wise Display.
Explain to visitors the purpose of Water Week,
and present the Water-wise speech.
Invite visitors to fill out a Water-wise Quiz, to
make them more aware of how much water they
use in their homes and gardens.
Create a display of the best Water-wise Tips.
Present awards for the most original ideas for
conserving water.
Invite visitors to add their own Water-wise Tips to
the existing list.
Follow-up Activities
● What can you find out about watering and
maintaining plants in these different types of soils:
(a) sandy soils (b) clay soils (c) loam soils?
● Send a letter to your state Water Department
about the school’s participation in Water Week.
SEE
BLM 10
P20
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SEE
BLM 11
p21
SEE
BLM 12
p22
19
Name:
Saving Water
Benny Bucket is very useful for saving water around your home and
garden. List some of these uses. Then colour in Benny, cut him out
and display him on the classroom wall.
My name is Benny the Bucket.
Here are some of the ways I
can help you to be
Water-wise.
1 I can be used to water plants in the garden
2
3
4
5
20
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Name:
Water-wise Ideas
Mulch is any material which can be placed around a plant to protect its
roots from the sun.
Step 1 Write the materials used for mulch below.
Step 2 Can you think of other things that could be used to make mulch?
Step 3 Mulch has three main uses:
1 It reduces evaporation of water.
2 It protects the plant’s root system.
3 It helps prevent weeds.
Describe and draw how you would make mulch and where you would
place it around a tree. REMEMBER: The earth should be watered before
using mulch.
MAKING MULCH
PUTTING MULCH AROUND A PLANT
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21
Name:
Becoming Water-wise
Step 1 Mrs Wastewater has just received a huge water bill. Draw some of the ways
her family has been wasting water.
Step 1 How could the Wastewater family become more water-wise?
1
2
3
4
5
6
22
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W AT E R W E E K
Book
Bonanza
BOOK The Wonder Thing
by Libby Hathorn and Peter Gouldthorpe.
SYNOPSIS As “powerful as rock”, “gentle as kisses”, “lovely as life”. Clues
such as these are
provided on each page, together with beautiful illustrations, as students are encouraged to
guess the identity of “the wonder thing”.
Teaching Notes
● This book explores the importance of water in
every person’s life. It shows that no matter where
in the world we live, water is an essential element
to our existence.
● There are no page numbers in this book.
story (“as good as gold”, “as precious as air” etc).
Have the students make up their own similes to
describe water and display these around the room.
COMPREHENSION
● Have students draw all the ways that water was
used in the story.
Preliminary Activities
● Ask students to choose the page that most applies
● Show students the cover and encourage them to
use the words and pictures as clues to guess what
“the wonder thing” could be.
● Encourage them to see if they can guess before
they reach the end of the story.
During the Story
Possible prompts for discussion could include:
Where do you think “deep underground” could be?
What causes snow to melt?
How many ways are the people using the river?
Where would we find rainforests?
What other things could you find on a leaf?
Which country has “billowing grasslands”? What
animals would you find there?
● What makes a place swampy?
● When do fires most often occur?
● How is water as “powerful as a rock”?
● Discuss the meaning of difficult words such as:
sheer, lilting, mulch, fungi, trackless, tangy.
●
●
●
●
●
●
Ongoing Activities
● List the places that are described in the story and
ask the students if they can identify which
countries these could be from. Find these on a
map of the world.
● Have students identify their favourite water
picture and give a reason for their choice.
to the way they feel about water.
WRITING
● Choose one of the animals pictured in the story
and rewrite the story from its point of view.
● List all the types of water craft pictured in the
story and describe how they are used. For
example: “A kayak can be paddled in the sea or
on a river.”
SPEAKING
● Work with a partner to list all the reasons why
water is referred to as a “wonder thing”.
ROLE PLAY
● Mime all the ways that water is used for recreation
in the book. For example: skating, fishing, sailing.
● Act out some of the animals from the story.
RESEARCH
● Have students research all the ways that water is
important in their own lives: at home, at school,
for recreation and for survival. Ask them to create
their own “wonder thing” book.
● Create a collage of pictures with a water theme
from books and magazines.
● Research the life cycle of a fish, sea creature or
water animal.
Other suitable books
● One Less Fishby Kim Michelle Toft and Allan
Sheather
Follow-up Activities
● The Seashore Bookby Charlotte Zolotow
● Sailing Homeby Colin Thompson and Matt
RECOUNT
● Sequence the events of the story as a class activity.
● Discuss the meanings of the similes used in the
Ottley
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WAT E R W E E K
Book
Bonanza
BOOK Children of the Lake
by Percy Trezise.
SYNOPSIS During the Ice Age there was a land
bridge between Australia and New Guinea.
About 3600 years ago, a large freshwater lake formed. This lake is remembered in many
Aboriginal Teachings. This is one of them.
Teaching Notes
● This book describes the lives of the Aboriginal
Follow-up Activities
people who lived on the shores of the huge Lake
Carpentaria, whose waters teemed with aquatic
and bird life.
● There are no page numbers in this book.
RECOUNT
● Have students illustrate their favourite part.
Preliminary Activities
● Have students create a cartoon strip showing all
● Have students retell the Teaching from the point
of view of Wonanbi.
COMPREHENSION
● Read the foreword to the students and have them
locate the setting of the story on a map of
Australia.
● Discuss the conditions that existed at the time that
the story is set.
the main events.
● Ask students to think of a different ending.
WRITING
● Write a story featuring Wonanbi.
SPEAKING
● Have the students relate to a partner how the
During the Story
Teaching made them feel.
Possible prompts for discussion could include:
● What are your first impressions of the Bird
People?
● How did the Aboriginal Peoples catch fish?
● What types of birds and animals lived along the
lake?
● How would you describe a “walpa”?
● What were some of the clan’s favourite foods?
● In which season was most of the food harvested?
● How did the children help in gathering food?
● Describe the ways in which the children used the
environment to prepare for their escape from the
island.
● Who was Wonanbi?
● On their return journey, how did the children
know they were close to land?
Ongoing Activities
● Ask students to discuss in a small group, all the
ways in which water was important to the lives of
the Lake children and compare them with the
ways that water is important in their own lives.
ROLE PLAY
● Work with a partner to mime one of the birds or
animals from the Teaching.
● In a group of 3–4, act out one of the ways that
food was gathered by the Lake Peoples.
RESEARCH
● Create a class collage of life on the shores of Lake
Carpentaria.
● Read about life near the sea, a lake or the river in
another country and compare and contrast it with
this book. For example: Children of the Yangtze
River by Svend Otto S.
● In groups of 3–4 choose one of the animals in the
Teaching to research in depth.
● Have students list all the ways that the children
showed they understood their environment and
were familiar with survival skills.
● Ask students to describe how the region between
Australia and New Guinea has changed since the
time in which the Teaching is set.
Other suitable books
● Children of the Yangtze River
by Svend Otto S.
● Droughtby Tricia Oktober
● Amy Goes Fishingby Jean Mazollo
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WATE R W E E K
Book
Bonanza
BOOK Bluebackby Tim Winton.
SYNOPSIS Abel and his mother make
their living from the sea and land in remote Longboat
Bay. One day Abel meets Blueback, a huge groper, who becomes his lifelong friend, and
who is responsible for his increased interest in the sea.
Teaching Notes
● This book examines how changes brought by
Follow-up Activities
encroaching civilisation can affect the balance of
nature in even the most remote areas. It looks at
the difference that an individual can make.
● The book should be read over a period of time,
with difficult or scientific words listed for
dictionary and thesaurus activities.
RECOUNT
● Have students write an account of the changes in
Longboat Bay from Blueback’s point of view.
● Have students illustrate their favourite part.
COMPREHENSION
● Imagine you are Abel’s mother. Write the letter she
would have sent to the authorities nominating the
bay to be made into a marine park.
Preliminary Activities
● Have students examine the cover and identify
WRITING
what type of fish Blueback could be.
● Discuss possible places the story could be set.
● Write out your favourite seafood recipe.
● Describe a water scene that you have experienced.
(See page 5.) Illustrate these descriptions and
place them around the room.
During the Story
Possible prompts for discussion could include:
SPEAKING
● Describe how Abel felt about diving. (See
● Debate: “That it would have been a good idea to
build a resort in the bay.”
chapter 1.)
● How did Abel and his mother harvest abalone?
● Work with a partner to show the first encounter
(See page 7.)
● How did Abel react when he first saw Blueback?
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
ROLE PLAY
(See pages 8 and 9.)
Describe some of the ways that Abel and his
mother earned their living. (See chapter 3.)
Why was Abel worried about Blueback? (See
page 39.)
What is a “reef stripper”? (See page 59.)
Why was Costello a threat to Blueback and all the
other fish on the reef? (See chapters 7 and 8.)
How did Abel use a computer to explore the sea?
(See page 110.)
Where did all the whale bones on the beach come
from? (See page 125.)
What did Abel’s mother do to save the reef? (See
chapter 13.)
between Abel and Blueback.
● Prepare a two minute speech to persuade the
council to declare Longboat Bay a marine park.
RESEARCH
● Have students research the author Tim Winton.
Find out why he was awarded the Wilderness
Society’s Environment Award.
● Research whaling in Australia.
● Investigate what a marine biologist does.
Ongoing Activities
Other suitable books
● Describe a typical day in Abel’s life, and compare
● Kayak by Sally Odgers
● Sign of the Seahorseby Graham Base
it to a day in your own life.
● List all the fish that are described in the story.
● Southern Rainbowby Phyllis Piddington
Select one of the fish or sea creatures to research.
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