4.4 Water

Life skills

Grade 2

Journeys

Module 6

Water

Why did you have to move backwards for drinking from the stream? discuss why this was wrong.

Water

READ THE FOLLOWING:

Water from streams is not always clean. There are many ways in which it can become contaminated. If it is near a small village, it may be used for washing and cleaning and the dirty water is thrown back into the river.

If it is near a town, factories may use the water and pump their waste back into the river. Even if humans are not contaminating the water, there may be many little creatures or germs in the water that are harmful to humans.

Think of ways to make the water safe to drink. Write them here and then discuss your answers with your teacher.

We purify water!

The water that we get in our taps has been purified, so that it is safe to drink. Chemicals have been added to make sure that germs cannot live in it. The simplest part of the water purification is filtering. Filtering is a process, which works like a strainer or a sieve and prevents the larger objects from passing through.

Your teacher will give you some dirty water. See if you can make your own filter to clean it.

What will you use? List your apparatus.

• What will you do?
• What do you think will happen?
• Draw and label your experiment.
• Your layers will prevent the worst of the dirt getting through to your container. Naturally you cannot drink this water, as the germs are tiny enough to slip through your filter.
• What do you think will get rid of the germs?

Assessment

Memorandum

• Our journeys can also take us into the countryside. This can bring us into contact with unclean water and the importance of clean water.
• Stress the importance of water as a precious resource in our lives (especially in a country like South Africa where we often experience periods of drought) and that we need to save and not waste it. Discuss another resource that we often take for granted: electricity. These resources should be used with respect just as we need to save or use our money wisely.
• Ask the learners to think of ways of saving water and electricity in their own homes. Remind them that in this way they are also saving money! (EMS 1.5).

• Let the learners try to think of a slogan or jingle to remind them not to waste, something like “An apple a day keeps the doctor away”. If they want others to always close the tap properly, they must try to find a rhyme with “tap” and “water” to make their friends close the tap, e.g. “Close it well, leave no drops to tell”, or in the case of switching off the lights, “Have you flipped a switch today?”
• Explain that for some people the lack of water or running water is a serious issue. If this is a problem in your area, use the task described in the activity as your next assignment. If not, try to identify an environmental issue in your community, whether it be some traffic hazard, a pollution problem or something else that the learners are exposed to.
• Let them have a group brain storming session about the factors causing or leading to this issue. Give each group a large sheet of paper so that they can list the causes. Then let them establish who is affected by the problem and suggest a solution.
• They will therefore

1. identify an issue;
2. list possible causes;
3. find out who is affected;
4. propose a solution.

(GEOG. 1.4; A&C 4 Composite).