TERM 4 2020 Education Newsletter

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National Water Week Book a FREE digital education class session with the ACT water cycle model The 19-25 October 2020 is ‘Let’s reimagine our water future,’. The Australian Water Association has put Learn all about the amazing journey of water in the ACT. together a range events, competitions and education Find out how Icon Water delivers water to your tap and material to celebrate the week. Check out their website to treats the sewage from your home and school! get involved at awa.asn.au/nationalwaterweek. Contact us at [email protected] to organise a live webinar education session for your class featuring

Calling all creative students!

Icon Water have teamed up creative direction from any of with Floriade to launch a Photo the themes below: Comp. The competition is open to photographers of all abilities, 1. Water – our most precious with an under 18s prize resource available. Student participation 2. Water – the environment is encouraged. and/or animals The competition is open to all 3. Floriade blooms in ACT and Queanbeyan Palerang . residents. There is $5,000 in cash prizes up for grabs. Submissions close Saturday, 31 October. All students need to do is to For more information visit submit a photograph (maximum iconwater.com.au/photocomp of 3 photos per person) using

E [email protected] T (02) 6248 3111 Let’s connect iconwater.com.au New education resources to download

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ACTIVIT

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Wet ACTIVIT 2- wipe Icon Water is excited to provide new ACTIVIT Toilet paper education materials available for Paper towel teachers to download and use within

To flush or not to flush, that is the question SO -1 their class. The website offers a Instructions The to flush or not to flush activity helps you and your family investigate the properties row your own mini catchment of common materials that are used for personal toilet hygiene, so you can discover for FACTSHEETSITE TOR Step 1 Take your clean container and remove the lid. yourself what can and cannot be flushed! If using a rinsed soft drink bottle, remove the label from In this activity you will make your own mini your bottle and carefully cut the bottle in half (adult What are sewer drains supervision will be required). series of fun and engaging activities, catchment to observe the different stages 20mins There are two types of drains in the urban water cycle; sewage drains and stormwater drains. Step 2 Add a layer of gravel, followed by a layer of sand of the hydrological cycle. 1-3 people in the bottom of your container for drainage. Build up Equipment required:Sewer drains 12 eole one end of the container with a sloping edge to make a small hill or mountain. What do you flush or put down drains? † 1 sheet of toilet paper mins † 1 tissue Step 3 Spoon the soil into the bottle until it is aroundStart with 1/3 a quick survey to list all the items that you and videos, and factsheets that explore the catchment on the west of the ACT and 15 minutes † full. Make small holes in the soil and place in your plants.family know about, other than soapy water, that goes 1 piece of paper towel on the south east of Canberra the 30 minutes catchment. Our catchment rivers are where we build Preparationdams time: Add other features like sticks, moss and pebblesdown to theyour drains in your home. † 1 wet wipe medium to hold our water supply. Activity time: mini garden. † 2- 4 jars or containers with lids, of a similar size, Difficulty: Family to shake your material in The Cotter River catchment is made up of three water Step 4 Water the plants until the soil is soaked through. storage dams, , and . Member Bathroom Laundry † One cup of water for each material you test These dams catch the run off water from creeks withinEuiment reuired Kitchen the role of water in our everyday Step 5 Fill a small dish (bottle lid) with water and add to † the Brindabella mountain ranges. The Queanbeyan River Toilet Sieve or Thesestrainer are to pipes drain inside the youritems homes, at the schools end and Stormwater drains What is a catchment A handy’ ma For a temporary classroom project use a 1.25 − 2 L soft your catchment by placing at the bottlom Mumof the / slope. businesses that take away the sewage, the wastewater catchment has one water storage dam, Googong† Dam. Dad † A stopwatch or kitchen timer This dam collects its water from the creeks and riversdrink bottle or a takeaway container with a lid. For a used from your taps, sinks, baths and toilets. These Think of your hand as a map of a catchment. Hold the within the Yanununbeyan and Tinderry mountain ranges.more permanent project use a sealable glass container Step 6 Place the lid on your container to seal your mini † Markerdrains pen join and the paper 3,300km of sewerage network pipes and palm of your hand upwards. Bend your hand slightly to catchment. If using the soft drink bottle, place the top half infrastructure that run underground through Canberra a cup of sand, stones and gravel make a ‘cup shape’. The lines on the palm of your hand Everyone lives in a catchment. Here we build† our back onto the bottom and seal with stickyBrother tape. / to the sewage treatment plant, Lower Molonglo Water should now be more visible. cities, houses and suburbs. Water is sourced† from garden our soil Sister Predict:Quality Control Centre (LMWQCC). catchments and piped to our taps every day, supplying lives. Step 7 Place your mini catchment in a spot with adequate Picture your fingers as mountain ranges and the lines in † water At LMWQCC wastewater from across Canberra is drinking water for the community’s health and wellbeing. sunlight near a window. Do not take off the lid.

your palm as rivers. It’s now starting to rain, the rain is A goodreceived, water screened, detective and conducts treated using experiments physical, chemical using the small plants,O seedlings and grasses (weeds work E R A † S E W E It is important we look after our environment and Oour E R and biological processes to remove the dirt and sludge, running down your fingers, into the rivers and filling up in T A W scientific method. Before you begin the experiment, wonders) Step 8 Over the next couple of weeks,Me observe how water the palm of your hand. water supply. You can do this by making sure you don’t writeas well down as the your nutrients, prediction detergents of which and materialother additives you think we will use to much water at home or school and† take bottle care cap of or similar to hold water moves through the mini catchment environment. Can put down the drain. There are also drain pipes outside your house that collect Canberra’s catchments work in the exact same way as be the best to flush. what you put down the drain. By doing thesescissors things you you see the different stages of transpiration, evaporation, rainfall runoff from roofs, driveways, footpaths, carparks, your hand catchment. Our catchments sit within the can help protect our catchments and the† urban water condensation, precipitation and runoff? Create a journal Water leaving this treatment plant is so thoroughly I predict... and roads that connect to the storm water drainage Brindabella, Yanununbeyan and Tinderry mountain cycle. † sticky tape to record what happens. treated that it can return to the natural water cycle, free of network. These drains are separate to the sewage system, ranges. When it rains or snows on the mountains, the pollution, and be released into the Molonglo River. It then small trowel, bucket and gloves to collect the materials taking rainfall from gutters on our roads, flowing into water soaks into the ground. The more rain or snow there † flows into the Murrumbidgee River where it will be reused local waterways, lakes and rivers. is, more water will run off and flow down the sides of the by other towns further downstream, eventually joining the

mountains. 9 Murray River system and flowing all the way to the ocean am :07 11 As the two drain systems are separate, it is important that

20 /5/ 11 near Adelaide in South . E [email protected] sewage and stormwater systems do not connect. If you look at your fingers, you should see little lines. iconwater.com.au All stormwater in our drains will eventually flow back to

Imagine these lines are the creeks and rivers within the T (02) 6248 3111 the Murrumbidgee River system. The in-class education activities

9 d .ind mountain ranges that catch the water. 05 7 1-0 0-2 02 I-2 Let’s connect SC Let’s connect

E These creeks and rivers flow into our surrounding rivers T (02) 6248 3111 [email protected] iconwater.com.au such as the Murrumbidgee River, Queanbeyan River and Cotter River. The ACT has two catchment areas - E [email protected]

iconwater.com.au have been designed to meet the Use the ACT urban water cycle activity ownoa aaiae now T

to learn about the parts of the natural (02) 6248 3111

water cycle and the built features that make up the urban water cycle. Let’s connect Let’s connect Australian curriculum standards and (02) 6248 3111 T

iconwater.com.au E [email protected] offer tailored outcomes for students in years F-2, years 3-4 and secondary students in years 7-10. Our aim is earn aout te roe water for these programs to help students a in our eer a ie understand water resources and to build a capacity to think and act in ways that create a more sustainable future.

ON HOLD

Questions from Kids’ Site tours on hold for COVID19

Do you know where your tap water comes from? Icon Water has determined that it is in the best interest for the safety of our community to postpone all external Does your class have a question about water visitor and school tours to Icon Water sites for this or sewerage? calendar year. As an essential service provider to the community, Icon Water’s focus is to safeguard operational You can now submit questions from your students to ask staff from potential COVID-19 outbreaks. our fabulous operational and field-staff. We want to help your students learn more about what Icon Water does In the meantime, Icon Water education team is running each day in providing Canberra and the region free online education programs, materials and videos to with essential supply of water and sewage services. support student engagement and learning. Book a digital See the website for our first videos Questions from Kids. webinar sessions with the water catchment model for your class or inquire about small group tours to the Cotter Download the information fact sheet on how to get Dam Discovery Trail, and in school sessions. involved here. Book a free webinar session for your class and we will answer your students questions. Please contact Kate Rhook Community Engagement Officer, should you like more information and to organise a session with your class.

Email [email protected] Phone 02 6248 3111.

E [email protected] T (02) 6248 3111 Let’s connect iconwater.com.au