Cities Taking Shape Grade/Level 4/5 Description s5

From rain to river Year level: K–2

L19 Where does tap water come from? Copyright Education Services Australia Ltd. About the unit

Unit description The unit of work is designed to help younger students know and understand:

 the importance of water to living things  the water cycle  that water is a precious resource.

Knowledge, understandings, skills, values  All living things need water.  All living things in the environment are interconnected and interdependent, and the balance can be delicate.  The environment can affect how we live and the things we do.  We can each have a positive effect and a negative effect on the environment.  We each have a responsibility to protect our environments for the future.

Focus questions  Why do living things need water?  Where do they get the water they need?  How can we make sure there is enough water for everyone and everything?

© Education Services Australia Ltd, 2010, except where indicated otherwise From rain to river 1 Resources Digital curriculum resources L1283 World Wonders TV show: earthquake L19 Where does tap water come from? [includes spoken instructions] R7020 Dam in drought, 2005 R8378 Lake dries due to drought, 2006 R6044 Windmill photograph from ‘Remembering Rain’, 2005 R7021 Condobolin plains, 2005 R9617 Murray River in crisis, 2008 R9616 Record low water levels in Hume Reservoir, 2007 R2866 Sign pointing to water, Murray River, 1946 Internet sites  Australian Weather Watch Radar Network on the Bureau of Meteorology website: www.bom.gov.au (type ‘radar’ in search engine)  Cloudia Raindrop on Yarra Valley Water: http://www.yvw.com.au/yvw/Home (click on For schools/Juniors)

Print Stories  Tiddalick, the frog who caused a flood, R Roennfeldt, Penguin, 1980 (or other versions)  Big rain coming, K Germein and B Bancroft, Penguin, 2002  Drought, T Oktober, Hodder Headline Australia, 1998  The wonder thing, L Hathorn and P Gouldthorpe, Viking, 1995

Poems  In time for poetry, compiled by MH Arbuthnot and SL Root, Scott Foresman, Glenview, 1968  ‘Galoshes’, Rhoda W Bacmeister  Traditional poems, including: ‘Doctor Foster went to Gloucester’, ‘It’s raining it’s pouring’, and ‘Incy Wincy spider’

Other resources  A variety of living material (such as leaves, sticks and flowers) and non-living objects  Photographs of the students taken throughout the unit as they participate in the activities  Collection of old magazines  Electric kettle and sheet of glass or mirror, talcum powder  Floor tile, fabric a little larger than a floor tile, spray bottle

Attached printable resources The following teacher-created learning resources referred to in the Unit of work are available for you to modify, print and use in your own teaching and learning context:

 Raindrop template  ‘A cycle of rain’, dance and music instructions  ‘The water cycle song’  ‘The raindrop song’

Setting the scene Resources  A variety of living material and non-living objects  Collection of old magazines

Teaching and learning activities Living things need water Provide the students with a variety of living material and non-living objects (or pictures of the material or objects) and have them sort these into collections of those that need water and those that don’t. Discuss their choices and the reasons for them.

Why do people need water?

Why do animals need water?

Why do plants need water?

Which items do not need water? Why?

Divide the students into three groups. Have each group search magazines and cut out pictures that show people, animals and plants using water. Each group creates a collage using the pictures and provides captions about how water is used in each picture.

Discuss:

What would happen if people, plants and animals did not get the water they needed?

Would the people be affected if the animals died? Why?

Would the animals be affected if the plants died? Why?

Would the plants and animals be affected if the people died? Why?

Assessment Make informal observations about each student’s ability to sort using given criteria, and their ability to explain their choices.

Investigating Resources  ‘The raindrop song’ (page 18)  ‘The water cycle’ song (page 17)  ‘A cycle of rain’, dance and music instructions (page 13)  Electric kettle, sheet of glass or mirror, talcum powder  Floor tile, fabric a little larger than a floor tile, spray bottle

© Education Services Australia Ltd, 2010, except where indicated otherwise From rain to river 4  L19 Where does tap water come from? [includes spoken instructions]  L1283 World Wonders TV show: earthquake  Images of drought-affected areas listed on page 2  Tiddalick, the frog who caused a flood, R Roennfeldt  Big rain coming, K Germein and B Bancroft  Drought, T Oktober  Aquarium, gravel, potting mix and plants  Australian Weather Watch Radar Network on the Bureau of Meteorology website; www.bom.gov.au (type ‘radar’ in search engine)  Cloudia Raindrop on Yarra Valley Water: http://www.yvw.com.au/yvw/Home (click on For schools/Juniors)Teaching and learning activities

Teaching and learning activities From river to rain Explore what the students already know about where water comes from. Create a list of their suggested sources. Ask:

How does the water get there?

Set up a demonstration of evaporation by creating a puddle in a sunny spot in the playground. Draw a chalk circle around its rim. Check the size of the puddle every 30 minutes, drawing in the new rim as it shrinks.

Why has the puddle shrunk?

Where has the water gone?

Explain the concept of evaporation and explain how it is caused by heat and wind. Watch this process again by painting with water on a sunny part of the playground and observing what happens.

Demonstrate evaporation more clearly using an electric kettle and a sheet of glass lightly sprinkled with talcum powder on one side of one surface.

 Put cold water in the kettle and switch it on. Explain that the water represents puddles, rivers, lakes and oceans and the heat from the kettle represents the heat energy from the sun.  As the water is heated it turns to steam. Introduce the term ‘evaporation’. We can see the steam rising because it is being funnelled out through the spout of the kettle, but steam is usually invisible in the landscape. Show that the level of the water in the kettle has gone down.  Hold the sheet of glass (talc side down) above the steam and watch the steam turn into water droplets as it hits the cool surface. Introduce the term ‘condensation’. The glass represents the cooler layers of air above the Earth’s surface.

© Education Services Australia Ltd, 2010, except where indicated otherwise From rain to river 5  Show the students how the drops that collect on the talc join together into bigger drops more readily than those on the non-talc section. The talc represents the dust and other particles that are always in the air. This is how clouds are formed.  Hold the glass in place long enough for the water to drip down and form a puddle underneath. Introduce the word ‘precipitation’.

Explain that this sequence of events is called the water cycle and the demonstration is a model of what happens in the real world. Introduce the concept of a diagram and create one to show the process.

Teach and then act out ‘The raindrop song’ (page 18).

Watch ‘Cloudia Raindrop’s adventures through the water cycle’ on the Yarra Valley Water website.

From sky to sea Stretch a piece of fabric about a centimetre above a tile, or similar hard surface, placed on a slope. Use a spray bottle to spray water onto the fabric and watch as it becomes wet and then the water drips through and runs down the tile to gather on the flat ‘ground’ at the base of the slope.

Explain that this is a model of what happens when it rains – some of the water soaks into the ground but when it cannot hold any more it flows away. Take them to a site where there is a variety of surface levels. Pour a container of water on to the highest point to demonstrate how the water seeks the lowest level, joining up as it flows down to become one at that level.

Develop their understanding of the water cycle by teaching ‘The water cycle song’ (page 16). Have the students suggest appropriate hand or body movements for each verse.

Make a large diagram to illustrate what is happening in the song.

Consolidate the students’ understanding through dance and music by performing ‘A cycle of rain’ (page 12).

From sky to sink Watch ‘Cloudia Raindrop explores the water supply system’ on the Yarra Valley Water website to assist students to understand how water is collected, stored and distributed.

Use L19 Where does tap water come from? to explore this topic further. Choose the situation that best suits your circumstance first (city or country) and then complete the other so a comparison can be made.

What happens if there is no rain?

What would it be like to live where the only water supply is tank water?

What would it be like to have a constant supply of water from a tap? Discuss how their lives would change if the way they obtained their water changed.

What would be the biggest change they could imagine?

Have each student create a drawing that demonstrates the changes they have discussed. Include a caption beginning with ‘If there was (plenty of) (not much) water I (could) (couldn’t) …’

From dry to drought View the images of drought-affected areas as listed on page 2.

Construct an X chart to create a word bank of the sights, sounds, smells and feelings associated with such a dry landscape. Select one image and use the words to create a free- form poem about it.

Construct a collage of a drought scene to accompany the poem. On a sheet of brown paper, create dry land made by spreading paste over the lower part of the paper and then covering it with sand or dirt from your local area. Above the dirt paint a never-ending blue sky that meets the land. Add skeletal trees using brown paint on the edge of a paddle-pop stick, and other appropriate images drawn by the students.

Discuss:

What is a drought?

What is its effect on the land, its creatures and people?

Read the story of Tiddalick, who drank all the water leaving his fellow creatures desperate.

How does having no water affect plants and animals?

Other stories to read are Drought by Tricia Oktober or Big rain coming by Katrina Germein and Bronwyn Bancroft.

Discuss how a recent drought has affected the students and their families.

© Education Services Australia Ltd, 2010, except where indicated otherwise From rain to river 7 On a day when rain is forecast, visit the Bureau of Meteorology’s website and select the Weather Watch Radar location nearest you. Show the students how to predict the amount of rain by using the key at the bottom.

Extension activities Create a miniature water cycle using a fish bowl or aquarium. Put 3 cm of gravel in the bottom and then several centimetres of potting mix. Place a variety of plants in the soil, spray with a little water, cover with a sheet of glass and place in a sunny spot.

What happens? Why?

What can we learn from this?

Watch the first part of L1283 World Wonders TV show: earthquake to see another representation of the water cycle.

What was the most interesting way that was used to teach us about the water cycle?

How could we share what we know?

Assessment Have the students create individual diagrams to demonstrate their understanding of the water cycle.

Bringing it all together Resources  Clear, 1-litre container  30-mL measure  Two clear containers  Variety of containers larger than 1 litre  Collection of 1-litre containers

Teaching and learning activities Liquid gold Examine a globe of the world to see how much of the Earth’s surface is covered with water.

If there is so much water, why is it so precious?

Only a fraction of the water on Earth is fresh water, available to humans. Demonstrate what proportion of the world’s water is usable.

 Fill a 1-litre container of water to represent all the water on the planet.  Measure out 30 mL of this and tip it into another container – this is the Earth’s fresh water supply. The water left in the first container is the salt water of the seas and oceans.

© Education Services Australia Ltd, 2010, except where indicated otherwise From rain to river 8  From the fresh water container, take 10 mL and tip it into a third container. This is the fresh water available for humans to use. What can we learn from this?

Record the students’ comments to gauge their understanding of the value of water. Use these comments as a basis for discussion about the need to save water and where and how this can be done.

Water audit Have each student conduct a water audit at their home. Brainstorm all the ways their families use water each day and list them. Classify them into morning, day and night-time activities. Make a worksheet listing the activities, allowing some space for additional items. Each student puts a tick beside the activities that take place in their home. Collate the results by constructing a graph and identifying the top ten ways water is used at home.

How much is a litre? Provide a variety of containers and have a few students fill one each while the class observes, stopping when they think they have put in 1 litre. Compare their estimates by pouring the water into a 1-litre container.

Who had too much?

Who had too little?

Whose was just right?

Investigate how much water common activities use. Estimate then investigate the amount of water used for each of the top ten activities on the graph.

Were there any surprises?

Add the amounts of water used for these ten activities.

How many litres do their families use each day?

Create a pictorial chart that summarises the amount of water used for each of the top ten activities and rank the activities according to the amount used.

Which uses the most? Why?

© Education Services Australia Ltd, 2010, except where indicated otherwise From rain to river 9 Drawing conclusions Teaching and learning activities Saving water Is it necessary for us to try to save water? Why?

How could we do this?

Examine each of the top ten uses and determine if it is an essential or non-essential use. Give each a tick if it is essential or a cross if it is non-essential.

What would happen if we no longer used water in this way?

If we do need to use it in this way, how could we use less?

Brushing your teeth with the tap running uses about 6 litres of water. Show the students how much this is. Compare it to the amount used by using a glass of water instead.

How much difference can one student make?

Show the students the amount of water that could be saved if every student in the class brushed their teeth on just one day using a glass of water instead of letting the tap run.

Brainstorm and list all the possibilities to minimise other water use in their homes.

What do you and your family already do to save water?

What else could you do? Communicating Resources  Raindrop template (page 16)

Teaching and learning activities Sharing the knowledge Who needs to know what we know?

How could we share what we know?

Consider making:

 posters to show others how they can save water, using the students’ drawings and captions  signs to post at drinking water taps, taps and toilets reminding other students that water is precious  a slideshow created from drawings or photographs of students and families conserving water  a pamphlet for parents with suggestions for saving water in the home  Yes and No photograph montage showing the right and wrong ways to use water

© Education Services Australia Ltd, 2010, except where indicated otherwise From rain to river 10  an article for the school newsletter or website describing students’ investigations and findings, including the chart showing water usage of common activities. Provide tips that others could follow. Use the photos that you have taken throughout the unit to create a visual diary for publication in Special forever. Use the students’ comments about what they were doing and what they discovered as the captions.

Assessment Discuss what the students have learned from this unit and what they will remember for the rest of their lives.

Have each make a Raindrop using the template on page 16. Decorate the umbrella and boots. Attach the arms and legs using split pins and paste the umbrella on an angle a little above Raindrop person’s eyes. Position one arm so it is carrying the umbrella. On the umbrella record a statement about what they have learned in this unit.

Create a class mural by attaching the Raindrops to a newspaper background. Use sheets that are mostly print to portray a grey, gloomy background. Cut out card raindrops, cover with silver foil and add to the mural.

Alternatively, create a mobile of Rainbow people. Print the template on card for stability and construct them in the same way. Suspend them, using fishing line, to float among the silver foil raindrops.

The material in this unit of work may contain links to internet sites maintained by entities not connected to Education Services Australia Ltd and which it does not control (‘Sites’).

Education Services Australia Ltd:  provides the links for ease of reference only and it does not sponsor, sanction or approve of any material contained on the Sites; and  does not make any warranties or representations as to, and will not be liable for, the accuracy or any other aspect of the material on the Sites or any other matter connected to the use of the Sites.

While the material in this unit of work is not remunerable under Part VB of the Copyright Act 1968, material on the Sites may be remunerable under Part VB of the Copyright Act 1968. It is your responsibility to read and comply with any copyright information, notices or conditions of use which apply to a Site.

A dance and music activity Background grey sky, scudding clouds over sea of long rolling waves

Characters waves, thunder, wind, lightning, clouds, sun

Costumes Clouds – soft, white and billowing

Lightning – yellow top and bottom with yellow streamers attached

Thunder – black top and bottom

Waves – blue-green with white streamers on shoulders and arms to represent foam

Sun – large yellow, red and orange ball with yellow, red and orange streamers attached to arms

Wind – white tops and bottoms with white plastic supermarket bags threaded onto arms to catch the wind

Scene 1

Action Waves are beating gently on the shore – ‘wave’ students are clustered together on their knees, undulating their spines to make a wave-like movement, arms moving from back to front as foam

Music shakers going from soft to loud in time to arm movements small drum beating in between shaker sounds as arms reach the shore second small drum quietly ba ba ba boom; ba ba ba boom sound effects of slow pouring of stones from one plastic bowl to another

Scene 2

Action Sun draws moisture from the ocean – ‘sun’ student hovers over ocean (by standing on a table) and undulates arms over waves – a few of the ‘waves’ leave the group one at a time to join the sun in its travels across the sky

Music xylophone – runs up and down the scale to the rhythm of ta-ta-te-te-ta-ta chime bars – four quaver beats on, each moving up the scale

Action A cloud is formed – ‘wave’ students cluster together and sway and circle gently as ‘cloud students’ join them – ‘wave students’ unobtrusively move off so cloud becomes a mass of white

Music triangles and plucked strings – softly at 2 second intervals gradually getting louder and faster voices moderately soft up and down scale

Scene 4

Action Prevailing wind blows cloud towards mountains – ‘wind’ student herds the cloud towards the mountains – ‘cloud’ students swirl more vigorously and move away from wind

Music triangles and plucked strings – continue as before voices and blowers – imitating wind noises and getting stronger

Scene 5

Action A storm rises – ‘thunder’ moves across the stage in a series of pirouettes – ‘lightning’ leaps across with large, sharp, jagged movements – ‘cloud’ students become agitated and movements more vigorous

Music voices and blowers – imitating wind noises – loud and continuous shakers – start low – build up –continuous drums – start low – build up – continuous cymbals and gong – clash at 2-second intervals in time to lightning leaps

Scene 6

Action Rain falls – cloud disperse and students individually simulate rain falling to ground

Music body percussion hands on knees softly intermittently building to hands on desks loudly continuously drum – joins in as a roll when hands on desks starts to build special effects – dried peas poured from a carton into another carton

Action Little rivulets run down the mountain and form broad rivers – ‘wave’ students join together in twos, then fours and then one large group – movement suggests water flowing

Music xylophone – up and down in same rhythm as before, quietly but louder as groups of waves get bigger plucked strings – a similar rhythm and volume to xylophones special effects – blow a straw into a container of water

Scene 8

Action River joins the sea – ‘wave’ students spread out and repeat actions of Scene 1 – ‘cloud’ students move off unobtrusively

Music all music and sound effects gradually slow and soften into silence repeat music of Scene 1 as waves lap onto the shoreline.

Sing to the tune of The Farmer in the Dell

The sun shines hot and strong The sun shines hot and strong The water dries and up it goes The sun shines hot and strong.

The vapour hits the cool The vapour hits the cool The drops and dust form into clouds The vapour hits the cool.

Clouds get fat, rain falls down Clouds get fat, rain falls down It splashes down upon the ground Clouds get fat, rain falls down.

The water makes a stream The water makes a stream It's flowing down along the ground The water makes a stream.

The stream joins a river The stream joins a river Faster now, see how it flows The stream joins a river.

The river joins the sea The river joins the sea The restless, dancing, sparkling sea The river joins the sea.

The sun shines hot and string The sun shines hot and strong The water dries and up it goes The sun shines hot and strong.

Sing to the tune of Ten Little Indians

One little, two little, three little raindrops Four little, five little, six little raindrops Seven little, eight little, nine little raindrops Getting together to form a cloud.

One little, two little, three little raindrops Four little, five little, six little raindrops Seven little, eight little, nine little raindrops Fall down on the earth.

Splash, splash, splash, splash, splash, splash, splash, splash, splash!

One little, two little, three little raindrops Four little, five little, six little raindrops Seven little, eight little, nine little raindrops Make a great big puddle.

One little, two little, three little raindrops Four little, five little, six little raindrops Seven little, eight little, nine little raindrops Are dried up by the sunshine.

Steam, steam, steam, steam, steam, steam, steam, steam, steam!