Teacher's kit
Why study water?
Water for everyday use is vital, but often taken for granted. Students study the water cycle, water management and water conservation to build an understanding and appreciation of water issues. They can then choose the best options and practices to protect this finite resource that is the basis of all life on earth.
Hunter Water
Hunter Water is often the first contact point for students researching the local water cycle. Hunter Water understands that education about water and wastewater issues is part of ensuring healthy, reliable and sufficient water supplies for our communities, both now and in the future.
The Water Kit
We commissioned the Water Kit to help local students and teachers understand important regional issues and the role played by communities in protecting our water assets.
The Water Kit was developed by The Wetlands Centre, Australia – it also received input from the Department of Education’s Wetlands Environmental Education Centre (Newcastle), teachers from local schools, and other government agencies in the Hunter. The Water Kit provides targeted support to schools and their communities on water resource management in the Hunter.
It has been developed to support schools through a targeted curriculum-based package to raise understanding and skills in sustainable water management and is part of Hunter Water’s role in facilitating water education in the lower Hunter.
The Water Kit is for local students - it has a strong regional content and context. It provides an opportunity to cultivate a sense of place, while developing guidelines on how we can all contribute to sustainable water management. The kit encourages students to observe, research, think critically and be open to discussion and new ideas on local and regional water issues.
The Water Kit explained
There are four sections to the kit:
The first three sections contain fact sheets. Each section has an introduction which outlines learning opportunities and potential links within different levels of the curriculum. The Water Kit contains material to help teachers address syllabus outcomes across a number of Key Learning Areas. It also helps integrate the objectives of the Environmental Education Policy for Schools (NSW Department of Education and Training 2001) with student learning programs.
The kit has been developed with the needs of both teachers and students in mind. The resources target students in stage four and five, and may be used directly by students to support their learning, and by high school teachers as background information or ideas for investigating water issues.
While there are already many water education resources available, the Water Kit aims to give specific local information, rather than duplicating existing resources.
Section 4 of the Water Kit outlines a range of related resources, websites, awards and funding opportunities. If you have a query about the Water Kit call Hunter Water’s Communications Unit on 1300 657 657.
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