Teaching Resources for Water

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illustration showing journey water takes from the source to the tap

Watch the Waterloo Wellington Children's Groundwater Festival (WWCGF) Premiere event. This year's virtual Festival includes four days of programming about the water cycle, the Grand River watershed, groundwater and water technology.

Learn about water

Learn about the sources of your drinking water, what it takes to clean and deliver water to your home and how the water that leaves your home is treated before returning to the environment.

Municipal water and wastewater systems

Overview

Video (11:07m): Journey of water (WWCGF)
Infographic: Journey of water (Region of Waterloo)

Grand River water treatment

Video (5:58m): Collection and treatment of water from the Grand River (Region of Waterloo)
Video (2:13m): Water filtration experiment (Home Science Tools)

Groundwater wells

refer to the "Groundwater aquifers and wells" section

Water towers

Video (3:28m): Water towers (Region of Waterloo)
Video (4:30m): How do water towers work (Concerning Reality)
Video (10:59m): How water towers work (Practical Engineering)

Wastewater

Video (4:07m): Where it goes after you flush (Region of Waterloo)
Video (12:27m): How sewers work (Practical Engineering)
Colouring page (PDF): Biosolids (Region of Waterloo)
Activity sheet (PDF): To flush or not to flush (Region of Waterloo)

Water testing

Video (7:25m): Why we test water (WWCGF)
Game: Watershed detective (Nutrien)

Groundwater aquifers and wells

Infographic: Parts of a groundwater aquifer (Region of Waterloo)
Video (1:40m): 1 of 3: What is groundwater (WWCGF)
Video (12:28m): 2 of 3: Using a flow model to understand groundwater (WWCGF)
Video (5:28m): 3 of 3: Build your own ice cream aquifer (WWCGF)
Video (11:16m): All about groundwater wells (WWCGF)
Video (6:26m): Journey of groundwater to your tap (Region of Waterloo)
Video (6:40m): Groundwater movement (Region of Waterloo)
Video (7:00m): How do water wells works (Concerning Reality)
Video (5:28m): Build your own ice cream aquifer (WWCGF)
Video (8:38m): William Street Pumping Station (Doors Open)
Colouring page (PDF): Groundwater aquifer (Region of Waterloo)
Video (8:50m): Wally and Deanna's Groundwater Adventure story (University of Waterloo)
Video (1:49m): Make an aquifer in a cup (Groundwater Foundation)
Activity (PDF): Build a foldable paper 3D aquifer (University at Buffalo, Department of Geology)

Water cycle and watershed

Water cycle

Infographic: The water cycle (EPA: Kids Discovery)
Video (6:32m): All the water in the world (WWCGF)

Watershed

Video (1:17m): What is a watershed (Battle River Watershed)
Video (5:04m): Up on the watershed (WWCGF)
Video (7:03m): Learning about watersheds using augmented reality (WWCGF)
Video (5:30m): Hiking the Grand River watershed (WWCGF)
Video (9:13m): Take a trip through the Grand River watershed (WWCGF)
Video (7:52m): Grand River watershed mapping activity (WWCGF)
Map: Grand River watershed (GRCA)
Map: Watersheds in Ontario (Conservation Ontario)
Video (9:30m): Shand Dam (Doors Open)
Video (8:58m): Wally and Deanna's Blackflies to Blueberries Wetland Adventure story (University of Waterloo)

Great Lakes

Video (5:30m): The Great Lakes (WWCGF)
Video (11:20m): Great Lakes questions and answers (WWCGF)

Taking care of water

Water conservation: using less water

Infographic: Home water conservation tips (Region of Waterloo)
Video (1:21m): Check for water leaks in your home (Region of Waterloo)
Video (3:45m): Water Girl water saving tips (WWCGF)

Water protection: keeping water clean

Video (1:13m): Drinking water source protection (Conservation Ontario)
Video (2:20m): Plastic pollution (WWCGF)
Video (4:57m): Water ours to protect (WWCGF)
Video (2:39m): Urban stormwater and runoff (Yellow Fish Road)
Video (3:57m): Only rain down the storm drain (WWCGF)
Video (2:25m): Salt impacts and snow clearing tips (Region of Waterloo)
Infographic: Impacts of salt (Region of Waterloo)

Wastewater: what not to flush or pour down a drain

Video (3:16m): What not to flush (WWCGF)
Video (1:21m): Unflushables (I don't flush)
Video (8:25m): The 3 Ps (pee-poop-toilet paper) (WWCGF)

Activities, songs and stories

Colouring sheets and activities

Video (5:28m): Build your own ice cream aquifer (WWCGF)
Water bingo
Water fun activity sheet
Winter fun activity book
Aquifer colouring page
Biosolids colouring book
To Flush or Not To Flush activity sheet

Songs and stories

Video (2:19m): It's raining (Sean McCammon for WWCGF)
Video (2:08m): I'm a little rain drop (WWCGF)
Video (8:50m): Wally and Deanna's Groundwater Adventure (University of Waterloo)
Video (8:58m): Wally and Deanna's Blackflies to Blueberries Wetland Adventure (University of Waterloo)

Water trivia

Video (5:21m): Guess the number (WWCGF)
Online quiz: Test your water knowledge (Region of Waterloo)
Video (6:30m): Water quality quiz - part 1 of 2 (Region of Waterloo)
Video (13:09m): Water quality quiz - part 2 of 2 (Region of Waterloo)

Science experiments

Videos: Water experiments (WWCGF)
Video (2:13m): Water filtration experiment (Home Science Tools)
Science experiments (Region of Waterloo)
Make your own groundwater aquifer: video/PDF (The Groundwater Foundation)
Build a foldable paper 3D aquifer (University at Buffalo, Department of Geology)

Teaching resources

Municipal water and wastewater systems:

Wastewater Grade 4 and Grade 5 lesson activities (Region of Waterloo)
How do water towers work lesson activities (Wonderopolis)

Groundwater wells:

Awesome aquifer training videos (Groundwater Foundation)
Groundwater modelling concepts hydrogeology challenge (Groundwater Foundation)
Water sources: groundwater (Government of Canada)
Understanding groundwater (Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs)
Education resources (Groundwater Foundation)

Water cycle, watersheds and stormwater:

Grand River watershed (GRCA)
The water cycle: article / video (Khan Academy)
Video (0:45m): Explore watersheds (Project WET Foundation)

Lesson plans and websites:

Teaching tools and resources (The Water Project)
E-zone: resources for teachers and parents to teach children about the environment (Province of Ontario)
Lesson plans and videos (TED-Ed)
Lesson plans (Khan Academy)
Water you drinking: why drinking water is a healthy choice (City of Kitchener)

Book a free presentation

Book a free presentation on the municipal water and wastewater systems in Waterloo Region. The subject matter aligns with curriculum for each grade but can be tailored to meet your class requirements. To be eligible, the school must be in Waterloo Region.

Complete this request form to book a presentation.

Open folders for presentation information for each grade.

Grade 2 (science and technology: air and water in the environment)

Length: 45 minutes

Learn about:

water (value of water, water sources, states of water, water cycle)
water conservation (how we use water and what we can do to use less)
drinking water systems (journey of water to the tap and what it takes to make sure the water is safe and clean to drink)
wastewater systems (what happens to the water after it is flushed down the toilet)

Grade 8 (science and technology: water systems)

Length: 60 minutes (presentation only) or 120 minutes (includes hands-on activities)

Learn about:

watersheds (introduction)
groundwater aquifers and protection programs
municipal water systems
(optional) Hands-on activities:

use map of Grand River watershed to identify key areas and understand how waterways are connected
with the help of a groundwater flow model see how groundwater moves through an aquifer, how wells are used to collect groundwater and the impacts of pollution to groundwater
build a water system

Plan a field trip (currently unavailable due to COVID-19)

Waterloo Wellington Children's Groundwater Festival

for grades 2 to 5
hands-on activities teach students about water

Region of Waterloo Mannheim Water Treatment Plant tour

for secondary and post secondary students and adults only
technical presentation and tour
tours by registration only based on staff availability

Careers in water

Managing water resources and providing clean drinking water to our homes involves a team of dedicated professionals. The water industry offers many challenging and rewarding careers. The American Water Works Association provides more information on working with water.

Watch these videos produced by the Waterloo Wellington Children's Groundwater Festival: