Teaching Ideas for World Water Day

Try out some of these teaching ideas for World Water Day or as part of your ‘water’ topic at any other time of the year!

If you have any other ideas of your own, let us know by adding a comment at the bottom of the page.

English:

• Write a story with a watery setting. It could be on a lake, by the sea or in a stream.
• Write a shape (concrete) poem in the shape of a water droplet.
• Design and write a poster promoting the importance of saving water.
• Have a debate on “Bottled water vs. Tap water.” This BBC Bitesize resource on debating is useful.
• Write letters to the council or water company about issues with the water supply, such as pollution or water being wasted.
• Create a comic strip (using our free templates) that teaches younger children about the water cycle.
• Write a persuasive advertisement encouraging people to drink more water.
• Write a short play about the consequences of water pollution. This page has lots of information about river pollution, which the children could use in their work.
• Read a book with a watery theme, such as The Duck Who Didn’t Like Water, The Rainbow Fish or Kensuke’s Kingdom
• Use our Under the Sea Posters as discussion starters or prompts for non-fiction writing.
• Visit our Images to Inspire Gallery for lots of watery images with ready-made ideas for reading, writing and activities.
• Watch the fantastic short film The Oceanmaker and use one of our English ideas.
• Our free Rivers Fact Cards can be used as a reading resource or for research.

Maths:

• Download our Volume and Capacity Pack for plenty of resources and activities.

• Estimate how much water you use in a day, or a week. Compare to a friend’s data. Who uses more? This page from GWM water gives the volume of water used in everyday activities such as having a shower or flushing the toilet.
• Make a rain gauge. Check it and record the rainfall daily. Use this data to create a graph showing the amount of rainfall in your area over a period of time, such as a month.
• Solve word problems involving measuring and comparing water volumes. This investigation from NRICH is a good challenge.
• Visit an online shop and find the data for how much water different appliances (such as washing machines or dishwashers) use. Ask the children to compare the appliances and rank them in order of the amount of water used.
• Measure and compare the capacity of different water containers in the water tray.

Science:

• Use our resources to teach about the water cycle. Use the activities in our Water Cycle Pack.

• Make some simple models of the water cycle.
• Our Solids, Liquids and Gases Pack is a good starting point for exploring the states of matter, using water.
• Make a water filter.
• Visit a local body of water, such as a pond, river or the sea.
• Try this Water Pollution experiment.
• Investigate surface tension.
• Discuss why humans, other animals and plants need water, and what water does in the body. Use this BBC Bitesize Page to get the conversation going.
• Try this popular experiment using flowers to demonstrate capillary action in plants.
• Create a presentation about acid rain.
• Investigate how marine and freshwater animals are adapted to their environment.
• Try one of these experiments from Thames Water.

Computing:

• Design an app that could be used to track water usage.
• Use an art app or program to create a water-themed image.
• Try a water quiz, or even create your own using Google Forms or an online quiz maker.
• Follow the route of a river on Google Earth.
• Edit some photographs of water. What effect do the various functions, such as cropping, or changing the light, have on the image?

Design Technology:

• Design a water-saving household product. How will it save water? What materials will it be made from? Can you improve any of these products?
• Make an Archimedes Screw, by following the instructions in this video:

• Design a machine that uses water in some way.
• Create a poster showcasing various water conservation techniques.
• Create a tool or gadget that helps to measure water usage.

Art:

• Look at and discuss some famous artwork on the theme of water.
• Create sculptures from recycled bottles.
• Illustrate the water cycle.
• Make batik cloth using wax and dyes to depict underwater scenes.
• Visit a body of water and sketch or photograph it.
• Use mixed media to create posters that advocate for clean water initiatives.
• Try a technique that uses water, such as watercolour, or marbling.

Music:

• Learn and perform songs about the importance of water.
• Use percussion instruments to create soundscapes that evoke different water environments (such as the rainforest, ocean, river).
• Write a rap about water conservation.
• Listen to music that was inspired by water, such as Handel’s Water Music.

• Use digital music software, such as Song Maker, to create a piece inspired by water.
• Create a musical instrument from water and glasses.

Geography:

• Use some of the resources from our Rivers or Oceans Packs.
• Mark the world’s major rivers, lakes, and oceans on a world map or mapping software.
• Plan and make a visit to a body of water in your local area. How is it used? What plants and animals live there? How clean is it?
• Make a list of the ways humans use water in the local environment, for example, in fountains and swimming pools.
• Learn about how clean water is distributed.
• Try this simple experiment to illustrate why sea levels are rising.
• Explore how human activities impact water pollution.
• Use this resource to explore why water is so important.
• Visit your local water company’s website; many of them have great resources for teaching about water.
• Perform a water audit.

History:

• Explore the role of water in different civilizations. This page has lots of information about how water was managed by the Aztecs in the city of Tenochtitlan.
• Make your own shaduf.
• Study water-related inventions from history, like Da Vinci’s hydraulic devices and the history of the flush toilet.
• Find out about how water pollution was dealt with in the past, such as the improvements to the River Thames.

Physical Education:

• Organize a water-themed sports session. Try ideas like a water balloon toss or wet sponge relay.
• Learn about hydration and its importance in sports.

• Participate in water-based sports (if facilities allow), like swimming.
• Play some of these water-themed PE games (that do not need any water!), or play Don’t Fall in the Water.
• Create a movement sequence inspired by water, such as the movement of a river or the tides of the sea.

Religious Education:

• Learn about water’s importance in different religions. For example, Christians use water in baptism, and handwashing is very important in Islam.
• Discuss stories from various faiths that feature water, such as Jonah and the Whale or the Miracle of Zamzam water.
• Learn why the Ganges is a holy river.
• Create a project highlighting the significance of sacred waters in different religions.

Languages:

• Learn water-related vocabulary in the language you are learning.
• Explore the idioms for heavy rain in different languages.
• Present a weather forecast in a foreign language.

PSHE:

• Discuss the importance of water for personal hygiene and health.
• Use our Personal Safety Pack to discuss water safety.

• Use this resource from Water Aid to find out about how water issues can impact education.
• Create a water usage plan for your home or school to conserve water.
• Use these assembly resources from WaterAid to provoke discussion.
• This lesson for Key Stage One is a great way to raise awareness about keeping clean.