Water quality

In this PD session, primary school teacher Angela Schipper shares how she adapted resources to explore water pollution with her primary students. She helps teachers to see what the issues are by first helping them understand the scientific view of the water cycle and then presenting some activities that help students see how water pollution comes about.

A year 3 team at Hillcrest Normal School used water pollution and the Waikato River as a focus of inquiry. A simple set of groundwater activities from the Science Learning Hub (SLH) provided a powerful learning experience for the children and teachers alike.

This has multiple links to related content and activities. "Historically, estuaries have been either highly valued – as food baskets for mana whenua – or viewed as unproductive wastelands to be filled or reclaimed. However, as our understanding of ecosystems grows, the wider New Zealand population now understands the ecological, economic and cultural value of estuaries."

The water cycle is a concept that underlies the exploration of water quality - this is an intro and also includes and interactive of the water cycle

A look at how agriculture is impacting on water and air quality in New Zealand

ESR scientist Dr Chris Nokes describes why it is important that we manage our water resource so that disease-causing organisms are eliminated from our drinking and recreational water. In New Zealand, we take it for granted that our water is not going to make us sick.

While specific to the Waikato River, this resource is useful as many of the human impacts on this river are apparent in Hawkes Bay too

Might be more an extension focus - but looks at important concept of time within the water cycle

e.g - Lake Rotorua’s water quality is the result of what happened to the water that infiltrated the land around the lake – the catchment area – a long time ago.

To explore water quality it might help to look at something that is really suffering from water pollution (including sedimentation) - our native freshwater fish. NOTE: Lake Tūtira is one of only places in Hawkes Bay now with 'banded kokopu' - see an article on the state of Lake Tūtira here: http://tangoio.maori.nz/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Parikarangaranga-Oct-2017.pdf The article is an easy read for your children and importantly a number will be related/part of the hapu this newsletter comes from

One way to look at water quality is to assess critter populations and health - New Zealand has over 200 species of freshwater macroinvertebrates. An invertebrate is an animal that lacks a backbone. ‘Macro’ means the invertebrates are large enough to be seen without magnification – even though some can be as small as 1 mm in length. Examples of aquatic macroinvertebrates include crustaceans (such as sand hoppers), insects (such as beetles and mayflies), molluscs (such as snails) and segmented worms (such as leeches).

Learn how farms can keep waterways healthy for those downstream and for our precious native freshwater fish, all while benefiting farm health and the farming operation’s bottom line.

Useful look at impacts on water from a Māori perspective - Tainui's Lorraine Dixon talks about the relationship between the river (awa) and the people (iwi). She explains the spiritual aspect of the river and the importance of its connections with future generations. She also outlines some of the issues iwi have encountered when there are conflicting values between cultures.

Looks at how town and city people impact waterways and the fish that live in them - includes an interactive on how urbanites can help the fish by not polluting water etc

Non-point source contamination means that pollutants enter the ground in an area that is not well defined. Sources of pollutants can include surface run-off of water or include pesticides that have been used for farming purposes and are carried with the water entering the ground to eventually enter streams and lakes. The VIDEO demonstrates how to build an aquifer model and simulate a non-point source contamination of the groundwater. This is an excellent activity that needs only a few easy to organise resources.

Point source contaminations include pollutants that occupy relatively small areas that can be identified and that often have a concentrated output, like a landfill, for example.

This VIDEO demonstrates how to build an aquifer model and simulate a point source contamination of the groundwater. This is an excellent activity that needs only a few easy to organise resources.

An industrial purple dye spill devastated the Oruarangi Stream ecosystem in 2013. This article details a Participatory Science Platform project involving students, scientists and the community and how they've worked together to restore mauri to the local awa (stream).

The project is a mix of science and local history and has become the stepping stone for further citizen science projects in the South Auckland community.

An industrial purple dye spill devastated the Oruarangi Stream ecosystem in 2013. This article details a Participatory Science Platform project involving students, scientists and the community and how they've worked together to restore mauri to the local awa (stream).

The project is a mix of science and local history and has become the stepping stone for further citizen science projects in the South Auckland community.

This interactive timeline highlights how students investigating the Oruarangi Stream engaged with the nature of science.

If you want to help protect or improve the health of streams in your catchment, it’s important to start with a strong understanding of your stream and catchment. You need to investigate what is present in order to understand what flora and fauna were historically there and what the situation is now, including weedy species and pests. This will assist you to understand the issues and challenges for the flora and fauna and the stream of interest.

Stream work for fish is important for restoring their populations. Riparian planting of streams has multiple positive outcomes for fish. Well planted stream edges help to:

restore water quality by reducing sediment and nutrient run-off into the water strengthen stream banks – many native fish use bank overhangs and edges for shelter and laying eggs provide shelter from the Sun and heat encourage biodiversity and healthy insect populations that native fish rely on for food provide a moist, safe place for fish eggs to mature.

Riparian zones are the areas beside streams. These areas are sometimes reconstructed or improved to provide habitat for fish and other aquatic life and to stabilise banks against erosion. This riparian restoration can also have benefits in improving the quality of the water.

In the activity Hubbub Estuary, students are encouraged to identify some possible impacts on estuaries and possible actions that can be taken to protect them. This could be adapted specifically for a stream environment or used as is for those who are looking at a stream that runs into a local estuary.

By the end of this activity, students should be able to:

• discuss the part groundwater plays in the water cycle
• describe the various pathways precipitation can take once it falls to the ground – infiltration, run-off, evaporation and uptake by plants
• discuss the link between groundwater, surface water and the water table.

By the end of this activity, students should be able to:

• explain how pollutants are dissolved and/or carried into groundwater and surface water
• discuss how polluted groundwater may lead to polluted lakes or rivers.

These two practical activities help students to understand how nutrients are washed off the land and into water systems. They also investigate the effects of nutrients in aquatic ecosystems.

In this activity, students research the effect of common pollutants on our waterways and hold a mock trial to determine the worst pollutant in the country.

Human beings have an impact on river ecosystems. The relationship living organisms have with each other and with their environment is extremely complex. Impacts on a species or a non-living element may have long-term consequences for a river ecosystem.

This article ties into the CONNECTED JOURNAL ARTICLE (with links to it on TKI) It recounts the conversation between Tane, his dad and the scientists they find testing the health of their local river. It looks at the information gathered by the scientists and how it can be used to make decisions about the river.

In this activity, students learn about eels and/or whitebait and how human activity has impacted on their lives. Students learn about obstacles these taonga face and about possible solutions (mitigation) for the problems.

In this activity, students collect and observe macroinvertebrates from a local freshwater stream.

An article that looks at what we can do to make our streams healthier for our native fish

In this activity, students explore ethical issues related to farming and environmental pollution. They learn about the science involved and the range of perspectives among stakeholders.

By the end of this activity, students should be able to:

explain some of the science involved in the issue
explain some of the ethical aspects of the issue
have some ideas about possible solutions.

In this activity, students test nitrate levels in various samples of water and draw possible informed conclusions about the results.

By the end of this activity, students should be able to:

explain why excessive nitrate can be harmful
demonstrate how to test water for nitrate
make an informed decision about safe nitrate levels in drinking water.