Pedagogical hints

Water quality is a complex issue. We all use water and goods grown or manufactured with water, so water quality is a responsibility that we all share.

At times, there can be an urban-rural split when it comes to water quality issues. Diffuse pollution is a major cause of water pollution. It can come from land use and underperforming wastewater and stormwater systems in urban areas and from intensified farming/horticulture in rural areas.

The following resources may be useful when managing discussions about water quality.

• The article Teaching ethics collates Hub resources that can be helpful when dealing with difficult issues. It includes the Ethics thinking toolkit and the Ethics in science planner.

• Concept cartoons can be used to show a range of viewpoints to engage students and stimulate discussions.

These Rivers and Us resources are in a downloadable PDF format.

• Water use amounts

• The stormwater problem

• What happens to the water used to wash a car?

• Discussion cube prompts

Acknowledgement: Polluted water illustration by Gabriel Jose, 123RF Ltd. Copyright The University of Waikato Te Whare Wānanga o Waikato