Water pollutants on trial
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.
By the end of this activity, students should be able to:
understand what is polluting our waterways
understand that how detrimental a pollutant is to the environment depends on how harmful it is, how often and how much it contaminates and how easy it is to clean up
realise that the best way to control pollution can mean stopping it from happening in the first place
research an issue to understand different ‘sides’, then argue for and against it with others.
Lake Hawea
Lakes fill with water from rain or snow falling on the surrounding land. This surrounding land is called the catchment area, and the nature of the land in this area contributes to the quality of the water in the lake.
Download the Word file (see link below) for:
introduction/background
what you need
what to do
student handout.
Related activities
Learn about water quality with the activity Water issues.
Examine soil quality issues with Site clean-up and Biodegradability experiment.
Groundwater contamination models how contaminants enter aquifer systems.
The activity Water issues and effects explores common water quality issues and encourages students to consider alternative ways of dealing with the issues rather than keeping the status quo.
Useful link
The New Zealand Water and Wastes Association provides the pamphlet, download the PDF: Keep it clean: Preventing stormwater pollution.
