Green-Schools, in partnership with Irish Water, are supporting students and their families during lockdown with a series of Stay Home resources aimed at helping them learn more about water, one of our most fascinating and precious resources.
With students and their parents adapting to the challenges of home schooling, these online resources are designed to be fun, entertaining and easily accessible. From water-themed videos to quizzes, experiments and much more, there is a host of activities for students of all ages to enjoy doing at home.
The programme includes 13 weeks of activities targeted to three different age categories of Junior Primary (Infants to 2nd Class), Senior Primary (3rd to 6th class) and Secondary School. So there is something for all age groups to enjoy and learn from.
All the experiments are designed to be simple enough to carry out at home using easily available materials. For example, students can learn all about how evaporation works using just some empty jam jars, a saucer, paper, scissors and a marker. Or they can make their own water filter with an old plastic bottle, sand and gravel.
Other activities include a chance to view chapters from The Story of Water, a documentary that focuses on the critical value of this precious natural resource and explores the ongoing threats to its future – both globally and in Ireland. Chapters included in the Stay Home resources cover topics such as water treatment, pollution and wastewater.
Irish Water’s sponsorship of the Green-Schools Water Theme is in its eighth year and in that time over 2,000 schools have attended interactive Water Workshops and Walk for Water Events. Last year alone, Green-Schools saved over 600 million litres of water. As well as running workshops and Water Ambassador training for students in participating schools, Green-Schools also runs an annual poster and video competition on a water theme. Due to Covid 19 restrictions and school closures, the Green-Schools programme has successfully moved much of its interaction online for the current school year, with new content and innovative virtual events.
Cathy Baxter, Green-Schools Manager, said: “With home schooling now the norm for the vast majority of students and their parents we are pleased to be able to do our bit to help by providing these free resources to help everyone learn more about water and how precious it is. Since making the Stay Home resources available via the Green-Schools website and on social media we have had an incredible response from all over the country. So far close to 10,000 people have engaged with the Stay Home water resources alone online”.
Colm Ward, Irish Water’s Regional Communication Specialist, added: “We are delighted to partner with the Green-Schools Water Programme in supporting students and their families at this time. Irish Water is proud to be sponsoring the Green-Schools Water Theme for the eighth year in a row – a programme which has seen tens of thousands of Irish students learn more about the value of water and how we can all help to safeguard this precious resource for the future.”
The Green-Schools Stay Home activities are available on the Green-Schools website at https://greenschoolsireland.org/green-schools-stay-home-water/. They can also be found on the Green-Schools social media channels with the hashtag #GreenSchoolsStayHome. The Story of Water documentary is available to view in its entirety or as individual chapters on the Irish Water website at www.water.ie/storyofwater