Learning activities - outreach
If you cannot visit our Education Centre, we are offering a new outreach programme where we can visit you.
A member of the education staff will come to your school for a whole day or half a day and deliver a series of activities, demonstrations and experiments on a watery theme. We supply all the materials needed, including activity sheets. All activities are designed to cover core elements of the National Curriculum.
Examples of activities we cover:
Assembly
School assembly on why and how we should save water (30 minutes).
The network challenge
Your challenge, should you choose to accept it, is to design, build and test a water supply network, simulating a real life engineering project. You will complete a fully functioning water network and 'supply' customers with water at a satisfactory flow from tower to tap, at the end of which real water must flow to all South Staffs Water customers. The Challenge is a whole morning or afternoon activity and ideally suited to Y6 pupils. We have capacity for 36 pupils using six groups with six pupils per group.
Floating and sinking - make reservoir soup
Make reservoir soup and predict what will float, sink or mix in to the soup as we add objects to the mix. (30 minute activity).
Filtering dirty water
Your challenge is to clean the soup mix using a filter. We can test different filters (eg sand, gravel, cotton wool, cloth, filter paper) to see which makes the best filter. (40 minute activity).
Rocks and soils
Compare and record differences in rock samples. Conduct an experiment to test for hardness on four different types of rocks. Complete an I Spy worksheet comparing oak, peat and clay soil. Test the different soils for permeability. (Whole day activity).
Cleaning reservoir water
A 20 minute demonstration showing the basic processes we use to clean the water from Blithfield Reservoir and turn it into clean drinking water.
Learn about the water cycle
A 20 minute presentation and question and answer session to introduce the water cycle. This can be done as a quiz if pupils are familiar with the basic processes. We add Blithfield to the picture and build up another mini cycle of where the water goes to from the Reservoir to the tap and on to the sea.
Science experiments
How to get water you can drink from salty water. How acid or alkali is your water? Find out about water hardness and removing smells from water. Is all water the same?
Water use in developing countries
A closer look at how people live in Namibia. Chris talks about his time as a teacher in this third world country and shares his experiences, maps and pictures. How does water use in Namibia compare with water use here in the UK? (30 minute-one hour activity).
Water use in developing countries - make an aquifer
What is an aquifer? We all need water but if you don't live near a river, stream, unpolluted lake or pond where can you get it? Make an aquifer using a clear plastic container, pebbles and sand then 'drill' down through the water soaked layer to extract the water (with a pipette) to mimic using a mechanical pump. (40 minute activity).
Water use and water conservation
A short (15 minutes) whole class activity using Water Use Cards to determine how much water every day activities use and how we can be more water efficient. We are also developing a school water audit – watch this space!
Water run-off comparisons
A short activity to demonstrate what happens to the soil if we have lots of rain. What happens to the water when it falls on concrete/bark/grass/gravel? (Access to outdoor area required).
Let's debate
Who owns water?
The rise of bottled water – pitch your argument for and against
This list is not exhaustive. Contact us to discuss your requirements and we will do our best to accommodate your needs.
Costs are £220 for a whole day and £130 for a half day (one member of staff).