Conservation

Sharing every drop

Celebrate water with a mystery photo challenge, a game of “Sun, sun, rain”, and an art project that reinforces how we can conserve this precious resource.

French included

Grade

K-3

Duration

1.3 hours

Type

Quiz

Overview

Get students thinking about all the ways we use water in our lives. Can your class guess the objects in this online mystery photo quiz? Hint: They are all pictures of different living things that (like us) need water to grow. Get your class up and moving with a water-themed version of "Duck, duck, goose" and then share what they've learned about water conservation by decorating their own “turn it off” reminders.

Single screen

Participate as a class

A single screen and laptop is used for watching the video and answering questions together as a class.

Before you begin, make sure:

You’re connected to the internet
You’re projecting your screen for the class to see

Launch activity

Need help with using quiz activities in the classroom?
Check out our Getting started guide.

Getting started guide

Instructions

What you'll need

For the quiz, you’ll need an internet connection and a projector
Outside area or gym
“Sharing every drop” template (1 per student)
Craft supplies like markers, glue, tissue paper, and tape or magnets

Sharing our resource

To get students thinking about the importance of water, come up with examples of how we use water at home and at school; we drink it, wash our hands with it and so much more.
Test your students’ detective skills with a mystery photo quiz. Click “Launch activity” above to get started.
- How it works: Ask students to guess what the cropped image is before revealing the full picture and discussing why water is important in each example.

Sun, sun, rain

Power down your classroom (lights and projectors off) and get students ready to go outside or to the gym for a water-themed version of "Duck, duck, goose".
Once outside (or in the gym), explain that we get a lot of rain in B.C. but less rain falls in the summer. Plants, animals and people all need water in the summer, so we need to use it carefully. This game is a fun way to reinforce the learning that plants need water to grow.
To play, students sit in a circle facing inwards. Pick one student to be a “thirsty plant”. The thirsty plant walks around the outside of the circle tapping students on the shoulder saying whether they are “sun” or “rain”. Once someone is called “rain”, they get up and chase the thirsty plant around the circle and try to tag them before they get back to the empty space. If they aren’t able to tag the thirsty plant in time, the thirsty plant sits down in the empty space and the rain now becomes the thirsty plant.

Turn it off

Ask students to share what they can each do to save water.
Get out the craft supplies and have each student decorate a “Sharing every drop” template using markers or by gluing down scrunched up tissue paper.
Use magnets or tape so students can hang their art up at home or school (on the fridge, the bathroom mirror, or in the classroom) as a reminder that water conservation is important everywhere.

Modify or extend this activity

Brainstorm what else can be turned off so that we avoid waste. For example, turning off the TV when nobody is watching avoids wasting electricity.
Explore ways to save water outdoors like washing cars with a bucket of water instead of a hose, getting a rain barrel or letting the grass go brown in summer.
Students can collect rocks and make water-saving pet rocks to leave in their garden or school grounds to remind us to conserve water outdoors.

Curriculum Fit

Our activities provide a link to the core competencies of the curriculum. The activities engage students in sharing ideas and solutions, using play to share water with plants, and creativity to remind us to save water.

Core competencies

Communications

Connect and engage with others (to share and develop ideas)
Collaborate to plan, carry out, and review constructions and activities

Thinking

Creative thinking: novelty and value
Critical thinking: develop and design

Social responsibility

Contributing to community and caring for the environment

The activities also connect to a variety of grade-specific curricular competencies and content in a variety of subjects including Physical and Health Education, Science, Social Studies and English Language Arts.

Teaching Notes

BC Hydro’s environmental responsibility

In B.C., we are powered by water. The electrical system stretches across each region of the province and the traditional territories of Indigenous Nations. We have 30 hydroelectric plants and a network of over 80,000 kilometres of power lines that transport electricity from our generating stations over mountain tops, through river valleys to homes and businesses in B.C. We have the cleanest generation in Western North America and amongst the lowest greenhouse gas emissions of any utility in North America.

We recognize that while water is core to our business, it also holds spiritual and cultural values to Indigenous Nations, and environmental importance to all communities in B.C. We’ll work together to protect the province’s water resources and honour these multiple uses and values as we move forward. Check out Environmental responsibility for ways BC Hydro is protecting and sharing the resource.

Young people can take action

Young people take action at school, in their community and at home. We can empower them using simple concepts of sharing and conservation to encourage them to spread this message.