Learning resources
City of Water is a tool that kids, parents and teachers can use to learn about our urban water system. It looks at the intimate interconnection between water, the urban environment and our communities.
Resources for Students, Parents & Teachers
I’ve created a FREE downloadable PDF with discussion questions and ideas for how to keep the learning going. Check it out here.
Did you know?
- Our bodies are about 60% water.
- We can’t go more than a few days without drinking water, or we won’t survive.
- Nearly three-quarters of the earth is covered by water, though much of it is in the ocean and undrinkable.
- Less than 1 percent of our planet’s water is fresh and readily accessible to us.
- More than two billion people around the world do not have access to safe, fresh water at home.
- About 90% of the watersheds that provide water for the world’s largest cities have been polluted or degraded over the last century.
- A bottle of water costs up to 2,000 times more than the same amount of water coming from a tap. It requires 2,000 times more energy to produce and uses more water in the production process than an average bottle can actually hold!
- 91% of all plastic, including those water bottles, never gets recycled. Instead, it ends up choking landfills, fresh water and oceans.
- Canada’s rivers and lakes contain 7% of the world’s total renewable freshwater.
- The average Canadian uses about 58 gallons (220 l) of water at home every day — that’s about 700 glasses’ worth! In the US, the number is even higher, at 88 gallons (333 l) per day.
- A pipe with a hole the size of a small pea will lose more than 8,454 gallons (32,000 l) of water a day. That’s enough to fill 320 bathtubs!
- Urban sewer streams are about 99% water and less than 1% waste — things like food, toilet paper and poop.
- Drinking water keeps our brains healthy and our energy levels high.
- Hearing the sound of water bubbling and burbling can boost a person’s mood and reduce stress.
Read
Watch
Illustrator Katy Dockrill made this beautiful and fun craft tutorial to help promote water conservation. Check it out here!
Watch the beautiful cover of City of Water, illustrated by Katy Dockrill, come to life!
Curriculum Connections
Science
- Grade 5, Understanding Earth and Space Systems (Conservation of Energy and Resources)
- Grade 7, Understanding Life Systems (Interactions in the Environment)
Social Studies
- Grade 3, People and Environments: Living and Working in Ontario
- Grade 4, People and Environments: Political and Physical Regions of Canada
- Grade 5, People and Environments: The Role of Government and Responsible Citizenship
- Grade 6, People and Environments: Canada’s Interactions With the Global Community
Language Arts, all grades
- Summarizing
- Connecting
- Questioning
- Inferring
- Synthesizing
- Extending
- Determining importance
