Global Connections: The Water Project and Cape Town

Young Children as Advocates

Dana Bentley, Beginner North Teacher

Betty Chan, Beginner North Teacher

 

Over the past weeks we have continued to pursue our work on water, considering both the scientific process of cleaning water as well as the issue of water accessibility.  On Friday we will have the opportunity to Skype with Russell Stevens, the Director of Education at the Cape Town Aquarium. 
We are using these connections to develop our understandings about water in the world.  

  

In preparation for our Skype, we prepared some questions so that Russell will know what we are wondering about.  As we were talking, we looked at a big map of the world, noticing our location and the location of Cape Town.  We began by asking:

What do we know about Cape Town?

Jace: They don’t have enough water to survive.

Eleanor: Somebody said that they needed to have a little of water every day so they don’t run out of water this year

Christopher: They get a little water and we get a lot

Thomas: I’m going to draw a picture of how much water I drank and how much water they drank.

Who knows alot about Cape Town?

Christopher: The fifth grade!  They know a lot about Cape Town!

Nyla: And you guys.  Cause you told us about it and we wouldn’t have known.

Sydney: We can FaceTime him [Russell] in Cape Town and then we can talk about water and ask him about water.

Interview Questions

We began by posing the question: 

What do you want to know about water in Cape Town?  What are you wondering?

Nyla: What do they have so little water?

Sydney: How can you clean water?

Christopher: Do you boil the water?

Sydney: How can we clean the water?

Rosemary: Can we clean water with soap?

Dana: Can you take a bath in Cape Town?  Or is that too much water?

Eleanor: Do they have pools there?  If you have pools there, could you just get some water from there?

Thomas: Can you boil pool water to kill the chemicals?

Rosemary: Did you have a lot of water a long time ago?  What happened?

Audrey: How do you get to water to get it to your home?

Eleanor:  Why doesn’t it rain there?

Christopher: Do you have cars?

Joe: Do you have trucks?

Dana: Can you water your flowers?

Audrey: Do you have a washing machine? Can you use it?

Rosemary: Can you wash your clothes in a lake?

Joe: Can you use water balloons?

Christopher: Do you have water bottles at stores?

Rosemary:  What about your toilets?  When you flush it, is there water?

Tom: Can you use sprinklers?

We then  learned that Russell had a job at the Cape Town Aquarium and we wondered:

What about working at the aquarium?  What are you wondering about water at the aquarium?

Eleanor: How is there animals there that need water if there’s not a lot of water for them?

Nyla:  Why do you have aquariums if there’s not enough water?

Rosemary: How much water can a fish use?  And also, how long do the fish live?

Jace: Do you use all the water for the fish?  Is that why there’s not enough water?

Thomas: If you release the animals, will they have any water to swim?

  

We will be Skyping with Russell on Friday morning.  We look forward to the ways this connection will ignite new questions and understandings.