Education resources

Hi, my name is Shannon and I'm here from Greater Western Water's Education team. Hi everyone, my name is Kirsten and I also work in Greater Western Water's Education team. We visit preschools, schools and community groups to talk about water. This is our friend Sammy the snake and he is a special visitor at all of our education sessions. Have you met him before? Have a look at Sammy's body, does it remind you of something that you might find outside in the garden?

I'll give you a clue. That's right, he looks like a hose but he's special because his head is shaped like a trigger nozzle. Using a trigger nozzle on your hose helps to save our precious water. By not using a trigger nozzle, we can waste water without realising. Have you helped water the garden with a trigger nozzle before? Fantastic! It's really important to know about this to understand why we need to use water wisely.

Some of you may have also met Sammy's special friend Francis the Frog. She's a reminder of why we need to save water and keep our waterways clean and healthy for not only her, but all of her other friends who live in water. What  can you do? You can always make sure you put your rubbish in the bin. Think of all the other animals that live in the water or drink water. Can you name any? That's right - fish, ducks, birds... you may think of more.

I have some lovely fresh water here in my bottle ready to drink. Do you know how often we should drink water? That's right, it's every day. Now have a look at my water. I just filled it up from the tap this morning. Do you know how old my water is? Hmmm who do you think is older? The water? or you? That's right, it's the water.

The water in this bottle is not hundreds and thousands of years old. This water is millions and billions of years old and could have even been drunk by the dinosaurs. The reason that water is so old is that our clever planet is constantly recycling and renewing our water in a process called the water cycle.

Water is very clever because it can be many things - a solid, a liquid, or a gas. Let's all have a go at making our bodies look like a solid, a liquid, and a gas.

First let's be runny, wiggly liquid.

Now let's pretend we are frozen solid into an ice statue. Well done!

And finally let's become the floaty gas.

Shannon, would you like to join in too? Oh yes, please.

You can try this at home also. Get ready by standing up and listening to what I call out.

Let's do liquid.

Let's do solid.

Let's do gas.

Now let's see if you can do it even faster this time! Liquid...gas...solid.... liquid...gas. Excellent work! Thank you for joining in at home.

Now we're going to learn about how the water cycle works. First, the sun shines down on the ocean and heats up the very top layer of liquid water. It causes the liquid water to change into a gas and we call that evaporation. Now this gas is very light so it floats up high into the sky. But high up in the sky the air is so cold that it makes the gas change back into a liquid and we get tiny droplets of water floating around in the sky. They gather together to form clouds and we call this condensation. Inside those clouds, the tiny little droplets of water are bouncing around and bashing into each other growing bigger and bigger. And when they get so big and heavy that the clouds can't hold them anymore, that's when we get rain.

There are other things that come from the clouds too. Can you think of any? That's right, snow and hail and of course our precious rain. We call all of these things precipitation. All this precipitation falls down onto the land and some of it runs down into our streams and rivers and back out to the ocean where the water mixes together and gets ready to begin the water cycle all over again.

Thanks for sharing Shannon, that's really fascinating. So now we have a song about the water cycle and this will help you remember those three tricky science words that Shannon talked about - evaporation, condensation, and precipitation. And just a reminder that in evaporation, the water goes up and in condensation, the water goes around, and in precipitation the water travels down. To join in the actions of our water cycle song do you know the tune that goes like this? You may have heard it before. She'll be coming round the mountain. You'll catch on if you don't know. Would you like to put your hands on your knees Shannon and Francis and let's count in from four to begin. Here we go, one, two, three, four.

Water travels in a cycle, yes it does.

Water travels in a cycle, yes it does.

Okay, now we get to do our three tricky words. Just a reminder, they are evaporation, condensation, and precipitation. So the second part of our song goes like this, you can join in with the actions. We'll go back to the start and add in our second part. Are you ready Shannon and Francis? We're ready. Excellent, okay here we go. One, two, three, four.

Water travels in a cycle, yes it does.

Water travels in a cycle, yes it does.

It rises up as evaporation, 

Makes clouds condensation,

And falls down precipitation yes it does.

And for fun we can add in a Yeehaw at the end of the song. Now we're going to put it all together. Are you ready Shannon and Francis? Yes! Excellent here we go starting at the beginning with our count of four - one, two, three, four.

Water travels in a cycle, yes it does.

Water travels in a cycle, yes it does.

It rises up as evaporation,

Makes clouds condensation,

Falls down precipitation, yes it does, yee-haw!

Now that we know the song,  do it again and go faster. Here we go, one, two, three, four.

Water travels in a cycle, yes it does.

Water travels in a cycle, yes it does.

It rises up as evaporation

Makes clouds condensation,

And falls down precipitation, yes it does - yeehaw!

Thank you, Shannon and Francis for joining in our water cycle song.

Begin your experiment by drawing clouds around the top of your Ziploc bag. Draw some water around the bottom of your Ziploc bag. This will help as a visual aid of the water cycle. Next pour half a capful of blue food dye into one cup of water. Then carefully pour the blue water into the bag. Seal your bag shut. Now it's time to hang it in a window and let nature run its course. Check on your bag at different times. What you should see is as the water heats up, condensation will form in the cloud section of the bag.

Good luck everyone, we hope you enjoyed doing this experiment. So now you know a lot about the water cycle, you may want to make your own water cycle in a bag at home. And hopefully you'll get lots of condensation forming up the top in your clouds.

From all of us here at Greater Western Water's Education team, we hope you have learned something new about water and are keen to share it with the rest of your family. Thanks for watching and hope to see you next time. Bye everyone.

Today we would love to share some activities that we enjoy doing with our kindergarten groups, our preschool students and our play groups.

First we have a story for you. This story is called "Sammy and Francis save water".  

Sammy needs you to help Francis. Francis loves helping out at home but sometimes she wastes the water that comes out of the tap. Do you know where all our tap water comes from? Hmm, that's right, it comes from the rain but does it rain everyday? No, only on some days so that's why we need to use the water from the tap carefully.

Do you know how to use water from the tap carefully?  

I think you do and I think you will be a great helper as we read this book together.

Let's start our story. Our story is called "How Sammy and Francis save water".  

Sammy and Francis are very good friends. They both love helping at home. One day Sammy goes over to Francis' house. He finds Francis outside watering her vegetable garden.  

Francis says, "Sammy oh oh!" Sammy sees that Francis's hose doesn't have a nozzle on it, she is wasting water. Sammy feels sad. What do you think Francis can do to make Sammy smile?  

Sammy says, "Francis if you put a nozzle on your hose while you water the garden, it will help save water."

"Thanks for reminding me Sammy," says Francis.  

Sammy is smiling now because Francis is saving water. It is a beautiful day, Francis finishes watering her vegetable patch she puts her hose down to skip around the garden and enjoy the sunny weather.  Sammy slithers along with her happily until, uh oh, Sammy suddenly stops. He sees that the garden tap is dripping. Sammy feels sad. What do you think Francis can do to make Sammy smile?

Sammy exclaims, "Your tap is dripping and wasting water! Let's turn it off properly."  

Francis turns the tap off and Sammy is smiling again. "Thanks Francis," said Sammy. "That's okay, thanks for helping me save water," says Francis.  Francis notices her hands are dirty from working in the garden. She goes inside to wash her hands.

Sammy comes in from the garden too. Uh oh Francis has the tap running as she washes her hands, Francis is wasting water. Sammy feels sad. What do you think Francis can do to make Sammy smile? "Francis, turn the tap off while you are washing your hands," Sammy says. Francis turns the tap off and Sammy is smiling again.

Francis and Sammy start cooking dinner together. "We need to wash the vegetables first," says Francis. Francis turns the tap on and starts washing the vegetables for dinner.  

Francis has the tap running, Francis is wasting water. Sammy feels sad. What do  you think Francis can do to make Sammy smile? Sammy says "Francis, put the plug in the sink so you can turn the tap off while you were washing the vegetables." 

"Thanks for reminding me Sammy." Sammy is smiling again because Francis is saving water.

After dinner Francis goes to have a shower. Francis loves having a shower. Sammy goes to keep her company. oh Sammy sees that Francis is playing in the shower and wasting water.  

Sammy feels sad, what do you think Francis can do to make Sammy smile?

"Francis," Sammy says,  "the best thing you can do is put a timer on while you have a shower. You can have a play in the shower after you've finished washing yourself."

"Good idea Sammy," says Francis as she sets her shower timer. It's almost time for Sammy and Francis to go to bed. What's another thing you usually do before you head to bed? Sammy 

and Francis are cleaning their teeth together.  Uh oh, Francis doesn't turn the tap off while she brushes her teeth, this makes Sammy feel sad. What can Francis do to make Sammy smile? 

"Francis," Sammy says, "if you fill up a cup before you brush your teeth, then you can turn the tap off and save water." 

"Thanks for the reminder Sammy!"

Sammy and Francis head off to bed. "Good night Sammy, thanks for always reminding me how precious water is and how to help save it at home." 

"Thanks for always making me smile Francis, good night."

That's the end of our story. Thanks everyone for helping Sammy and Francis with our special story about saving water. Now Francis would like to teach you a special water song but before we can sing Francis' special water song we need to think about how we use water.  

So let's think about ways that you've used water today. Hmm that's right, we washed our hands today. Also we've used water to brush our teeth and of course we've used water to drink.  

So let's begin by teaching you Francis's special water wise song. I'm going to sing the words with Francis and you can join in the actions. Are you ready to wash your hands?  

Everybody let's turn on the tap and take some soap and let's count in four.

One, two, three, four,

Wash, wash your hands make them nice and clean 

Wash and wash and wash and wash the cleanest you have seen. Now it's time to turn off the tap 

and shake our hands dry. Well done! Let's join in the words and the actions this time and Kirsten's 

going to join in with us. Are you ready Kirsten? 

Yes, excellent! Let's go everyone, let's turn on the tap with Francis, grab some soap. One, two, three, four.

Wash wash wash your hands, 

Make them nice and clean.

Wash and wash and wash and wash

The cleanest you have seen. 

Now let's turn the tap off and shake them dry and now we're ready to clean our teeth. Let's get our cup let's get our toothbrush and put on some toothpaste. We're going to put some water in our 

cup and dunk in our toothbrush and now we're ready to clean. Here we go, ready to brush in one, two, three, four.

Brush, brush, brush your teeth

Make them nice and clean.

Brush and brush and brush and 

Brush the cleanest you have seen.

Now we can spit that little bit out and we can use the cup water to rinse our mouth and to rinse our toothbrush. 

Well done everyone for joining in with Francis as you have washed your hands and cleaned your teeth.  Just before it's time for us to go let's talk about drinking water.  

How often do you think we should be drinking water? That's right, every day, and why do you think it's important to drink water every day?  

Right again. We need to drink water every day to keep our body healthy and strong. Thanks everybody  for joining in today and watching our video. We hope you had fun, learned something new about water and are keen to share it with the rest of your family. Remember to use water

Hi, I'm Shannon and I'm from Greater Western Water's education team.

Hi everyone, I'm Kirsten and I also work in Greater Western Water's education team.

We visit pre-schools, schools and community groups to talk about water. We always bring our special friend Sammy the snake. Have you met him before? Sammy is made to look like something we use in the garden. Shannon's going to give us a clue. That's right, he looks like a hose but he's special because his head is shaped like a trigger nozzle. By not using a trigger nozzle, we can waste water without realising. Have you helped water the garden with a trigger nozzle before? It's really important to know about this to understand why we need to use water wisely.

Some of you may have also met Sammy's special friend Francis the Frog. She is a reminder why we need to save water and keep our waterways clean and healthy for not only her but all the other friends who live in water. What can you do? You can always make sure that you put your rubbish in the bin. Think of all the other wonderful animals that live in the water or drink water. Can you name any? That's right, fish, ducks, birds. You may think of some others too. Today we will be telling you about why tap water is the healthiest drink for our bodies and why drinks high in sugar are an unhealthy choice. We will show you how to make a glass of fake Cola at home.

Water is essential for our health. It helps all the systems in our bodies to run smoothly. Do you know how much of our body is made up of water? Hmm it's between 50 and 75 percent. There is more water in a baby's body compared to elderly people but our bodies can't store water for long. It is constantly getting rid of water - sweating, going to the toilet, even every time we breathe out we release tiny droplets of water into the air. So we need to replace it every day and the best way to replace it is by drinking water straight from the tap.

But Kirsten how much tap water should we be drinking each day? Well it depends on how old you are, the temperature for the particular day, and how much activity or exercise you were doing. As a general rule we recommend that adults drink about eight glasses of water each day or two litres and children should drink about half of that - four to six glasses every day. So Kirsten, you're saying water is the healthiest drink and tap water is the best choice for us. But sometimes we feel like drinking something else maybe a soft drink. Sammy the snake has been tempted to drink a cold glass of cola. Do you know what's in a can of cola? If you saw all of the ingredients that went into one can of cola you might feel very differently about it. We are going to help show everyone what goes into a can of cola. We're going to make a batch of fake Cola from ingredients that you'll have in the pantry so you can see for yourself what goes into this drink.

For this experiment you will need a jug to make it in, a 1.25 litre bottle of soda water, red and green food dye, vanilla extract, white vinegar, instant coffee, white sugar, a mixing spoon, a teaspoon, and a cup for the finished product. You might like to wear some disposable gloves to protect your hands because we'll be using food dye. The main ingredient in cola is water but it is a special kind of water because air has been added to it to make it bubbly. You can buy plain soda water at the supermarket or make it in a Soda Stream if you have one. Pour 375mls of soda water into the jug. What colour is cola? It's brownie black. Well in the cola factory where they make this drink, it is this colour because they caramelise the sugar which means they heat it up until it melts into a syrup and goes brown. But we aren't heating it today, we will show you with food dye. We'll use half a capful of red and half a capful of green food dye to make the brown colour. This looks like cola but would it taste like it? No real cola has 17 different flavourings to represent all those flavourings. Today we are using vanilla extract. We will add one teaspoon of vanilla extract. Next we add a preservative. They have to add this so the drink lasts for a long time. If they didn't, it would go off quickly like milk. Unfortunately for us the preservative is acidic which means when it gets on our teeth. It wears away our tooth enamel and causes cavities. We are using a teaspoon of white vinegar to represent the preservative. Now we add the caffeine. We will add one teaspoon of instant coffee. When you drink a can of cola, it's like you were drinking a cup of coffee that your mum or dad might have. Grown-ups can digest the caffeine in coffee in about an hour but it takes a lot longer for children and that's why you might have trouble going to sleep at night or feel a bit agitated if you drink a lot of caffeinated drinks like cola. Last of all we will add the sugar.

You won't believe how many teaspoons of sugar go into one can of cola. Kirsten is going to add it spoon by spoon and we'll count along with her here we go. Here's one, two, three, four, five, six , seven, eight, nine. That's nine teaspoons of sugar in one can of cola. All that sugar gives you a short burst of energy but without any nutrients and after about an hour it will wear off and you will feel sleepy and irritable.

So there you have it - there's our glass of fake cola. Please do not drink your homemade cola. It is much healthier for your body to get your energy from slow release foods like complex carbohydrates, proteins, and fruits and vegetables like we're showing you here. That way you get nutrients your body needs as well as fibre which helps your digestion so you feel full for longer. Do you know what the recommended daily intake of sugar is for a person aged 7 to 11? It's only five teaspoons of sugar over the whole day. So if you drink a can of cola you have drunk more sugar in one go than is good for you to have over the whole day.

So there you have it. We've shown you all the ingredients that go into a can of cola. What do you think Sammy? Do you still feel like a soft drink or would you prefer some of our delicious healthy tap water that helps to hydrate your body and makes you feel great?

Thanks for watching our video. We hope that you've learned something new about water and are keen to share it with the rest of your family. Remember drink four to six glasses of tap water each day. Think before you reach for a drink like cola and fill up your own drink bottle from the tap. Bye everyone.