At-home and at school learning resources from Learning for a Sustainable Future
Week 26: SDG #6 - Clean Water and Sanitation & World Water Day
This week's LIO is all about UN SDG #6 - Clean Water and Sanitation. While there have been some improvements in recent years, billions of people around the world - especially in rural areas - still lack basic access to clean water for drinking and sanitation. It is recorded that currently, worldwide, one in three people do not have access to safe drinking water. Ensuring that everyone has access to clean and sustainable supply of water for drinking and sanitation is a critical step towards building healthy and sustainable communities! 

March 22 is World Water Day, where we celebrate water and raise awareness about the global water crisis. The theme for this year's World Water Day is valuing water and its complex connections to everyday aspects of our life such as health, security, food, culture, economics, education, and the well-being of our environment.
Grades K-3
This resource is designed to help young children become aware of the scarcity of clean water, learn where freshwater comes from, and recognize the need to protect it. There are three lessons, and each one is based on a different narrative. Students listen to one of the suggested stories that serve to introduce the importance of freshwater. The students read a story about a well in Africa and learn about water resources worldwide and the many ways people access water.  A third story selection helps students explore the issue of water conservation.


Activities
What did you think of Water for Us?
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Grades 3-6
The resource activities aim to increase students understanding of the various causes of water pollution and to raise awareness of the global inequality of access to safe water around the world

Activities
  • Watch Understanding Goal 6 to learn more about SDG 6 Clean Water and Sanitation
  • Read or listen to One Well: The Story of Water on Earth. Access the teacher’s guide for discussion questions and activity suggestions to enhance the learning
  • Use this lesson plan to teach students about World Water Day and the specific right of children to safe drinking water
  • Complete the learning activity on page 4 to teach students about the global inequality of access to clean water
  • Using the hands-on activity How Much Water Do You Use? students understand the importance of water by developing awareness of their own consumption. Discuss ways they could conserve water at home
What did you think of Clean Water for All?
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The lessons in this resource are designed to raise awareness of the problems facing children with inadequate access to clean water or sanitation facilities.


Activities
  • Watch SDG 6 Clean Water to learn more about this SDG goal
  • Complete lesson one from Water and Sanitation for All to learn more about the challenges facing people without ready access to safe water and sanitation (p.13)
  • Watch New Yorkers walk a mile on World Water Day to help the water cause. Discuss ways students can take action to address the global water and sanitation crisis in their community
  • Have students create a media campaign to raise awareness about the importance of conserving water and assess the impact of human activities and technologies on the sustainability of water resources
What did you think of Water and Sanitation for All: Bringing the Issue Home?
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This resource explores many of the international debates which surround water. Water is fast becoming one of the leading environmental and social priorities of the 21st century. Access to this precious resource is a growing concern for developing countries and also here in Canada. In this resource, students research current issues surrounding water from both a Canadian and an international perspective.


Activities
  • Watch Understand Goal 6: to learn more SDG 6 Clean Water and Sanitation
  • Complete the What’s Your Water Footprint activity or use the online water footprint calculator to help students understand how their daily actions impact the earth’s natural resources
  • Get outside and play for Goal 6 Clean Water and Sanitation. After playing the game, discuss what actions students can take to support SDG 6
  • These three lesson plans encourage students to explore how their food choices and shopping habits have a larger impact on their daily water consumption than they may realize
  • Watch Take Action on Goal 6 to learn what you can do to make a difference
What did you think of Tapped Out: The World Water Crisis?
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About Learning Inside Out

Above you will find a selection of activities, broken down by various grade levels. These guides will be released weekly and archived on our Learning Inside Out page, so you can always access the full catalogue.

All activities have been modified from resources on our R4R database, simplified and adapted for both outdoor learning in the school yard or at-home as needed. The activity descriptions above should contain all the information and links that you need!

If you'd like to view the full original resource on R4R, including curriculum connections for every province/territory, click the activity title.

We want this guide to work for you, so your feedback is invaluable to us.
Use the feedback button at the bottom of this Guide, or email us at info@LSF-LST.ca. We would also love to see photos of students engaging in the activities, please e-mail us any pictures or videos you have!
Let us know how this helped your learning and teaching from home or at school indoors and (hopefully) outdoors and what you'd like to see more of by filling out our brief feedback form!
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Learning for a Sustainable Future (LSF) is a Canadian charity with over 25 years of experience working within the education system. Our Resources for Rethinking (R4R) database is an award-winning collection of resources that are peer-reviewed by certified teachers and connected to curriculum in all provinces and territories. R4R is recommended on many Ministry of Education websites.
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