Topic: Water and humans

Target group

Fourth‑grade student of secondary school

Core curriculum

XVIII. Environmental problems of the modern world: tropical cyclones, whirlwinds, storms, floods, tsunamis, soil erosion, volcanism, seismic shocks, karst formation, climate change, desertification, changes in glacier range, limited water resources on Earth, threats to geodiversity and biodiversity. Pupil:

9) identifies the natural and anthropogenic causes of limited water resources in selected regions of the world and proposes actions supporting rational water management;

General aim of education

The student will learn about problems related to drinking water shortages or poor sanitary conditions.

Key competences

• communication in foreign languages;

• digital competence;

• learning to learn.

Criteria for success
The student will learn:

• you estimate the daily water consumption per person in your household and compare the result with the consumption of water in different countries;

• discuss the changes in water consumption in the world that have occurred since the beginning of the 20th century;

• you mention the causes of water scarcity in the world;

• discuss the problem of lack of access to drinking water in developing countries.

Methods/techniques

• activating

  • discussion.

• expository

  • talk.

• programmed

  • with computer;

  • with e‑textbook.

• practical

  • exercices concerned.

Forms of work

• individual activity;

• activity in pairs;

• activity in groups;

• collective activity.

Teaching aids

• e‑textbook;

• notebook and crayons/felt‑tip pens;

• interactive whiteboard, tablets/computers.

Lesson plan overview

Before classes

• at least one week before class, the teacher instructs students to estimate their own daily water consumption by their chosen method, eg by counting the amount of water used in different activities or by checking on the water meter how much water was used in one day and dividing the result by the number of people at home ..

Introduction

• The teacher explains the aim of the lesson and together with students determines the success criteria to be achieved.

Realization

• The teacher asks pupils to write on the board the results of daily estimated water consumption per person. Then, together with the class, it determines the interval in which the average daily water consumption is located and compares the values obtained with the data in the graph showing the water consumption in selected countries in the „Water and People” lesson..

• The host initiates a discussion on potential causes for which in some countries the water consumption per person is many times higher than in others. Students are trying to determine the consequences of irrationally high water consumption..

• Work in pairs. Students, using atlases, search for geographic objects indicated by the teacher related to the discussed issue. Discussion within the class.

• Students, working individually or in pairs, carry out interactive exercises to check and consolidate knowledge learned during the lesson. Selected people discuss the correct solutions for interactive exercises. The teacher completes or corrects the statements of the proteges.

• The teacher uses the text of the abstract for individual work or in pairs, according to the following steps: 1) a sketchy review of the text, 2) asking questions, 3) accurate reading, 4) a summary of individual parts of the text, 5) repeating the content or reading the entire text.

Summary

• The teacher asks a willing student to summarize the lesson from his point of view. He asks other students if they would like to add anything to their colleague's statements.

Homework

• Imagine that you have the opportunity to interview a resident of the area that we discussed on today's lesson.. Write down your questions and anticipated answers.

The following terms and recordings will be used during this lesson

Terms

Texts and recordings

Water and humans

Due to the growing human population in the world, the demand for water for hygiene, agriculture and preparing food is increasing. Water is also needed for industrial production and services. This is the need for it is constantly growing.

Gallery 1. Water shortage in developing countries

In areas affected by water shortage, people use untreated water, which may lead to infections with pathogenic organisms. Diseases that spread by infected water include diarrhoea, skin, kidney and liver diseases, and typhoid

These demands are not always satisfied. According to estimates, 1.2 billion people (almost 20% of total world population) lack water due to natural causes. Another 0.5 billion is on the verge of such a situation. Approximately 1.6 billion do not have access to sufficient water as they lack the resources to obtain it.

Water may be chemically contaminated by fertiliser or pesticides leached from farming fields. Another sources of contamination include household sewage, especially in rapidly growing cities of developing countries, and industrial plants and means of water transport.