Step 1) Introduction (30 minutes)

Students will be shown a video about water contamination (What is water pollution?).

Then the teachers will make a brief theoretical introduction about the concept of water pollution to introduce the students to a general idea of the concept they will work on (teachers can take inspiration from: websites to explain water contamination).

Step 2) Group work (120 minutes)

The teacher will divide the students into 3 groups: 

1. BLUE: analyze the phenomenon of contamination of fresh water: glaciers, rivers.
2. GREEN: analyze the phenomenon of contamination of fresh water: lakes, streams.
3. PURPLE: will deal instead with the phenomenon of contamination of sea water: seas and oceans.

Each group will investigate the CAUSES and CONSEQUENCES of water contamination. For example, domestic and industrial wastewater discharge, leaks from water tanks, marine landfills, radioactive waste, atmospheric depositions, etc. while pollution can cause muddy landscapes, poison soil and waterways, or kill plants and animals, without forgetting that humans are also regularly harmed by pollution.

After the research, the groups will compare the information encountered during their research. Can relations or connections be established between the pollutants of fresh water and sea water?

After comparing their results, the groups will set out to find possible solutions to deal with the problem of contamination of fresh and sea water; solutions that must be met both at macro level (for example wastewater treatment, green agriculture, stormwater management, air pollution prevention, plastic waste reduction, water conservation etc.), and at an individual level (for example not pouring fat from cooking or any other type of fat, oil, or grease down the sink, not disposing of household chemicals or cleaning agents down the sink or toilet, not flushing pills, liquid or powder medications or drugs down the toilet, avoiding using the toilet as a wastebasket etc.).  

After the group work, the students will show the class the results of their research, including the causes, consequences and solutions found around the contamination of fresh and sea water. The students can decide themselves how to present the information to the class: through an oral presentation, an exhibition, drawings, posters, etc.

Step 3) Examination of water quality (120 minutes)

We may hear about water pollution, but we don’t really know what the state of the water we drink is, nor the state of our seas, rivers, lakes or fields. We divide the students into groups and they will be asked to take water samples and analyze water quality in:

1. their own school
2. in a river near big industries
3. in a river or fountain near a park 
4. a place of organic farming ( that use production methods which excludes use of synthetic chemicals);
5. a place of integrated agriculture (that use production methods that tends to reduce synthetic chemicals use by integrating them with biological, genetic and/or cultural means);
6. a place of traditional or conventional agriculture (that use generally intensive production methods using chemical products for plant defence and fertilisation);
7. a place of market agriculture (production for distribution and industrial processing)

Water quality refers to chemical, physical, biological and radiological characteristics of water.

The concept of water quality is also used in reference to a set of standards that could differ from country to country; the teachers will therefore need to inform themselves about the adequate parameters to go through with the analysis, such as the maximum and minimum values that their country assumes acceptable to consider water unpolluted.

In this step the students will analyze at least five parameters of your choice refilling this table.

- CALL TO ACTION 1  

The participants will take a walk in order to clean up rivers or beaches collecting the trash that they find along their way. Before the action, the professor can explain the reasons for this action: our consumption and way of living cause us to pollute the planet, and a large part of the waste that contaminates it ends up in the water sources (through meteorological phenomenons). Participants are divided into small groups (5/6) for better coordination and efficiency. Each group has a plastic bag (or more), gloves to pick up what they will find and tailored shoes. The recollection of the trash should not be longer than 2/3 hours. At the end of the recollection the groups can weigh their bags of waste.  When everything is done, a moment of discussion and reflection is led by the teacher who can ask questions about the residues: (What are the most recurrent types of waste we found? Do you think it is normal to collect this waste in the city? What can we do to reduce our waste? Do you know what generates this water pollution? etc...). At the end of this, all groups will do a final meeting with a moment of reflection to realize the extent of the actions of human beings on the contamination of water sources.

- CALL TO ACTION 2

Students will be asked to organize a flash mob with the theme of water pollution. A flash mob is a performance that usually focuses on entertainment, generating a fun (and not dangerous) confusion or satire about something that the audience will understand immediately, reacting appropriately. Students can create a flash mob through activities such as:

• dancing with choreography: an example could be a large group dancing in a park;
• singing the air of an opera, yodel or pop song;
• staging a special situation
• do a mime
• etc.