10. Water

10.4 Activities

Match the dots

Look at the map below. The different coloured dots show us the health of different areas of the river catchmentsAn area of land on which rain falls, this land then helps to channel the rainwater into rivers, lakes and wetlands.. A healthy catchmentAn area of land on which rain falls, this land then helps to channel the rainwater into rivers, lakes and wetlands. means healthy, clean waterways. Do you see any correlation between catchmentAn area of land on which rain falls, this land then helps to channel the rainwater into rivers, lakes and wetlands. health and land use type?

Discussion questions:

1. What type of land are the ‘excellent’ and ‘good’ quality catchmentsAn area of land on which rain falls, this land then helps to channel the rainwater into rivers, lakes and wetlands. on?
2. What type of land are the ‘fair’ (less than good) catchmentsAn area of land on which rain falls, this land then helps to channel the rainwater into rivers, lakes and wetlands. on?
3. Why do you think this is?

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Clues for healthy waterways

The Match the Dots activity demonstrates the link between catchmentAn area of land on which rain falls, this land then helps to channel the rainwater into rivers, lakes and wetlands. health and different types of land use in the ACT. Now, let’s look at some waterways up close to see what’s happening on the ground to contribute to these broader trends. Just by looking at a waterway and the land surrounding it, we can often find clues to tell us if it is healthy or not.

Click on the symbols in the pictures below to discover the clues we can look for, and whether these are positive or negative for the health of our waterways.

Source: Mark Jekabsons

Source: Miranda Gardner

Discussion questions:

1. What actions could be taken to improve water quality and support biodiversityThe variety of all life and living processes in the environment. at the second site? These actions could relate to the waterway itself or to the catchmentAn area of land on which rain falls, this land then helps to channel the rainwater into rivers, lakes and wetlands. surrounding it. Consider the features the first site has that the second site lacks.
2. Conduct some independent research into the ACT Healthy Waterways program. What kinds of infrastructure projects have been undertaken around Canberra to restore or improve waterways? What did they involve? Have any occurred in your local area?
3. How could you get involved in urban waterway restoration in your own community?

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Plants and pollution

See how plants can absorb water contaminants

Materials:

• glass of water
• red or blue food dye
• stick of fresh celery

Add the food dye to the glass of water. Cut the end off the celery and place the celery stick into the glass of coloured water. Leave this overnight. In the morning, take the celery out of the water and cut a few slices off the end.

Discussion questions:

1. What does the celery look like inside?
2. What does the coloured dye represent in the environment?

If you want to get artistic with your science, you can also take this experiment another step further by doing the colourful flowers activity below!

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Colourful flowers

Watch how flowers absorb colours

Materials:

• red, blue, green food dye
• 3 vases, filled almost to the top with warm water
• 3 white flowers, cut with a long stem (white chrysanthemums, carnations and roses work well)

Add 30 drops of red food dye to a vase of warm water. Repeat this, adding blue dye to another vase of warm water and green dye to a third.

Cut a little bit off the bottom of each stem, cutting on an angle to increase the surface area of the stem.

Then place one flower in each vase and leave for a few days. Watch over the next few days to see what happens to the colour of the flower petals.