Trapped Water In Local Contexts by Janice Tien

Purpose Statement

In a fast-paced world, people often turn to bottled water and drinks as a source of convenience. However, when bottles are thrown into the trash before its contents are dumped out, it becomes trapped water. That water will now stay in there for centuries until its plastic container eventually decomposes. This project aims to create awareness surrounding responsible bottled drink disposal and around the impact of trapped water on the environment and the natural water cycle.

About This Project

The goal of this project is to raise awareness about the issue of trapped water and its effects on the environment. It will also help urban school populations to realize their privilege of accessible, clean drinking water. This is important because since there are fewer restrictions to accessing clean water in urban school populations in Manitoba, responsible water practices are often disregarded. This project will target grade five students in Manitoba schools and will feature a variety of activities that offer cross-curricular opportunities in science, math, visual arts, and English language arts.

Students will need to work in groups of six and decide amongst themselves to designate two group members to each of the following roles: scientist, statistician, and artist. Additionally, all participants will assume to roles of writers and activists. This project will take place in a school setting but can also offer opportunities for community collaboration. This project is planned to take place over a four-week period, where participants will be required to collaborate with another class to be their “sample population.” From there, students will sort through their sample population’s recycling daily to save any trapped water from reaching the landfills.

Over the course of the project, students will record the amounts of water and drink liquids to input into a graph. They will also have the opportunity to use the recycled bottles to create an art sculpture to display at their school and to publish photos of on the school website so that school and community members may respond (in-person and/or digitally) to their creations. Lastly, they will also have a variety of writing opportunities throughout the project, such as writing a two-voiced poem in the perspectives of trapped and free water, writing a list or story about water they will return back to the earth during a community walk, writing a reflection in any chosen form on their findings and experiences, and writing a letter to a policy maker to advocate for change.