Understanding Water Insecurity and Infrastructure Inequality by Kelly Rapke

Purpose Statement / Essential Question

How do we confront the injustice of unequal water access in Canada, and what does it mean to grow up in a place where clean water is a given, while others still wait for it?

This project invites students to look closely at something many of us take for granted:

clean, safe, running water. We begin by asking why some communities in Canada still don’t have it, and how those decisions were made and continue to be made. What does it say about our country, our priorities, and our responsibilities to each other? By exploring the ripple effects of water insecurity in Indigenous communities, students are asked to think critically, feel deeply, and consider how they might respond with care and courage.

About This Project

This project was created for a Grade 10 Geography class in a Canadian secondary

school, in a community where water runs clear from the tap every day. It’s designed for young people who may have never had to question where their water comes from, or who makes sure it stays safe. The unit asks students to consider: What happens when that’s not the case? And how can we learn with and from communities who have lived through that kind of uncertainty?

The project focuses on Indigenous communities in Canada—starting with Shoal Lake 40, whose story is deeply connected to the history of Winnipeg’s water system. From there, we learn about other communities like Garden Hill and Neskantaga, each with their own experiences of boil-water advisories, broken promises, and resilience.

The unit is structured around real stories, not just facts. Students engage with videos,

journalism, government data, and lived experiences. We use visual thinking strategies like

hexagonal thinking and ripple maps to help students connect ideas and emotions. We also keep personal journals throughout to help students process, question, and reflect in an honest way.

As the unit progresses, students turn their gaze home and investigate their own community’s water infrastructure: Stonewall’s new reverse osmosis system. They explore who pays for these upgrades, how those decisions get made, and how that compares to what they’ve learned about funding for Indigenous communities. Through local field visits and visual documentation, students begin to see infrastructure as something shaped by policy and priorities.

The final project is a creative, public response. Students work in small groups to choose a story or moment that stayed with them. Then they decide how they want to respond: through a letter, podcast, poem, art piece, or another form they choose. What matters most is that their work goes beyond the classroom. It needs to be seen. Shared. Heard. Whether through the school newsletter, a bulletin board, or a submission to the local council, these pieces are about using voice and creativity to take a stand.

Ultimately, the purpose of the project is to shift students’ understanding of water and to foster a sense of responsibility, compassion, and critical awareness—so that students not only recognize injustice but also feel empowered to respond to it with care, creativity, and action.