Sustainability project

EUROPEAN SCHOOLS FOR CLEAN WATER

Teacher's manual and

guidelines for practical work in schools

2013

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WATER, WETLAND and WATER FOOTPRINTOur blue planet and all its ecosystems rely on water; more than 70 % of our earth's surface consists solely of water. But all of this water is not only to be found in the oceans, rivers and lakes! The huge variety of the different kinds of wetlands is listed in the international legal document on wetlands called the Ramsar convention. A short summary is given to you for a raff overview on the big diversity of freshwater wetlands that you can observe and explore:

Continental wetlands: rivers, streams, waterfalls, springs, river mouths, confluences, temporary rivers, bogs, flooded forest and lowlands, river dunes and islands, permanent or temporary lakes and marshes, occasionally flooded grasslands, springs of thermal waters, karst with underground water etc.

Human caused wetlands: ponds, puddles, water reservoirs, reservoirs for drinking water for animals, rice fields, accumulation lakes, pits of clay and gravel etc.

(Sea and coastal wetlands – not in the main focus)

The biodiversity of wetlands is often confronted with multiple negative human influences. On the first glance many people see them as areas with no commercial value: strongly exploited in the past, they suffered from soil improvement methods by drying out the swamps and marshes, transforming natural wetlands into industrial territories and building land, destroying them with roads and highways, putting rivers into channels, pollution etc. The number of wetlands on our planet is lowering constantly. How this change will influence our global climate and humanity is not yet known. But to observe local changes and find solutions for preservation of freshwater could be a part of your project.

Suggested actions:

Make an overview of wetlands in your area or choose a local wetland and analyse their particularities. Get to know their origin, history, human interventions, fauna and flora etc.

Evaluate the condition of a wetland you have chosen - use methods from these guidelines or your own, to make geographical, chemical, physical or biological analyses.

Suggest wetlands conservation or restoration ideas and get active in which you introduce them e.g. to your local or national authorities.

The Water Footprint is an indicator of freshwater use. It helps us to find out how much water we consume in our personal life or household, local environment or business, food processing or industry and many other areas. The Water Footprint can differ enormously depending on the agricultural growth seasons, the rainfall, it can differ between countries or their regions and it can differ depending on the production methods (and their water consumption) of goods. We invite you to discover these differences and work out how these originated.

Suggested actions:

Analyse your personal Water Footprint and compare it. Analyse prepared meals from your school canteen and suggest improvements. Explore/Imagine water friendly agriculture and industry. Be critical!

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Compare the amount of water used with availability of water in nature.

Alpine marsh-lake Alpine river gorge

Dry river-bed Intermittent lake

Stone fountain A temporary ecosystem in the rut

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1. ANALYSES OF RIVER'S CONDITIONWhen evaluating a river’s (or streams) natural condition, choose a time when the water is calm – avoid high waters or the time after a storm. Observe a section of the river which is at least 100 meters long. Each answer gives you an amount of points. At the end, sum them up and check the description at the end of the evaluation questionnaire.

Water depth

The water depth rapidly changes. (1 point) The water depth changes, but remains the same in larger parts of the river. (2 points) The water depth doesn't change in most parts of the river. (4 points)

Speed of the water’s current

The speed rapidly changes. (1 point) The speed changes, but remains the same in larger parts of the river. (2 points) The speed of the water doesn't change. (4 points)

The width of the Riverbed

The width rapidly changes. (1 point) The width changes, but remains the same in larger parts of the river. (2 points) The width of the riverbed doesn't change. (4 points)

Changes in the course of the river (first decide, whether you have mountain or lowland river)

MOUNTAIN RIVER The river changes its course, but doesn't make sudden turns. (1 point) The river has a straightforward course, turns are rare. (2 points) The river is in a channel and quickly runs straightforward. (4 points)

LOWLAND RIVER

The river makes slow, occasionally sharp and quick turns. (1 point) The river changes its course and doesn't make sudden turns. (2 points) The river has a straightforward course, turns are rare. (3 points) The river is in a channel and quickly runs straightforward. (4 points)

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Dunes and islands

The river has dunes and islands with vegetation. (1 point) The river has dunes and rarely islands. (2 points) The river has neither dunes nor islands. (4 points)

Barriers in the river

The river runs freely - without dams and dykes. (1 point) There are wooden or stone barriers in the riverbed. (2 points) There are many barriers in the riverbed which are higher than 10 cm. (3 points) There are many barriers in the riverbed which are higher than 10 cm. The riverbed is

paved or made of concrete. (4 points)

River affluent

The affluent gathers with a river freely. (1 point) The confluences are natural, though they alter a bit. (2 points) The confluences are altered. (3 points) Confluences are stopped or altered with hoses. (4 points)

River shore

Some sections of the shores are steep and some are flat. The shore isn't fortified with stones, concrete or wood. (1 point)

Some sections of the shores are steep and some are flat. The shore is partly fortified with wood. (2 points)

Steep shores prevail, fortified with wood or stone. (3 points) All river shores are steep and fortified with wood or concrete. (4 points)

Plants on the river shore and the river’s surroundings

Wide parts of the river shore are covered with a big biodiversity of shrubs and trees. There are bogs, reeds and moist meadows close to the river. (1 point)

Narrow parts of the river shore are covered with shrubs and trees, occasionally swamps, reeds and moist meadows. (2 points)

Rare places of the river shore are covered with shrubs and trees. Paths and agriculture are close to the river shore. (3 points)

No shrubs or trees are close to the rivers. Paths and agriculture are touching the river shore. (4 points)

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Dead wood

Fallen trees and shrubs are in the river beds. The river shore is covered with flooded wood. (1 point)

There is driftwood in the river, but no fallen trees or shrubs (2 points) There is no dead wood in the river (4 points)

TOTAL SUM: …………………………………………………………………….

Summary - The condition of your river

10 - 15 points: You have a natural river

Your river runs freely and totally naturally. It is a very appropriate habitat for plants and animals and provides natural biodiversity. To explore and analyse it can be a pleasure for you.

16 - 24 points: You have an almost natural river

Your river has been altered a bit in the past, but the river managed to keep its natural character. It offers a good habitat to plants and animals. This river is still very alive and to exploring it could be a healthy and interesting possibility.

25 - 33 points: Your river doesn't look good

Your river has been altered strongly. Living in it is filled with strong obstacles for many plants and animals or it is not possible at all. The river looks calm and quiet.

34 - 40 points: Your river is in very bad condition

Your river is in a very bad condition. The current, the river bed and the shore have been altered strongly. Plants and animals have big difficulty to live in it. Current is calm. Exploring and playing at the river isn't possible, because access to the water is denied.

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2. ANALYSES OF THE CLEANLINESS OF THE RIVERCollect water samples in glass bottles in different sections of the river. Shake the water before analysing it. Compare the river water with water from the tap.

The water’s colour

The river water is clear and colourless. (1 point) The river water is slightly cloudy, colour is yellow. (2 point) The river water is very cloudy with yellow-green-brown colours. (3 points) The river water is non-transparent with grey-black colours. (4 points)

The water’s smell

The river water has a fresh or no smell. (1 point) The river water has a slight or nice smell. (2 points) The river water has an unpleasant or stuffy smell. (3 point) The river water has a very strong scent that is unpleasant or smells foul. Mud from

the river can have a smell of rotten eggs. (4 points)

The water’s foam

After shaking the water sample, foam didn't appear. (1 point) After shaking the water sample, it took 1-10 seconds for the foam to disappear. (2

points) After shaking the water sample, it took 10 seconds -5 minutes for the foam to

disappear. (3 points) After shaking the water sample, it took more than 5 minutes for the foam to

disappear. (4 points)

Upper side of the stones from the river

The upper side is bright and clean. (1 point) The upper side is bright green or brown, some parts are covered with short green

algae. (2 points) The upper side is dark brown, stones are slippery. (3 points) The upper side is covered with a fat grey layer, stones are colonized with algae. (4

point)

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Lower side of the stones from the river

The lower side of all stones is bright and clear. (1 point) The stones from parts of the river with standing water have a grey-black coloured

lower side. (3 points) The lower side of all stones is grey-black. (4 points)

TOTAL SUM: …………………………………………………………………….

Summary - The cleanliness of your river

5 - 8 points: You have a very clean river

The water in your river is very clean and contains a lot of oxygen. Also pollution-sensitive animals can live in it. Because there is low quantity of nutrients in the water, plants won't grow. The water in the river is almost as clean as drinking water.

9 - 12 points: Your river is slightly dirty

The water in your river is quite clean and contains enough oxygen for most of the animals to live in it. There are enough nutrients in the water for plants to thrive as well. If you swallow a bit of water when swimming in it, you don't need to worry about your health.

13 - 16 points: Your river is very dirty

The water in your river is dirty and contains too little oxygen for many animals to survive in it. There are many nutrients in the water that causes algae to prosper. If you swallow a bit of water when swimming in it, you could get sick.

17 - 20 points: Your river is strongly polluted

The water in your river is strongly polluted and contains no oxygen. Hardly any animals can live in such conditions. There are too many nutrients in the water that causes algae to overgrow everything in the river. You shouldn't swim in such a river und mustn't drink it.

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3. BIOLOGICAL TESTLittle animals can give us a lot of information on a river's condition. Some of them can only live in very clean water, some of them in very polluted. Examine larger part of your river by catching animals into glass containers (don't forget to pour in some water). Check the running water, the river bed; pick up stones, branches and river mud, check under the leaves of water plants. Use a net, glass container, magnifying glasses and the pictures below.

Under each picture, there is a mark that indirectly speaks your river’s condition. Mark 1 is for very clean water, mark 4 for strongly polluted water.

Stonefly Net-winged midge (Blephariceridae)

Mayfly Water beetle (Neritidae)

MARK 1 MARK 1 MARK 1-2 MARK 1-2

Water snail (Neritidae)

Crustacean (Gammaridae)

Dragonfly Crustacean (Asellidae)

MARK 1-2 MARK 2 MARK 2 MARK 2-3

Leech Solder fly (Stratiomyidae)

Tubifex Nonbiting midge (Chironomidae)

MARK 3 MARK 3 MARK 3-4 MARK 3-4

Hoverfly (Syrphidae)

Copyright: Danube Box Teacher handbook

MARK 4

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4. THE MINI WATER-TREATMENT PLANTUnder supervision, the children build mechanical model water - treatment plant in the classroom. The plastic cups, with a hole in the bottom, are filled with gravel, sand and the coffee filters, in that order. Stick the cups inside each other and place them in a glass container. Now, one first pours in water with visible contamination (for example bits of paper, contents of tea-bags) and notice at which layer this contamination is held back. The water is filtered mechanically. Then mix washing liquid with water and allow it to run through. The washing liquid is not removed from the water. It forms foam when one shakes the water. Washing liquids are only broken down in the biological stage of a water-treatment plant with the help of micro-organism. The children recognise that there is invisible pollution as well as visible pollution and that washing-up liquid cannot be removed from the waste water through mechanical purification.

You can add different filter layers (cotton, fabric, soil, leaves) to your system and observe which materials stop the dirt better.

You can pour into your system water polluted with various substances, imitating the pollutants in our environment (salad oil, coffee, water colours, salt ...).

You can visit your local water treatment plant, observe the process and analyse the litter and pollutants they find.

HTTP://WWW.DANUBEBOX.ORG/DE/DOWNLOADS/ENGLISH

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5. WATER FOOTPRINT OF FOODTry to evaluate the water consumption of the food you eat. Analyse the whole procedure your food must go through before it comes on the table. Suggest better alternatives when purchasing food and compose low water footprint menus.

Food production Food processing

Are the plants indigenous in the country? List of ingredients Was it produced by intensive or organic

farming? Growing of ingredients

Was there a period of draught? Was water easily accessible?

Processing of ingredients

Did ingredients grow in foreign countries?

You can find more data on water consumption here:

http://www.waterfootprint.org

http://wwf.panda.org/how_you_can_help/live_green/save_water/

http://wwf.panda.org/what_we_do/footprint/

http://wwf.panda.org/about_our_earth/about_freshwater/

http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/freshwater/change-the-course/water-footprint-calculator/

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6. WATER CONSUMPTION IN HOUSEHOLDS, SCHOOLS, COMPANIES/BUSINESSTry to evaluate water consumption for your everyday life. Analyse your habits, daily procedures, and all other activities that you, your class, household, business, municipality or country do. Make a list of suggestions to lower water consumption.

Take the examples below into consideration:

Copyright: Danube Box Teacher handbook

Toilets and personal hygiene Wardrobe

Food and drinks Transportation

Waste Sports

Electricity Plants around us

7. DRAUGHTS, FLOODS AND THE TIME IN BETWEENNew analyses of the Water Footprint also concentrate on the quantity of water in rivers needed normally and the amount of water drained from them for human use. If more than 20 % of the water is drained out of the river, the integrity of the river’s ecosystem is endangered. It was determined that at least 2,7 billion people live in river basins that experience severe water scarcity during at least one month of the year.

Examine the reports of rainfall, occurrence of floods, draughts, other/further environmental catastrophes and look for the connection between them and human interventions. Find out if people are living in accordance with natural cycles or are damaging them.

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