Reflecting on the power and preciousness of water

Opportunities for Embracing Uncertainty

There is a great opportunity here to use the compound, water, as the stimulus to evoke its power that draws humans to it, as if beyond our control, and how it is fundamental for existence and survival, as well as emotional and spiritual well-being. By enabling students to attend very closely to water, in ways that they may not have done since they were very young (if at all), it allows them to reflect on its mysteries and preciousness that is not easily explained.

Opportunities for All Students

This invitation is suitable for students of all ages as it can be adapted to different levels of complexity. All are invited to ‘play’ with the water. Some can explore multiple personal experiences of engaging with water in their wider lives; others can act as researchers to find out and reflect on the use of water for different religious and celebratory purposes, and its value as a spiritual symbol. They might also investigate how water droplets behave on different materials.

Opportunities for Creative Thinking

As well as thinking creatively about the different ways in which water is used spiritually across the globe, students may also use this activity to ponder why ‘water’ is so special. Links can be made to the scientific properties of the compound: it exists in three different states (gas, solid and liquid); it cannot be made or lost; it is colourless, odourless and tasteless; it defines our Celsius temperature scale of 0-100 degrees; it is what scientists look for in other planets as an indicator of potential life.

Opportunities for Linking to Climate Justice

This activity offers students from different religious and cultural backgrounds the opportunity to share something of how water is important to their lives. This exchange requires others to listen, and for everyone to draw out the similarities and differences, and to consider what might (if anything) be the shared experience of water. Links can also be made to the words used for water in different languages (see Topic 7: Kelp for examples).

Sensory Encounter

The power of photography to invite questions

Opportunities for Embracing Uncertainty

Photographs provide an opportunity to engage students in questioning, theorizing, thinking critically, and noticing unexpected tensions in the scenes portrayed. In the image, the students might notice stark contrasts that raise questions for them about the setting.

A broader issue that might extend the discussion is the uncertainty of water quality: caused by the discharge of sewage into the sea and agricultural runoff into rivers, for example. This issue can evoke community passion, conflict and resistance through the sharing of information (e.g. Surfers Against Sewage www.sas.org.uk), and government regulator intervention through the issuing of fines. Students might consider their own felt response and their possible individual or community action.

Opportunities for All Students

Younger students might notice contrasts and have questions, such as why is there so much sand and why are the buildings so tall? Other students might begin to engage more with ecological and social issues: they might make links to water, biodiversity and climate change, for example.

For some students, it might be a leap to jump to a context with which they are unfamiliar. In which case, we suggest first introducing a local example that exemplifies similar issues. Or else, to show a film about local drought and to invite them to respond by reflecting on anything that feels important to them. Here is an example of a film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oL2TFdLDFGA&t=10s

Opportunities for Creative Thinking

What does the image show us? This activity invites students to think about the power of images, through paying attention to the details and how it might speak to each of us. Can students say what they are drawn to in the image and why? How would deleting particular details of the photo tell a different story? (This activity links to the one on the power of advertising in Topic 4: Food Shopping.) Some students could take photographs of places around the school grounds or locally that tell a ‘sustainability’ story, which they could then show and invite a response from their peers.

Opportunities for Linking to Climate Justice

Students might think about who will use this golf course and who will not. This activity allows for a more complex engagement with climate justice, that can include both 1) the binary between the Global North and South in carbon emissions (see these useful charts: https://theconversation.com/climate-change-is-a-justice-issue-these-6-charts-show-why-170072 – this relates to Topic 8 Wind Energy), as well as 2) The unequal distribution of resources within some Global South contexts. For example, The World Inequality Lab reports that the most unequal region globally is the Middle East and North Africa, where the richest 10% take around 58% of the income, compared to Europe where the comparable figure is 36% of income (see: https://wir2022.wid.world/executive-summary/). Links can also be made to the UNESCO Sustainable Development Goals, especially No 6: ‘Clean Water and Sanitation’ (https://sdgs.un.org/goals/goal6), which sets out drinking water, sanitation and hygiene targets.

Deliberative Encounter

Deliberating different positions and vested interests

Opportunities for Embracing Uncertainty

This activity enables students to grapple with the competing interests of different stakeholders attached to the golf course. There is no obvious answer about whether the course should be given an environmental award given the multiple tensions involved in this decision. The activity offers the opportunity to think beyond human needs, with the inclusion of hares (which are indigenous to this region).

Opportunities for All Students

For early years students, this encounter could form the basis of a discussion of how to improve the school grounds: what changes would the students make to the school outdoor environment? What would they like to introduce? For example: vegetable patch, outdoor learning area, scooter racks, sandpits, recycling bins, etc. This will require them to engage with different ideas and views.

Some students may lack knowledge on which to deliberate the position of their interest group. For example, they may think hares enjoy grass without considering the effects for them of biodiversity loss: they might benefit from being able to ask questions of the teacher or others. Other students will have more knowledge or could use the internet to research in depth.

Opportunities for Creative Thinking

Adaptations for the golf course have involved enterprising creative use of technology to respond to the challenges of a water denuded environment. The activity requires students to place themselves in another role and to use their imaginations. They also have to think how to convince the jurors of the veracity of their position. Students might also discuss how each of the aspects that led to the award can now be used to improve the quality of life in other parts of the world: what other uses do the students think these advancements can be applied to? This article about the award might be useful pre-reading: https://golfbusinessnews.com/news/management-topics/emirates-golf-club-receives-sustainability-award/.

Opportunities for Linking to Climate Justice

This award highlights how technology can be used to address environmental challenges throughout the world. How can the initiatives used to build and irrigate this golf course be used to improve the lives of people across the globe? Which areas of the world would benefit from these adaptations in water usage and recycling? Students could be encouraged to reflect on how innovative uses of technology might be used to improve the lives of people locally and globally, including in areas of water shortage. Other students might reflect on the tensions between the desires of affluent tourists (whether from the same or other countries) and uncertain local impacts. For example, the golf course might bring immediate economic benefits but acerbate long-term negative climate effects.

Beyond the Classroom Encounter