WATER FOR THE WORLD
About W4TW
In the next 25 years, a third of the population will face severe water scarcity. With 20 percent of the world’s total freshwater resources and the longest marine coastline of any country in the world, Canada plays a pivotal role in managing global water resources. The next generation of Canadians must be well equipped to tackle the world’s water challenges. Water for the World aims to ignite a sense of pragmatism to develop systemic change leaders.
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Water for the World will partner with Toronto Public Library to teach students about global water issues. Workshops will be delivered to students in grades 7 to 9 by engaged volunteers with diverse backgrounds as engineers and social innovators. As a volunteer, you can help to introduce a new generation to the power of youth leaders in the global fight to increase access to clean water.
The Workshop
The Water for the World presentation is an engaging hour and a half that educates, challenges, and inspires students to think about creative solutions to global water access issues. Our program is divided into a three-part learning format as recommended by the Ontario Ministry of Education – Opening (Minds On), Middle (Action – Interactive/Hands-On), Closing (Debrief/Consolidation).
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A large component of the presentation involves hands-on interaction where groups of 4-6 students construct their own water filters using recycled plastic bottles and multiple layers of sand and gravel. The students are grouped into different countries, and are provided with different levels of information and amounts of play money, depending on their country’s literacy rate and wealth, respectively.
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Through this activity, students are challenged to think critically and creatively, while collaborating with their peers. Students will gain a better understanding of social issues in technological development, while being exposed to the concept of international interdependence and cooperation as it relates to the global need for potable water. We also aim to engage students by highlighting the potential role youth can have in addressing these issues.
Get involved!
As a workshop leader, you will be required to complete a training session and commit to a workshop. You will be working with another workshop volunteer to learn the workshop presentation and give the workshop on the selected day as well as help out with kit building.