Rand Water annually sponsors the Water Wise Room. Rand Water has a Water Wise Education Team responsible for developing the educational programs in Gauteng Province. One of the venues is our centre.
Learners enter the room to the sounds of clean running water cascading over rocks. A hippo adds his call to the beautiful sounds as the little fish swim in between the reeds. A crocodile’s shadow is seen overhead. The little insects are busy feeding in the shallows of the river. They must be careful of the heron that is on the hunt. A fish eagle swoops down from on high and catches an unsuspecting fish. It feels as if one is inside a freshwater river. “No, you are in the Water Wise Room at the JNF Walter Sisulu Environmental Centre in Mamelodi.”
Less than one percent of the fresh water on earth is available for use by life on Earth. The quality of some of this water is also decreasing due to pollution and catchment destruction. The human population is increasing, so the amount of water available per person is getting less and less.
Activities in this room edutain (educate and entertain) learners to be Water Wise, i.e. Respect Water, Respect Life; Don’t Waste Water; Don’t Pollute Water; Pay for Water Services; Take Environmental Action; & Conserve Water, Conserve the Environment.
Why don’t you come and experience the hands-on Water Wise activities at the Centre? We offer six programmes in the Water Wise Room applicable to the school curriculum.
These programmes are:
| Everybody needs water: the story of elephant and the rain and healthy lifestyle choices | Grade 3 | Life Skills |
| Storing of water: How was water stored in the past and present | Gr 4,6 | NS, SS, AC |
| How much water do you use from the Water Cycle? | Gr 5 | NS, Maths |
| Where does your tap water come from? | Gr 6-12 | NS,SS |
| How healthy are our rivers? | Gr 6-12 | NS, SS |
| Wetlands: their function in the ecosystem and what life is found in a wetland | Gr 6 | NS |