EnviroKids October 2018 Issue

Water

Let’s Respect Our Natural Resources By Zwakele Ngwenya and Cindy-Lee Cloete

ing the diversity of insects present in the water. The learners carefully collect these insects and organisms and put them in a bucket of water for identification. Learners then calculate the total score based on the amount of organisms they found. The total score de- termines the quality of the water in the river and this starts a discussion about pollution, as well as possi- ble solutions to improve the quality of water. Schools also participate in ongoing water audits to monitor consumption at school with the aim of reducing wa- ter wastage. Teachers include water-saving practices in the classroom as part of the curriculum, and the Eco-Schools programme enhances learning in the classroom through hands-on activities.

Water is arguably our most important natural re- source. It sustains life for animals, people and plants. It is also used as a means of transportation, and to generate hydro-electro power, which is a sustainable source of energy. Although 70% of the

Earth is covered by water, only about 1% of it is accessible and drinkable. Despite this, many people still waste water or mistreat it by allowing pollution to flow into our rivers and oceans. Human interfer- ence also negatively affects our marine life.

Bokantsho Primary School is an Eco-School situated in Sasolburg, Free State. One of their selected themes is water, and as part of their action project they had a field excursion to a nearby stream where they moni- tored the quality of the water in the river. Under the guidance of the WESSA Eco-Schools coordinator, Zwakele Ngwenya, and the school educator, Mrs Masi- lo, the learners were introduced to the miniSASS tool- kit. miniSASS is a water monitoring system that schools can use to analyse the health of a river by investigat-

A Bad Catch Only about 6 shark incidents hap- pen a year, yet fear has caused humans to place shark nets in our oceans, which are responsible for thousands of marine animal deaths. Sharkangels.org says that shark nets placed off the coast of KwaZulu-Natal have been re- sponsible for the deaths of over 33,000 sharks over the past 30 years . Of these, 25,000 harmless sharks were killed. These same nets have also seen the deaths of about 2,211 turtles, 8,448 sting rays, and 2,310 dolphins.

Plastic vs Penguins A journal published by BirdLife says seabirds are amongst the world’s most threatened group of birds . This is mainly due to the expansion of com- mercial fisheries, as well as the impact of rats and cats that prey on nesting colonies. Plastic pol- lution also poses a major threat to marine life, as many seabirds ingest plastic thinking it is food. Eventually, the plastic kills them.

According to fishcount.org. uk, each year billions of fish are caught from the wild, of which about 100 billion fish are used to make fishmeal and fish oil. Another 120 bil- lion farmed fish are killed for food. Choose your fish wise- ly, and don't waste any food!

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