Teacher Preparation

Overarching learning goal: By participating in this activity students will understand the long-term effects of rainfall shortage and recognise some existing ideas for water storage and harvesting. They will also demonstrate the ability to work with percentages and related calculations.

Teacher content information: Parts of NSW and Queensland are currently facing what some are calling the worst drought in living memory. Large parts of eastern Australia have been experiencing drought for between one and seven years. Climate change is predicted to increase the frequency and severity of droughts in Australia, with serious and long-lasting consequences for farmers, consumers and communities.

The report on this CSIRO webpage summarises some of the big challenges for future water supplies in Australia.

For more reliable information about climate change in Australia, visit the Climate Council.

The IPCC

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is the United Nations body for assessing the science related to climate change. It was created to:

provide policymakers (governments) with regular scientific updates about climate change;
highlight the impact climate change will have on the planet in the future; and,
offer some ideas about how to tackle the challenges of climate change's potential effects on the planet.

In 2021-22, the IPCC released their sixth assessment report. This is the most up-to-date physical understanding of the climate system and climate change.

The report makes a number of important points:

It is unequivocal that human influence has warmed the atmosphere, ocean and land.
Global surface temperature will continue to increase until at least mid-century under all emissions scenarios considered. Global warming of 1.5°C and 2°C will be exceeded during the 21st century unless deep reductions in CO2 and other greenhouse gas emissions occur in the coming decades (B1). The report describes five possible climate futures, where #1 is not great and #5 is extremely bad. If we want to keep global warming at less than two degrees, which the IPCC says is the best-case scenario, we need to reduce our CO2 and greenhouse gas emissions significantly and start right away.

'Net zero' or 'carbon neutral' are terms that refer to achieving an overall balance between greenhouse gas emissions produced and greenhouse gas emissions taken out of the atmosphere. Getting to net zero means we can still produce some emissions, so long as we're doing something else to reduce the greenhouse gases already in the atmosphere at the same time, kind of like balancing a set of scales (more info).

Psychological safety. The IPCC Report sets a hard challenge. While this real-world issue is essential for students to understand, there is no doubt it can make them feel sad or anxious about the future is becoming darker and scarier by the day.

So, reassure students that we can have a hopeful and optimistic outlook on this report, rather than one of doom and gloom. Explain that optimism involves looking objectively at a situation and making a conscious decision to focus on the good (more info), and that hope is the belief that you can make an impact (more info). Explain to students that you are going to look ahead, identify what needs to be improved, and then work on the skills and confidence so that they can go out and do it.

If you're interested in learning more about how to approach challenging topics around climate change and sustainability in your classroom through a Hope and Optimism lens, consider our PD course.

Student and classroom organisation

Step 1.

Begin the activity by asking students to brainstorm the causes and effects of declining rainfall:

Why might rainfall levels be declining? (e.g. Climate change, El Nino)
How does declining rainfall affect our environment?
How does it affect people?
What sorts of impacts does it have on the economy?
What other impacts does it have?

Record the student brainstorm using mindmeister or bubbl.us

Step 2.

Ask students to work through the student worksheet, answering the questions in Parts 1, 2 and 3. Depending on age or ability, students can either work independently or in pairs.

When calculating the number of years it would take to return storage levels to 100%, remind students that after long periods of drought the ground needs to be re-wet before run-off occurs, and that the rainfall does not always fall over the catchment areas. Are there any other variables to consider and how will these affect the length of time it takes for storage levels to return to 100%?

Rather than direct students as to which calculations they will need to perform to derive the answers, provide students with question prompts and have them generate their own method for solving the problem. You may wish to use the following types of questions to help students with this:

What information do we already have?
What extra information do we need?
What are we trying to achieve?

Once complete, have students share the methods that they have used. As a class, decide upon the most efficient problem solving methods.

Reflection

Rainfall and the water it provides is one our most reliable resources. Everything on planet Earth needs water to survive. However, climate change is expected to affect rainfall levels dramatically in Australia. Some parts of Australia will receive more water than they need, while others will experience severe drying. One study suggests that south western Australia will see a 40 percent decline in average rainfall by the late 21st century.

Communities around the world are devising new ways of harvesting and storing water. Working in pairs, ask students to undertake research online to find 3 of the strangest or craziest water saving ideas. Students should analyse these ideas for:

Environmental costs and benefits
Social costs and benefits
Financial costs and benefits
Feasibility

Students can create a blog post describing these ideas. Remind students to include photos and videos where possible. Students can use edublogs.

Extension

Ask students to predict the annual average water consumption in 20 years' time, taking into account better efficiency measures offset against projected population growth.

Weather Makers - Water worries

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