Wonderful Water!
World Water Day is on 22 March
by Brian Radcliffe
Suitable for Whole School (Pri)
Aims
To encourage us to consider the value of water.
Preparation and materials
- You will need a glass or jug of water.
- Jesus’ words about water in the ‘Time for reflection’ part of the assembly are found in John 4.14.
Assembly
- Show the glass or jug of water.
Explain to the children that water is a resource that we can easily take for granted. However, it’s actually one of the most important elements in the world.
Ask the children what they know about water.
Listen to a range of responses. - Tell the children that you have a few more facts about water to share.
- Water covers about 70 per cent of the earth’s surface.
- The average adult human is about 60 per cent water.
- A jellyfish and a cucumber are each 95 per cent water.
- We can live for about a month without food, but only about a week without water.
- Out of the 8 billion people in the world, 2 billion of them lack access to safely managed drinking water.
- Unsafe water makes hundreds of children sick every day. - Water is also the root cause of much tension and conflict in the world. Water flows from its source to the point where it reaches the sea, sometimes travelling through many countries. This can cause conflict when actions that countries take upriver stop or lessen the flow of water to the countries that are downriver.
- Every year on 22 March, the United Nations’ World Water Day is held. This year, the focus is on encouraging communities and countries to share water fairly.
We may not live in a country where water is a serious cause of conflict, but it can still cause tension in the UK. For example, flooding is an increasing issue for many riverside communities in this country. Conversely, drought and water restrictions have affected areas of the UK during summertime. Climate change has made both situations worse.
Time for reflection
So, what can we do? Do we have a responsibility to use water considerately? Jesus uses water as a symbol for how we can become resources for our own communities. He explains that, if we take him as our inspiration, we will be like a fountain of fresh water bubbling up for the benefit of those around us. Each of us will have different sources of inspiration, but the responsibility to be aware of others’ needs is still the same.
Each of us uses about 150 litres of water each day. I wonder how we might be able to reduce this.
Listen to a range of responses.
Let’s consider the following questions.
- Do we prefer a shower or a bath? A short shower uses far less water than a long soak in the bath.
- When we brush our teeth, do we leave the water running? Turning off the tap while we are brushing makes a difference!
- Have you seen any dripping taps? Look out for them and tighten the tap, or ask someone to fix it if the drip persists.
Other things that we can do include filling our cup or glass with only as much water as we need at that time, and watering plants with washing-up water.
Let’s put these ideas into practice on World Water Day.
Prayer
Dear God,
Thank you for the beauty of this world.
Thank you for water.
Thank you that we have fresh water to drink, for us to enjoy and stay healthy.
Please help us always to think about the needs of others.
Please help us to care and do what we can to make this a fairer world.
Amen.
