On World Water Day we explored the fascinating world of water and discovered some astonishing facts together.
Did you know our planet is also called the "Blue Planet", because roughly 70% of its surface is covered by water? Or that raindrops are not the tear shape we always draw, but in fact small, slightly flattened spheres? That last one is a favourite of ours, because it dismantles an image children get from cartoons rather than from observation. The moment you find out you have been drawing something wrongly your whole life is exactly the moment you start looking more closely.
We then learned about the importance of saving water and about its cycle in nature. The water cycle has an advantage that is rare at this age: it is a closed system that can be drawn in full on a single sheet. The children see that water is neither lost nor made, but only changes place and form — and from there the question "if water never disappears, why do we have to save it?" arises by itself and deserves a proper discussion.
And then there is the fact that water is the only element on Earth that can be found in all three states of matter: liquid, solid and gaseous. It is something children verify daily without noticing — in a glass, in the freezer and above the pot on the stove.
With every discovery, the children grow more aware of the role water plays in our lives and in the fragile balance of the environment we live in.