On the 9th of May, Sofia Domingues, a science researcher in the field of Biomedicine and Marketing Director of HIDROVAL, visited the Aver-o-Mar School and the Aldeia Kindergarten to know and talk with the students who participated in the contest promoted by this company.
The teachers Graça Pinheiro and Manuela Albuquerque received Dr. Sofia in the classroom who, in an informal conversation, discussed with the students the importance of water preservation.
The 7th grade students learned that we also consume water indirectly. This water, despite not being seen or felt, is responsible for most of our consumption. It is water that is used to produce crops, but also to produce the clothes and electronic gear we love so much. In a brief game, the students had to try to guess the water consumption: “How many litres of water do you need to produce one single T-shirt? Well, you wouldn’t believe it, it’s about 2,700 litres”. Dr Sofia asked the students to count the T-shirts they had at home, and multiply that by 2,700 litres. Well, it was a bit scary. In the production of a single computer, 8,000 litres of water are used, 12,760 litres for the production of a smartphone and about 134 litres per kg of tomatoes. The students realised that it is urgent to reduce our Water Footprint and were thinking about how they could do it.
In the pre-school class, Dr Sofia showed a large book entitled “Animals of the Earth and the Sea” and the children read pictures. Addressing the issue of plastic rubbish in the sea she read a story entitled “The Whale with the Plastic Tail”. There was time for the children to sing a song that asks the question: where does water come from?
It was a very rewarding visit. The students were very involved and, in these playful activities, they understood the world around them, enabling the development of actions that promote shared accountability, environmental awareness and sustainability.
At the end, all the students were given a small souvenir from HIDROVAL.
Teachers Graça Pinheiro and Manuela Albuquerque
