This ‘Where is Water?’ scheme of work for Year 1/2 begins by encouraging your class to think about where water comes from. They will then explore the different activities in which water is used around the home, before beginning to think about whether every water use is necessary, and how we could use less water.

Including lesson plans, engaging slide shows for the teaching input, differentiated activities and a range of printable resources, this ‘Where is Water?’ scheme of work encourages your class to think about where water comes from, how we use it, and how we can save it.

Where our water comes from

In this first lesson, children begin by thinking about where water can be found. They then learn that over half of the world is covered in water. They explore the differences between seawater, frozen water and freshwater, where they can be found, and whether we can drink them or not. In their independent activities, children match up pictures and sentences to show what happens to water before it arrives in our taps. In the alternative activity, children discuss true and false statements about water.

This downloadable lesson includes a lesson plan, a slideshow presentation and printable teaching resources.

View Lesson 1

Different Uses of Water

To begin, children are asked to list all the different ways in which we use water. They are encouraged to start to think about whether certain water uses are vital, necessary or unnecessary, and then go on to compare different uses of water in terms of their importance. In their independent activities, children discuss and sort different uses of water. In the FSD? activity, children complete a simple survey about how they use water at home, and then discuss these results as a class.

This downloadable lesson includes a lesson plan, a slideshow presentation and printable teaching resources.

View Lesson 2

Saving Water

In this final lesson, children learn that not everyone in the world has easy access to water. They find out how much water the average person in the UK uses per day, and then explore what activities this is used on around the home. Children begin to understand why it is important to save water, and look at ways in which we could use less water. In their independent activities, children advise a family on how to use less water. Alternatively, children play a board game which reinforces their understanding of different ways of wasting water and saving water.

This downloadable lesson includes a lesson plan, a slideshow presentation and printable teaching resources.

View Lesson 3