Incursion: Water Is An Essential Resource

La Trobe Wildlife Sanctuary recognises that teaching students that Water Is An Essential Resource will develop their understanding of water conservation and ways of use.


This month, Milgate Primary School expressed an interest in a unique incursion teaching about water conservation, usage and what it means for water to be a finite resource. This detailed incursion is hands on and based on inquiry learning and group participation.



This incursion gives students the opportunity to explore the complex concept of water as a finite resource. Students will develop an understanding that world’s water is limited by use that leads to conclusions about water conservation. Students learn to speak and think of water as an essential resource for all life. Exploration takes place through discussion, visual images, group work and physical representation. The whole-part-whole approach to this incursion gives the opportunity for students to observe activities and ask inquiry based questions about the content. It also allows for the development of these ideas and practise of these ideas. This incursion is designed to scaffold in to higher order thinking both independently and in groups. 

A unique feature of this incursion is exploring macro invertebrates that live in healthy waterways and why they are essential to determining water health.

Water Is An Essential Resource is aimed at year 3 and 4 students. Resources include looking at macro invertebrates through microscopes, to scale exploration of where water can be found and what is available for human consumption, group activities on water usage plus a post trip class water pledge assessment exercise.

 Curriculum Links that Water Is An Essential Resource covers include

AusVELS Focus: Safely use appropriate materials, tools or equipment to make and record observations, using formal measurements and digital technologies as appropriate (ACSIS055) Science involves making predictions and describing patterns and relationships (ACSHE050) Measure, order and compare objects using familiar metric units of length, mass and capacity (ACMMG061) ACARA Curriculum Links Science knowledge helps people to understand the effect of their actions (ACSHE051) Living things can be grouped on the basis of observable features and can be distinguished from non-living things (ACSSU044) Living things, including plants and animals, depend on each other and the environment to survive (ACSSU073) Natural and processed materials have a range of physical properties; These properties can influence their use (ACSSU074) Safely use appropriate materials, tools or equipment to make and record observations, using formal measurements and digital technologies as appropriate (ACSIS066)