“Water is important because it helps animals live. It helps keep us healthy, our plants healthy. Without water, we wouldn’t be here.”
That idea can feel obvious in a classroom. But what if you could move across a map of rivers and watersheds?
At the Roots of Resilience Charter School in Drayton Valley, Alberta, that understanding came to life during a day that brought students out of their seats and into new ways of learning about the waters that sustain us.
Through their partnership with AquaAction, the school tested materials developed for the Water Literacy Project, a first-of-its-kind national water learning journey.
Throughout the day, students explored water as something we are all directly connected to.
Learning by doing
The day was centered around two interactive tools designed to make water learning more accessible.
The first subject matter was the Water Literacy Action Packs. These digital tools help guide students through hands-on activities rooted in curiosity and discovery. They help students explore freshwater issues and turn what they learn into action.
The second, the Giant Floor Map, coined “Lifeblood of the Land”, developed by Canadian Geographic, transformed the classroom into a living watershed.
Spread across the floor, the map invited students to step directly onto the landscape, tracing rivers, following water flows, and locating their own communities. What might have been abstract on a page became something they could walk through and explore.
For many, it was their first time seeing how deeply connected water systems really are.
“I was surprised that there’s so many rivers connected to each other, and just how long the river can go on for,” one student shared.
Moments like these enhance our understanding of water: how it moves through everything around us. As shared through Indigenous teachings, there are four kinds of water: the water that gives life within us, that flows upon the Earth, that falls from the sky, and that moves within our spirits.
The Action Packs are designed with that in mind. By encouraging students to ask questions, test ideas, and engage with real-world challenges, they build a deeper connection to water. Their learning evolves from memorization into experience.
And the impact shows up quickly…
Students begin to think differently about how they use water. They start to recognize its limits. They connect their everyday habits to something much larger.
“It makes me want to use less of it, but use what I need. Use what you need, no more.”
These are small shifts, but they matter. Introducing these ideas early helps shape how students carry them forward. Respecting and conserving water becomes second nature.
Expanding Reach
This pilot is part of a broader effort to expand water literacy across Canada.
By bringing together educators, organizations, and communities, AquaAction and the Roots of Resilience Charter School are helping build a model that can reach more classrooms and more students.
The goal is to move from a single day of learning to an ongoing process.
“I think things went really well today. It was a great day. And of course, learning isn’t a hit and run. We don’t have one day of learning.”
Real understanding takes time, growing through repetition, curiosity, and continued engagement.
Programs like this are the starting point. They spark interest, build awareness, and open the door to deeper exploration. From there, it becomes something students carry with them, shaping how they see water and their role in protecting it.
In the end, we can become a water-literate society once we understand our connection to this resource. That connection is what turns students into stewards of the water systems we all depend on.
Learn more about the Water Literacy Project.
Think you got what it takes? Take the starter quiz here!