The 2024-2025 Student Action on Canadian Water Attitudes Competition
Thanks to funding from Weston Family Foundation and RBC, Safe Drinking Water Foundation (SDWF) is privileged and excited to hold the 2024-2025 Student Action on Canadian Water Attitudes competition.
Since 2001, SDWF has provided schools with the materials and support necessary to educate young Canadians about water quality issues by distributing water testing kits to over 3200 schools across Canada. During the 2015-2016 school year, a Student Action on Canadian Water Attitudes Competition was held. The winning schools were located in Edmonton, Alberta, and Nelson, British Columbia. During the 2017-2018 school year, a Student Action on Saskatoon Water Attitudes Competition was held and the winning school was Saint George School. During the 2018-2019 school year, we held a Student Action on Saskatchewan Water Attitudes Competition and a Student Action on Canadian Water Attitudes Competition. We held a Student Action on Canadian Water Attitudes Competition during the fall of 2019 and St. Mary’s School in Estevan, Saskatchewan won the competition. During the 2022-2023 school year, we held a Student Action on Canadian Water Attitudes Competition, and Acadecap International School in Ottawa, Ontario won the competition.
Taking place during the 2024-2025 school year; this competition will be offered to kindergarten to grade 12 classrooms/schools across Canada, to investigate water issues in their community/area. The competition will involve students surveying their community to understand their community members’ knowledge and attitudes on a topic related to water, educating their community about the source of their drinking water and water conservation, encouraging the members of their community to conserve water, and presenting their findings in a report.
There will be one national grand prize, consisting of a water bottle filling station, a commemorative plaque, and possibly some reusable water bottles and/or water testing kits, valued at $3,000, for the top school in Canada! There will also be a prize package for the top school in Saskatchewan. It is valued at $2,200 and includes a water bottle filling station and a commemorative plaque. (Note: If the top school in Canada is located in Saskatchewan then the second-place school in Saskatchewan will win the prize package valued at $2,200.)
Some possible topics: Flood control due to impermeable surfaces, the amount of energy required to treat water, high daily water consumption of Canadian residents (anybody taking one hour showers in your household?!), and uses of potable water. A necessary component will also be to teach people where their tap water comes from (a surprising number of people don't know!). Along with the focus on water quality and security, students will learn how to conduct baseline surveys, process data, and create a report. Their projects will have five steps:
1. They will brainstorm and decide on a water issue in their community/area to address.
2. They will conduct preliminary surveys.
3. They will develop a plan and take action to educate and involve people in the community concerning the water issues they have chosen to address.
4. They will conduct follow-up surveys.
5. They will present the results of their efforts (i.e. report and pictures/video/etc.), which will be judged by a panel of water experts and interested Canadians, to declare the winning groups of students.
We will hold an Introductory Webinar (multiple times during the week of October 7) that explains the steps involved in completing a project, we will then allow some time for the schools to create their surveys and administer them to their community. Then, we will meet individually with each classroom to discuss their project with them (this is necessary to continue in the competition). We will support the teachers and their students every step of the way! We will always be available to answer questions, help with tech issues, or just to bounce ideas off of – only a phone call (1.306.934.0389) or email message (info@safewater.org) away!
By joining us in changing attitudes on water issues facing Canadian residents, your students will not only have a chance to win an amazing water themed prize package but will also be proactive in positive change in their community and environment!
If you have any questions about the competition or would like more information, please do not hesitate to contact Nicole Hancock, Executive Director at info@safewater.org or 1.306.934.0389.
Register to compete in the 2024-2025 student action on canadian water attitudes competition!
This competition is open to all K-12 schools in Canada.
Steps to Participate in the Competition:
Complete the form to register (below).
Attend an Introductory Webinar (we will hold several introductory webinars the week of October 7, 2024, days and times will depend on the availability stated by those who register - the links to the webinars will be emailed to those who registered) or, if that is not possible, email us at info@safewater.org to inform us that you have watched the recording of an Introductory Webinar (https://youtu.be/7btRCb8br_Y?si=KxSCY46g0u7r3H5u). You can participate in the webinar or watch the video with or without your students. To be eligible to compete, you must do this by November 1, 2024.
Brainstorm ideas with your students and decide on a water issue in their community/area that your project will address.
Design the preliminary surveys and have your community complete them. (We recommend completing this by the end of November because we all know how busy December is in schools!)
Watch for an email message from us in January 2025. Follow the instructions to schedule a time for you and your students to meet with SDWF representatives to discuss your plan to educate the members of your community. Brainstorm with your students to determine questions to ask SDWF representatives during your online meeting. Your class must meet with SDWF representatives by the end of February to continue to be eligible to compete.
Take action to educate and involve people in the community concerning the water issues. (We recommend starting this immediately after your online meeting with SDWF representatives and continuing throughout March and April.)
Conduct follow-up surveys. (We recommend completing this by May 9, 2025.)
Submit your report by Friday, May 16, 2025, to be eligible to win.
Please complete this form to register:
Recording from the 2024-2025 Student Action on Canadian Water Attitudes Competition
Recordings from the 2022-2023 Student Action on Canadian Water Attitudes Competition!
Recordings from the fall 2019 Student Action on canadian water attitudes Competition
These webinars were held as part of the Fall 2019 Student Action on Canadian Water Attitudes Competition. While they were not held for the current competition, they might still be useful to you as the same steps are required both competitions. We will post the webinar recordings from the Fall 2020 Student Action on Canadian Water Attitudes Competition after each webinar has been delivered.
First Webinar: Competition Launch, Problem Identification, Baseline Surveys
Second Webinar: educating the community
Third Webinar: Follow-Up Surveys
FOURTH WEBINAR: FINAL REPORTS
Here is a link to our YouTube Channel, where you will find webinar recordings from other previous competitions as well as other helpful videos: www.youtube.com/c/SafeDrinkingWaterFoundation.
Final Reports
To complete the final report of your project and have your project judged for prizes you will need the following information:
- Your school’s contact information
- Where the project took place
- Description of your action project (including the issue you decided to tackle, why you chose that issue, the steps you took to distribute surveys, educate the community, and the reaction you received from community members) in 1000 words or less.
- The number of youth (0 to 21 years of age) who were directly involved in the implementation of this project (i.e. students who wrote surveys, educated community members, distributed surveys, etc.).
- The number of volunteers (if any) involved in the implementation of this project (parents, people from local companies who volunteered, general community members, etc.) and the number of volunteer hours invested into your project.
- The number of people you educated.
- The number of surveys distributed and the number of people who completed each survey.
- The number of community educational events that were held (i.e. the number of times your students spoke at an assembly about water issues, the number of events at which they spoke, etc.).
- The number of formal or informal partnerships developed through collaboration as a direct result of this program/project (for example, did you get the employees at a local company involved, or a local watershed group, etc.).
- The number of litres of water saved or the number of litres of water saved and the number of water-saving devices installed.
and/or
- The square metres of impermeable surface (ex: concrete) made permeable.
- An outline of the process you used to calculate the decrease in water usage, the number of water-saving devices installed and/or the square metres of impermeable surface made permeable, including a description of the conversion factors, worksheets and/or calculations you developed.
- The percentage of survey respondents who were correct when they responded to the first survey question about the source of their drinking water.
- The percentage of survey respondents who were correct when they responded to the last survey question about the source of their drinking water.
You can submit up to 12 photos and one video that is five minutes in length or shorter. You can send photos and a video to info@safewater.org.
By submitting photos and/or a video, you consent that SDWF, weston family foundation and rbc have the right to use the photos and/or video provided. (Note: Depending on your school’s/school division’s policies you may need signed release forms.)
Our Judges
Would you like to be a Volunteer Judge for this competition? If you do, please send an email message to Nicole Hancock at info@safewater.org or phone her at 1.306.934.0389.
Resources for Student Action Competitions
Student Action on Water Attitudes Resources
Most Canadians take water for granted. We think we have lots of it and it will always be there. So, in 2008, RBC started polling Canadians about their attitudes towards water—to see if the serious water issues around the world were impacting how we use and think about water, and tracking whether our attitudes are changing.
RBC has encouraged the broad dissemination of the data and its findings because they want to help contribute to a healthy conversation about the value and vulnerability of water in Canada.
Water Usage Calculators:
Other Resources:
Water Conservation Information:
1 U.S. Gallon = 3.79 Litres
1 Imperial Gallon = 4.55 Litres
Approximate Water Usage of Household Appliances:
Example of calculation of water usage (shower head flows at 190 U.S. gallons per hour for 10 minutes):
Water used per minute in U.S. gallons: 190 U.S. gallons/60 minutes = 3.17 U.S. gallons/minute
Water used per minute in litres: 3.17 U.S. gallons x 3.79 litres/U.S. gallon = 12 litres
Water used in ten minutes: 12 litres x 10 minutes = 120 litres
If you need any help with calculations, worksheets, etc. please contact Nicole Hancock at info@safewater.org or 1-306-934-0389, she will help you (and she loves math - actually, she's also a high school math teacher!).
Judging Information
The judges (SDWF staff members for the objective categories and volunteers for the subjective categories) will give marks for each of the following categories:
Objective criteria, marked by SDWF staff members
1. Percentage of people who now know where their drinking water comes from (out of 5 possible marks).
2. Number of community members who were engaged in the project (out of 5 possible marks).
3. Litres of water conserved or area of impermeable surface made permeable (out of 5 possible marks) – if actions were made in both areas the one for which the higher mark would be awarded will be judged.
Subjective criteria, marked by volunteers
4. Students changed community members’ attitudes and/or behaviours regarding water (out of 5 possible marks).
5. Pictures and/or videos were included which represent the project (5 marks, 3 marks or 1 mark).
6. Community Members of Various Ages Were Engaged in the Project (out of 3 possible marks).
Judges’ and Safe Drinking Water Foundation staff members' decisions will be final.