Water Conservation | Health and Physical Education for Class 8 PDF Download

 Page 1


3
Water 
Conservation
IntroductIon Water is an important resource on 
Earth. It is vital for our health and 
sustenance of life. We cannot live 
without water but, now, there is a 
growing scarcity of this precious 
resource. There are many who do not 
even have access to safe and clean 
drinking water. In Class VII, various 
sources of water pollution and the 
preventive measures have already 
been discussed. We have also learnt 
about the health hazards associated 
with consuming polluted water. We 
will now look into the various ways by 
which we can conserve water.
ActIvIty 3.1: Importance of water
A teacher may ask students to imagine 
a scenario of how they would manage 
their water needs in a situation of ‘no water supply’ for a day. 
The teacher may ask the students to respond to the following 
questions:
? ? What are the problems you are likely to face? 
? ? How will water scarcity impact our health?
The students will give varied responses. The teacher will record 
the responses on a blackboard and summarise the discussion 
on ‘How precious is water?’ 
After learning this 
Unit, a teacher will 
enable students to:
? ? realise the 
importance of 
water.
? ? become aware of 
the consequences 
of wasting water.
? ? appreciate the 
need for water 
conservation.
? ? learn about the 
different ways and 
means of water 
conservation.
? ? learn how to 
dispose household 
liquid waste.
Objectives
Unit
Page 2


3
Water 
Conservation
IntroductIon Water is an important resource on 
Earth. It is vital for our health and 
sustenance of life. We cannot live 
without water but, now, there is a 
growing scarcity of this precious 
resource. There are many who do not 
even have access to safe and clean 
drinking water. In Class VII, various 
sources of water pollution and the 
preventive measures have already 
been discussed. We have also learnt 
about the health hazards associated 
with consuming polluted water. We 
will now look into the various ways by 
which we can conserve water.
ActIvIty 3.1: Importance of water
A teacher may ask students to imagine 
a scenario of how they would manage 
their water needs in a situation of ‘no water supply’ for a day. 
The teacher may ask the students to respond to the following 
questions:
? ? What are the problems you are likely to face? 
? ? How will water scarcity impact our health?
The students will give varied responses. The teacher will record 
the responses on a blackboard and summarise the discussion 
on ‘How precious is water?’ 
After learning this 
Unit, a teacher will 
enable students to:
? ? realise the 
importance of 
water.
? ? become aware of 
the consequences 
of wasting water.
? ? appreciate the 
need for water 
conservation.
? ? learn about the 
different ways and 
means of water 
conservation.
? ? learn how to 
dispose household 
liquid waste.
Objectives
Unit
 
3.2: Water crisis
The teacher may ask the students to form groups, each having 
five–six members, and discuss the following case study.
Case study
Anita walks five hours every day to fetch drinking water from 
a distant spring. She walks on dusty and bumpy paths of a 
remote village in India. Drinking water has remained one of the 
biggest problems for residents of her village. The women form 
groups and walk for miles towards the hills to reach the source 
of water. They also have to wait long hours to get a bucket of 
water, every drop of which is spent judiciously. The teacher will 
now raise the following questions to the students: 
1. What is the source of water supply in your locality? 
2. What is the quantity and quality of water supply in    
your locality?
3. Is it similar or different from Anita’s situation?
4. In this situation, do you think Anita will be able to go to 
school or find time to play?
5. What would be the implications of water scarcity on the 
health of Anita’s family?
The teacher will summarise the major points of the 
discussion. Fetching water is a challenging task in remote parts 
of India even today. People need to work hard to get water to 
meet their family needs. For them, every drop of water counts. 
Conservation of water is a concern for all of us as it is the most 
important resource for the survival of all life forms.
3.3: Water harvesting
The teacher will divide the students into groups, each having 
five–six members, and ask them to do the following:
1. Find out some traditional forms of water harvesting 
systems practised in your locality or State. 
2. How has it changed over the years?
3. Do you think that such traditional practices should be 
continued? Give reasons for your answer.
Page 3


3
Water 
Conservation
IntroductIon Water is an important resource on 
Earth. It is vital for our health and 
sustenance of life. We cannot live 
without water but, now, there is a 
growing scarcity of this precious 
resource. There are many who do not 
even have access to safe and clean 
drinking water. In Class VII, various 
sources of water pollution and the 
preventive measures have already 
been discussed. We have also learnt 
about the health hazards associated 
with consuming polluted water. We 
will now look into the various ways by 
which we can conserve water.
ActIvIty 3.1: Importance of water
A teacher may ask students to imagine 
a scenario of how they would manage 
their water needs in a situation of ‘no water supply’ for a day. 
The teacher may ask the students to respond to the following 
questions:
? ? What are the problems you are likely to face? 
? ? How will water scarcity impact our health?
The students will give varied responses. The teacher will record 
the responses on a blackboard and summarise the discussion 
on ‘How precious is water?’ 
After learning this 
Unit, a teacher will 
enable students to:
? ? realise the 
importance of 
water.
? ? become aware of 
the consequences 
of wasting water.
? ? appreciate the 
need for water 
conservation.
? ? learn about the 
different ways and 
means of water 
conservation.
? ? learn how to 
dispose household 
liquid waste.
Objectives
Unit
 
3.2: Water crisis
The teacher may ask the students to form groups, each having 
five–six members, and discuss the following case study.
Case study
Anita walks five hours every day to fetch drinking water from 
a distant spring. She walks on dusty and bumpy paths of a 
remote village in India. Drinking water has remained one of the 
biggest problems for residents of her village. The women form 
groups and walk for miles towards the hills to reach the source 
of water. They also have to wait long hours to get a bucket of 
water, every drop of which is spent judiciously. The teacher will 
now raise the following questions to the students: 
1. What is the source of water supply in your locality? 
2. What is the quantity and quality of water supply in    
your locality?
3. Is it similar or different from Anita’s situation?
4. In this situation, do you think Anita will be able to go to 
school or find time to play?
5. What would be the implications of water scarcity on the 
health of Anita’s family?
The teacher will summarise the major points of the 
discussion. Fetching water is a challenging task in remote parts 
of India even today. People need to work hard to get water to 
meet their family needs. For them, every drop of water counts. 
Conservation of water is a concern for all of us as it is the most 
important resource for the survival of all life forms.
3.3: Water harvesting
The teacher will divide the students into groups, each having 
five–six members, and ask them to do the following:
1. Find out some traditional forms of water harvesting 
systems practised in your locality or State. 
2. How has it changed over the years?
3. Do you think that such traditional practices should be 
continued? Give reasons for your answer.
42 Health and Physical Education/Teachers’ Guide — Class VIII 
The teacher will discuss that 
water harvesting is not new. It 
has been in practise for hundreds 
of years and adapted to the local 
terrain. Many of these practices 
have been discontinued but many 
have continued with suitable 
modifications.
3.4: Being water wise
The teacher may ask the students 
to prepare a flow chart with pictures, 
captions, cartoon strips, slogans, 
newspaper clippings, etc., on how to 
manage water, and how to prevent its 
wastage. The guiding motto is ‘even a 
drop of water counts’. The work done 
by the students can be displayed in the 
school assembly or in the classroom.
The students should be encouraged 
to reflect on their own experiences and 
also be motivated to make others aware.
What I can do about that?
For example, I will close the tap while brushing my teeth. (The 
student may be encouraged to give more examples in the lines 
given below.) 
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________.
In this way, write down as many activities as you as a student 
can carry out for being ‘water wise’. Apply this in life always and 
guide others to do the same.
The teacher records the observations on the blackboard 
or chart paper and reiterates the major points related to the 
judicious use of water. The teacher may even hang the chart 
paper on the classroom wall to generate awareness in this regard.
Fig.3.2: Water wastage
Fig. 3.1: Water harvesting
Page 4


3
Water 
Conservation
IntroductIon Water is an important resource on 
Earth. It is vital for our health and 
sustenance of life. We cannot live 
without water but, now, there is a 
growing scarcity of this precious 
resource. There are many who do not 
even have access to safe and clean 
drinking water. In Class VII, various 
sources of water pollution and the 
preventive measures have already 
been discussed. We have also learnt 
about the health hazards associated 
with consuming polluted water. We 
will now look into the various ways by 
which we can conserve water.
ActIvIty 3.1: Importance of water
A teacher may ask students to imagine 
a scenario of how they would manage 
their water needs in a situation of ‘no water supply’ for a day. 
The teacher may ask the students to respond to the following 
questions:
? ? What are the problems you are likely to face? 
? ? How will water scarcity impact our health?
The students will give varied responses. The teacher will record 
the responses on a blackboard and summarise the discussion 
on ‘How precious is water?’ 
After learning this 
Unit, a teacher will 
enable students to:
? ? realise the 
importance of 
water.
? ? become aware of 
the consequences 
of wasting water.
? ? appreciate the 
need for water 
conservation.
? ? learn about the 
different ways and 
means of water 
conservation.
? ? learn how to 
dispose household 
liquid waste.
Objectives
Unit
 
3.2: Water crisis
The teacher may ask the students to form groups, each having 
five–six members, and discuss the following case study.
Case study
Anita walks five hours every day to fetch drinking water from 
a distant spring. She walks on dusty and bumpy paths of a 
remote village in India. Drinking water has remained one of the 
biggest problems for residents of her village. The women form 
groups and walk for miles towards the hills to reach the source 
of water. They also have to wait long hours to get a bucket of 
water, every drop of which is spent judiciously. The teacher will 
now raise the following questions to the students: 
1. What is the source of water supply in your locality? 
2. What is the quantity and quality of water supply in    
your locality?
3. Is it similar or different from Anita’s situation?
4. In this situation, do you think Anita will be able to go to 
school or find time to play?
5. What would be the implications of water scarcity on the 
health of Anita’s family?
The teacher will summarise the major points of the 
discussion. Fetching water is a challenging task in remote parts 
of India even today. People need to work hard to get water to 
meet their family needs. For them, every drop of water counts. 
Conservation of water is a concern for all of us as it is the most 
important resource for the survival of all life forms.
3.3: Water harvesting
The teacher will divide the students into groups, each having 
five–six members, and ask them to do the following:
1. Find out some traditional forms of water harvesting 
systems practised in your locality or State. 
2. How has it changed over the years?
3. Do you think that such traditional practices should be 
continued? Give reasons for your answer.
42 Health and Physical Education/Teachers’ Guide — Class VIII 
The teacher will discuss that 
water harvesting is not new. It 
has been in practise for hundreds 
of years and adapted to the local 
terrain. Many of these practices 
have been discontinued but many 
have continued with suitable 
modifications.
3.4: Being water wise
The teacher may ask the students 
to prepare a flow chart with pictures, 
captions, cartoon strips, slogans, 
newspaper clippings, etc., on how to 
manage water, and how to prevent its 
wastage. The guiding motto is ‘even a 
drop of water counts’. The work done 
by the students can be displayed in the 
school assembly or in the classroom.
The students should be encouraged 
to reflect on their own experiences and 
also be motivated to make others aware.
What I can do about that?
For example, I will close the tap while brushing my teeth. (The 
student may be encouraged to give more examples in the lines 
given below.) 
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________.
In this way, write down as many activities as you as a student 
can carry out for being ‘water wise’. Apply this in life always and 
guide others to do the same.
The teacher records the observations on the blackboard 
or chart paper and reiterates the major points related to the 
judicious use of water. The teacher may even hang the chart 
paper on the classroom wall to generate awareness in this regard.
Fig.3.2: Water wastage
Fig. 3.1: Water harvesting
 
3.5: Groundwater management
The teacher may conduct a brainstorming session in the class 
on the following issues:
1. For which purposes do we use groundwater?
2. Why is the groundwater level going down?
3. What is the possible threat to the environment as the 
groundwater level is going down?
4. What could be the impact of dumping polythene waste in 
soil on the groundwater level?
Extending the responses, the teacher will sum up the 
discussion by saying that groundwater is used for agricultural, 
industrial and domestic purposes. However, the groundwater 
level is going down due to its exploitation. This is a threat to 
forests and may lead to further global warming, a matter of 
great concern today.
FAct Sheet Water and its importance
Water is the most precious resource for the existence and 
sustanence of life on this planet. It needs to be used wisely. 
Its wastage at the personal and community level must be 
strictly checked. 
Water conservation may be described as the practice of 
economising on the use of water and reducing its wastage that 
needs methods for conservation.
In our Geography and Science textbooks, it is mentioned 
that three–fourth of the Earth’s surface is covered with water 
and also that water is a renewable natural resource. If there 
is so much of water around us, then why is there a growing 
scarcity of it?
The fact is that only 2.7 per cent of the available water on 
Earth’s surface is ‘freshwater’. Out of this, only 1 per cent of the 
freshwater is fit for human consumption and use. This water is 
available to us either directly from water bodies, such as rivers, 
lakes, streams, waterfalls and groundwater, or indirectly as 
Page 5


3
Water 
Conservation
IntroductIon Water is an important resource on 
Earth. It is vital for our health and 
sustenance of life. We cannot live 
without water but, now, there is a 
growing scarcity of this precious 
resource. There are many who do not 
even have access to safe and clean 
drinking water. In Class VII, various 
sources of water pollution and the 
preventive measures have already 
been discussed. We have also learnt 
about the health hazards associated 
with consuming polluted water. We 
will now look into the various ways by 
which we can conserve water.
ActIvIty 3.1: Importance of water
A teacher may ask students to imagine 
a scenario of how they would manage 
their water needs in a situation of ‘no water supply’ for a day. 
The teacher may ask the students to respond to the following 
questions:
? ? What are the problems you are likely to face? 
? ? How will water scarcity impact our health?
The students will give varied responses. The teacher will record 
the responses on a blackboard and summarise the discussion 
on ‘How precious is water?’ 
After learning this 
Unit, a teacher will 
enable students to:
? ? realise the 
importance of 
water.
? ? become aware of 
the consequences 
of wasting water.
? ? appreciate the 
need for water 
conservation.
? ? learn about the 
different ways and 
means of water 
conservation.
? ? learn how to 
dispose household 
liquid waste.
Objectives
Unit
 
3.2: Water crisis
The teacher may ask the students to form groups, each having 
five–six members, and discuss the following case study.
Case study
Anita walks five hours every day to fetch drinking water from 
a distant spring. She walks on dusty and bumpy paths of a 
remote village in India. Drinking water has remained one of the 
biggest problems for residents of her village. The women form 
groups and walk for miles towards the hills to reach the source 
of water. They also have to wait long hours to get a bucket of 
water, every drop of which is spent judiciously. The teacher will 
now raise the following questions to the students: 
1. What is the source of water supply in your locality? 
2. What is the quantity and quality of water supply in    
your locality?
3. Is it similar or different from Anita’s situation?
4. In this situation, do you think Anita will be able to go to 
school or find time to play?
5. What would be the implications of water scarcity on the 
health of Anita’s family?
The teacher will summarise the major points of the 
discussion. Fetching water is a challenging task in remote parts 
of India even today. People need to work hard to get water to 
meet their family needs. For them, every drop of water counts. 
Conservation of water is a concern for all of us as it is the most 
important resource for the survival of all life forms.
3.3: Water harvesting
The teacher will divide the students into groups, each having 
five–six members, and ask them to do the following:
1. Find out some traditional forms of water harvesting 
systems practised in your locality or State. 
2. How has it changed over the years?
3. Do you think that such traditional practices should be 
continued? Give reasons for your answer.
42 Health and Physical Education/Teachers’ Guide — Class VIII 
The teacher will discuss that 
water harvesting is not new. It 
has been in practise for hundreds 
of years and adapted to the local 
terrain. Many of these practices 
have been discontinued but many 
have continued with suitable 
modifications.
3.4: Being water wise
The teacher may ask the students 
to prepare a flow chart with pictures, 
captions, cartoon strips, slogans, 
newspaper clippings, etc., on how to 
manage water, and how to prevent its 
wastage. The guiding motto is ‘even a 
drop of water counts’. The work done 
by the students can be displayed in the 
school assembly or in the classroom.
The students should be encouraged 
to reflect on their own experiences and 
also be motivated to make others aware.
What I can do about that?
For example, I will close the tap while brushing my teeth. (The 
student may be encouraged to give more examples in the lines 
given below.) 
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________.
In this way, write down as many activities as you as a student 
can carry out for being ‘water wise’. Apply this in life always and 
guide others to do the same.
The teacher records the observations on the blackboard 
or chart paper and reiterates the major points related to the 
judicious use of water. The teacher may even hang the chart 
paper on the classroom wall to generate awareness in this regard.
Fig.3.2: Water wastage
Fig. 3.1: Water harvesting
 
3.5: Groundwater management
The teacher may conduct a brainstorming session in the class 
on the following issues:
1. For which purposes do we use groundwater?
2. Why is the groundwater level going down?
3. What is the possible threat to the environment as the 
groundwater level is going down?
4. What could be the impact of dumping polythene waste in 
soil on the groundwater level?
Extending the responses, the teacher will sum up the 
discussion by saying that groundwater is used for agricultural, 
industrial and domestic purposes. However, the groundwater 
level is going down due to its exploitation. This is a threat to 
forests and may lead to further global warming, a matter of 
great concern today.
FAct Sheet Water and its importance
Water is the most precious resource for the existence and 
sustanence of life on this planet. It needs to be used wisely. 
Its wastage at the personal and community level must be 
strictly checked. 
Water conservation may be described as the practice of 
economising on the use of water and reducing its wastage that 
needs methods for conservation.
In our Geography and Science textbooks, it is mentioned 
that three–fourth of the Earth’s surface is covered with water 
and also that water is a renewable natural resource. If there 
is so much of water around us, then why is there a growing 
scarcity of it?
The fact is that only 2.7 per cent of the available water on 
Earth’s surface is ‘freshwater’. Out of this, only 1 per cent of the 
freshwater is fit for human consumption and use. This water is 
available to us either directly from water bodies, such as rivers, 
lakes, streams, waterfalls and groundwater, or indirectly as 
44 Health and Physical Education/Teachers’ Guide — Class VIII 
water from these sources is supplied to us through a network 
of pipes. These water sources are crucial for our survival but 
are either drying up or being polluted, thereby, leading to the 
scarcity of this vital natural resource. 
In Class VII, we have seen how the pollution of water bodies 
has reduced the availability of safe and clean water. We have 
also learnt about the health hazards associated with drinking 
and using contaminated water. In addition, there is a great 
inequality in the distribution and availability of water. In cities 
and towns, water supply is managed by civic bodies. Some 
people get tap water almost throughout the day, while there 
are many who have to stand in long queues to collect or buy 
water to meet their daily needs. The situation is becoming 
worse in many villages, where people have to carry water 
directly from the sources — lakes, rivers, ponds or wells — 
situated at long distances. Most often, the burden of collecting 
water is imposed on women. The constant load of weight on the 
head adversely affects their spine and women become prone 
to backache, spondylitis, exhaustion, etc. In many instances, 
children, particularly girls, also carry water. Apart from health 
problems, it also affects their attendance rate in schools and 
gives them almost no time for leisure and study.
Scarcity of water and lack of safe drinking water accounts for    
a large number of water-borne 
diseases, such as jaundice, 
diarrhoea, cholera, and so 
on. According to a report of 
Fig. 3.3(a–b): Even a drop of water counts
(a) (b)