Primary school students get lessons in the life aquatic

A FIVE-LESSON programme on water conservation for primary schools was launched by broadcaster Éanna ní Lamhna yesterday at Dundalk IT as part of Science Week Ireland.

The lessons offer hands-on activities to help schoolchildren learn about how we use water, how to protect the water supply, and the biology of freshwater systems.

Local children had their appetites for all things aquatic whetted earlier in the week when they were introduced to the section on freshwater insect life, said Dr Suzanne Linnane, who directs the National Centre for Freshwater Studies at DIT. "The screams were so loud I thought my ears were going to burst," she said.

The programme offers participating schools a "lab in a box" so children can test water samples to see if they are dirty or clean.

"Schools don't always have the resources to do the experiments," explained Dr Linnane. "So everything they need is in there: microscopes, hand lenses, keys for identifying insects and transparent kettles so they can do evaporation."

The initiative is part of the National Source Protection Pilot Project, based at the Churchill- Oram Group Water Scheme in Monaghan. It is funded by the Department of the Environment and developed with the National Rural Water Monitoring Committee.

The aim is to get communities involved in the protection of drinking water sources, said Dr Linnane.