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Imagine you're a child living in a small African village.
What would you rather do - play outside with your friends, or pump water?
PlayPumps International have devised an original way of combining both activities so that everybody wins. They provide water pumps that are powered by children playing on nearby merry-go-rounds.
Their mission is to "help improve the lives of children and their families by providing easy access to clean drinking water, enhancing public health, and offering play equipment to millions across Africa". And it's a vitally important work since an estimated 1 billion people worldwide do not have access to clean water, and water-related disease is the world's biggest killer.
To find out more information and to support PlayPumps International click the link below:
From the PlayPumps website:
"While children have fun spinning on the PlayPump merry-go-round (1), clean water is pumped (2) from underground (3) into a 2,500-liter tank (4), standing seven meters above the ground. A simple tap (5) makes it easy for adults and children to draw water. Excess water is diverted from the storage tank back down into the borehole (6). The water storage tank (7) provides a rare opportunity to advertise in outlaying communities. All four sides of the tank are leased as billboards, with two sides for consumer advertising and the other two sides for health and educational messages. The revenue generated by this unique model pays for pump maintenance."
If you would like to find out more about water, why not try the "Know H20" Quiz. Click below to get started!
http://www.knowh2o.org/site/c.jgLLITOFKtF/b.3470659/k.C08A/Play.htm
Photographs courtesy of PlayPumps International
Illustrations © Emily Gravett for World Book Day 2008
It's World Book Day time again! The 11th World Book Day, the
Paddington Rules the Waves by Michael Bond, Illustrated by R. W. Alley (2+ years)
Princess Poppy: The Fancy Dress Party by Janey Louise Jones (3+ years)
Magic Kitten: A Very Special Friend by Sue Bentley (6 + years)
Adventure According to Humphrey by Betty G Birney (6+ years)
Where's Wally? by author and illustrator Martin Handford (7+ years)
Jane Blonde: The Perfect Spylet by Jill Marshall (7 + years)
Captain Underpants and the Attack of the Talking Toilets
written and illustrated by Dav Pilkey (Ages 7- 12)
Odd and the Frost Giants by Neil Gaiman (10+ years)
CHERUB: Dark Sun by Robert Muchamore (11+ years)
We want to get the Where's Wally? one!
At just £1 per book these titles represent great value for money - and are a great opportunity to get children reading - perhaps for the first time - and experiencing the pleasure that only a good book can bring.
So don't hang around... hop to it and get your £1 books today. Just think, you could buy all nine books for, er, um, well for under a tenner. (We're no good at maths, we just like reading!)
Many of you won't need to spend a single penny to get a free book because over 13 million school children in the UK will receive a World Book Day £1 Book Token which can be exchanged for a World Book Day £1 Book, throughout March, from over 3,000 participating bookshops and book retailers across the
For more information about World Book Day, why not visit their website here: www.worldbookday.com.
And while we're on the subject of special book offers, don't forget that you can join the thousands of other teachers and students who have downloaded our English Banana.com books for the princely sum of, er, free, by following the links on our home page at: www.englishbanana.com.
It's Sport Relief time again!
During the weekend of 14th-16th March 2008 you can join thousands of people the length and breadth of the UK in running, jogging or walking the Sport Relief Mile; or take part in one of the numerous fund-raising events that are being held across the country. It's all in a good cause, of course: to raise money for Comic Relief, who will use it "to help vulnerable people living incredibly tough lives both at home in the UK and across the world's poorest countries."
You can get plenty of ideas for your class and find a wealth of material for creative lessons based on Sport Relief by clicking below:
http://www.sportrelief.com/schools/teach
Sport Relief is an initiative of Comic Relief, registered with the Charity Commission, no. 326568
