Exposure Walks
A walk along a river is the shortest way to show students what a city does to its water. Trace the river through the built-up stretch, find the points where the pollution goes in, and look at who lives with the result. Then ask what any of it has to do with the people on the walk.
How long
3 to 4 hours
What it is for
To follow the Yamuna through Delhi and work out, standing on the bank, what the city does to the river and what it could do for it. Any reachable water body works — run it on the river, lake, tank or drain nearest you.
The manual states these. What it does not state is not here.
How it runs
The manual gives this session no step list. What it does give is below.
To follow the Yamuna through Delhi and work out, standing on the bank, what the city does to the river and what it could do for it. Any reachable water body works — run it on the river, lake, tank or drain nearest you.
Talking about it
Discussion points, worked examples and the handouts the manual prints with this session.
More from the manual
A river walk, adjusted to the age of the students and the size of the group.
Where this comes from
Bridge the Gap is a compilation. This is what the manual records for this session.
The manual prints no source for this session. It is published here as Swechha has used it, adapted over years of classroom work; if you recognise its origin, tell us and we will credit it.
Before you start sets out where the compendium as a whole comes from.
Next
Where to go from here.
Previous session
Gray, Green, Blue: Water SecurityWater, Water, Everywhere, 7 of 8The theme
Water, Water, Everywhere8 sessions and the background readingAll eight themes
Teach43 sessions across 8 themesUnderstand the data
- Why is the Yamuna so polluted in Delhi?Twenty-two kilometres, most of the flow diverted, and the drains that replace it.
- What is BOD?The oxygen a sample will consume in five days — the standard measure of organic pollution.
- What is dissolved oxygen?The single measurement that decides whether anything can live in the water.
- What is faecal coliform?The measurement that decides whether water is safe to touch, and the one Delhi fails by a factor of six thousand.
- What is groundwater extraction?The other water, and the only one of Delhi's two that is still being spent faster than it returns.