Year 8 HSIE

Year 8 HSIE students are learning about water scarcity. As a water scarcity challenge, students worked collaboratively to design practical solutions that could improve access to water for communities around the world. Abbey, Elyana, Evelyn and Elizabeth created an innovative Grey Water Collection Cart, designed to capture shower water and transport it easily to household gardens. Their prototype shows clear understanding of grey water reuse, the physical challenges of carrying water, and how simple technologies can support communities facing water scarcity.

Other groups also demonstrated strong problem‑solving skills through ideas such as a Water Bike Cart to reduce the burden of transporting water, and a Seawater Filtration System using solar energy. These projects collectively highlight students’ creativity, teamwork and growing awareness of global variations in water scarcity.

Student reflections

I really enjoyed this project because it helped me understand how differently people around the world experience water scarcity. Before this, I didn’t realise how heavy water is or how far some people have to walk every day just to collect it. Designing our grey water cart made me think about how even small ideas can make a big difference to a community.
Abbey Schutt

This activity helped me see water as something much more valuable than I thought. Learning about countries where clean water is limited made me appreciate how lucky we are, but also motivated me to think creatively about solutions. Working with my group to build a prototype was fun, and it made the issue feel real, like we were actually helping solve a global problem.
Evelyn Wei

Vikki Cummins 
HSIE Teacher