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Can We Make New Water?

Learning Experience 5

Big Idea

All water on Earth could be regarded as a renewable resource if it is replenished by nature.

Freshwater, upon which we rely on for drinking water, may be another story if we use it faster than nature can replenish it.

Summary

Water is one of our most precious (and shared!) resources on the planet, upon which our life and the life of all living things depend. Is there an unlimited supply of clean, safe and reliable drinking water accessible to all? This Learning Experience will “unpack” that very question.

Engage

  • Turn and talk to discuss the guiding question:
    • What does renewable mean? Nonrenewable? Solicit examples.
    • Is water a renewable or nonrenewable resource?

Explore and Explain

  • Using the diagram of the natural water cycle, create a class t-chart (renewable/nonrenewable) to record their answers about the natural water cycle . Add to this by reading the Thomas Locker books aloud.
  • Discuss how water (including freshwater for drinking, agriculture and/or energy) can be both a renewable and non-renewable resource depending on the source and rate of use (also climate!) using the following:
    • After they have studied the natural water cycle diagram, guide students to realize that from a this viewpoint, water is qualified as a renewable natural resource; it cycles through the phases of condensation, precipitation, storm water runoff, infiltration, percolation, groundwater recharge and flow, plant uptake and transpiration, and evaporation (www.wwf.panda.org)
    • We cannot make new water on the planet and it is reused over and over forever.
  • Turn and talk prompt:
    • How do humans rely on water?
  • Make a poster , slide deck or infographic to show all the ways humans rely on water Guide students to recognize ways that humans benefit from the use of water resources (e.g., agriculture, energy, recreation).

Teacher Support

Essential Question:

What can students do to contribute to a healthy and just Philadelphia for all Philadelphians?

Guiding Questions:

Is water a renewable or non-renewable resource?

Can we make new water?

Students will be able to:

  • Define renewable and non-renewable as related to natural resources.
  • Recognize ways that humans benefit from the use of water resources (e.g., agriculture, energy, recreation).
  • Explain the role and relationship of a watershed or a wetland on water sources (e.g., water storage, groundwater recharge, water filtration, water source, water cycle).

Links:

Renewable Resource (noun)
resource that can replenish itself at a similar rate to its use by people

Non-renewable Resource (noun)
resource which cannot be replenished relative to the human life span

Natural Resource (noun)
material or substance such as minerals, forests, water, and fertile land that occur in nature and can be used to support other living beings

  • Define renewable and non-renewable as applied to resources in nature.
  • Analyze the water cycle as evidence of water as renewable or non-renewable.
  • Create a poster identifying how humans rely on water.

Student Materials

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