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Fresh Water and You!

Learning Experience 1

Big Ideas

Water is essential for all living things,  including us!

Fresh water is naturally occurring water that is not salty, and is suitable for consumption if clean or processed and represents only a small fraction of water on the planet. 

Water cycles on planet Earth over and over again—we can’t make new water! 

Some freshwater is locked in ice and underground and is not always easily accessible for human use.

Summary

We rely on water daily in both obvious and hidden ways, from hydration to food production, industry and manufacturing. Students will discover what it means to calculate their “water footprint”, that is  how much water it takes to produce food, energy and all our stuff…what we are calling their water footprint.

Engage

Everyday activities like washing dishes can get students thinking of how much water we use in a day.  Washing a dish in your classroom if you have a sink allows students to collect the data to begin this analysis. Click on the MATERIALS Tab for the list of supplies if you have a sink (or check out this SINKLESS OPTION

This is also a fun and engaging way to involve parents/caregivers  in the learning. Have students wash a dish and collect data at home for homework! A fun note to parents can let them know about the activity and maybe generate some interest outside the classroom!

The Daily Water Use Worksheet will help students predict and record the amount of water used while washing a dish. Be sure to have students record how many minutes it took to complete the task. This information will be used to calculate water used per minute.

Are there ways to conserve water while washing dishes?

Use the Water Conservation Planning Worksheet  to record the total amount of water by the entire class for washing plates and discuss the idea of water conservation. 

Record ideas and discuss the implications.

Explore and Explain

Even though we think of Planet Earth as Blue, humans and other living things need freshwater to live.  

In a group activity using cash register tape cut in 1 meter lengths, students explore and explain the difference between salty water and ”fresh” as well as consumable or “potable” 

Follow this with a class demonstration  using a Liter of water that represents all the water on planet earth.  Source for the following activity: USGS Bar Graphs–Where is the Earth’s Water?

Ask where most of the water on earth is located (it’s in the oceans). If necessary, refer to a map or globe.  

After this activity, students will discover that there is  a very small amount of water available for human use. Remind the class of their earlier guesses at how much water is available to humans and compare with the actual percent available. Have students explain their reasoning for their initial estimates.

Elaborate

Thinking back to the dishwashing, students might be able to estimate how much water they use in the course of a day. Using the Water Footprint Calculator from Grace Communications Foundation, students can calculate their personal water footprint. Compare personal water footprints to the national average.

Students analyze the implications of the data we collected in order to infer the impacts of our use and care of water.

Construct an argument, in writing or as a presentation, supported by evidence, to address the question:

Why do we need to take care of our shared waterways in our watershed?

What actions can we take to make an impact ?

Extensions

Compare water consumption (water use) and water access in the United States to other developed countries and developing countries (define developed and developing ) .

Is there a disparity between water consumption and access  in developed and developing countries?

This project can include a discussion and explanation about the UN Sustainable Development Goals that the UN developed to address the 21st century problems. 

Next Learning Experience

Teacher Support

Essential Question:

What does it take for us to drink a glass of fresh, clean, delicious water?

Guiding Questions:

Engage:

How much water do I consume in a day? Is this considered average use?

Expore and Explain:

How much fresh water exists on our planet and how much of that fresh water is accessible for human consumption?

Elaborate:

How much fresh water exists on our planet and how much of that fresh water is accessible for human consumption?

Extension:

What are the implications of our use of water on a global scale? What would the implications be if all of us treated our local/regional water supply with care?
Why do we need to take care of the water we have access to in our watershed? 

Students will be able to:

Engage:

Hypothesize how much water they will use to wash dishes

Explore and Explain:

Research, collect, and compare data to understand and communicate how much fresh water we use (demand) and how much fresh water is available locally (supply).

Compare and contrast the supply and demand of fresh water in the U.S. and then the supply and demand of water across the world,

Analyze the implications of the data we collected in order to infer the impacts of our use on a global scale, and the implications if everyone reduced their use of water

Elaborate:

Respond to the questions:
– What are the implications of our use of water on a global scale?
– What would the implications be if all of us treated our local/regional water supply with care? 

Evaluate:

Present evidence to address the question:
 Why do we need to take care of the water we have access to in our watershed?

Engage:

*Access to a sink is enormously helpful! If there is no sink, use a large plastic tub and calculate the volume of the tub.

Explore and Explain

Elaborate

Extension

 

BASIC WORDS:
Conserve verb
Prevent the wasteful or harmful overuse of a resource.

Consume verb
to eat or drink especially in great quantity

Consumption noun
the use of something; the act or process of consuming

Contaminate verb
To make unfit for use by the introduction of unwholesomeness or undesirable elements

Fresh adjective
not containing salt

Potable adjective
suitable for drinking

Water Footprint noun
The amount of fresh water utilized in the production or supply of the goods and services used by a particular person or group.

ADVANCED WORDS:
Drought noun
A prolonged period of abnormally low rainfall; a shortage of water resulting from this.

Flood noun
a rising and overflowing of water or a body of water, especially onto normally dry land

Hypothesize about how much water students will use to wash dishes.

Calculate the volume of water we used to wash dishes (based on the measurement of dimensions of the sink/bin or container).

Analyze and interpret data to provide evidence.

Research, collect, and compare data in order to understand and communicate how much fresh water we use (demand) and how much fresh water is available locally (supply).

Compare and contrast the supply and demand of fresh water in the U.S., and then the supply and demand of water across the world (choose a few countries from different continents to compare and contrast).

Analyze the implications of the data we collected in order to infer the impacts of our use and care of water.

Construct an argument, supported by evidence,  to address the questions:

  • Why do we need to take care of our shared waterways in our watershed?
  • What actions can we take to make an impact ?

PA STEELS

Environmental Literacy and Sustainability

3.4.6-8.A  Agricultural Systems and Resources: Develop a model to describe how agricultural and food systems function, including the sustainable use of natural resources and the production, processing, and management of food, fiber, and energy.

Related Standards

NGSS

NGSS MS-ESS3-1  Earth and Human Activity – Construct a scientific explanation based on evidence for how the uneven distributions of Earth’s mineral, energy, and groundwater resources are the result of past and current geoscience processes.

NGSS MS-LS2-1  Ecoysystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics – Analyze and interpret data to provide evidence for the effects of resource availability on organisms and populations of organisms in an ecosystem.

Education for Sustainability

EfS F.3  Natural Laws and Ecological Principles – Provide examples of the ultimate dependence of humans on our shared natural resource base for life, sustenance and a suitable quality of life

Common Core ELA

ELA-CC.W.7  Conduct short research projects to answer a question, drawing on several sources and refocusing the inquiry when appropriate.

Student Materials

Student Worksheet

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