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Activity 1.1 - The Availability of Water

Introduction

This activity introduces the concept of limited water availability. The amount of fresh water available on land surfaces is a tiny fraction of the total amount in the world. Typically, people think that because water falls from the sky, it is an unlimited resource. The same water just keeps circulating around in the water cycle. Even though water is not abundant, it is perceived to be.

Estimated lesson time: 40 minutes

HSIE Stage 2 Outcomes This activity meets the following syllabus outcomes: Relationships with Places ENS 2.6 The activity also has links to Patterns of Place and Location ENS 2.5

Science and Technology K-6 Outcomes This activity meets the following syllabus outcomes: Stage 2 LT S2.3, ES S2.6, INV S2.7 Stage 3 LT S3.3, ES S3.6, INV S3.7

Keywords

availability ~ groundwater ~ lakes ~ resource ~ rivers ~ pollution ~ limited ~ glaciers ~ shortage ~ freshwater ~ saltwater ~ fraction ~  percentage ~ ice caps ~ potable

Process

You will need:

• 20 litres of fresh water in a large container
• Several smaller containers
• Measuring cup
• Eye dropper

Pose this question to the class:

Why should we be concerned about water? After all 70 per cent of the Earth's surface is covered by water. That should be enough for everyone! Water can be found almost everywhere on Earth - in the soil, rivers, oceans, lakes, underground, even in the atmosphere. But, how much of this water is actually available for human use?

What to do:

1. Place 20 litres of fresh water into a large container. This represents all the water in the world, including oceans, lakes, rivers and ground water.
2. Remove 500 mL into a separate container. This represents the total amount of fresh water on the planet.
3. The remaining 19.5 litres in the large container represents the water in the oceans, too salty for humans to use as drinking water. It makes up 97.5 per cent of the total water volume.
4. Pour out 375 mL of water from the 500 mL container. This represents all the fresh water in glaciers, ice caps, the soil and the atmosphere. This is also unavailable for human use.
5. Remove 5 drops from the remaining 125 mL. Pour out the 125 mL - this represents all the water that is not readily available because it is deep in the ground, in remote places or polluted.
6. All that is left is 5 drops (out of 20 litres) of clean water that is available for human use - only 0.007 per cent of all the water on the Earth.

Discuss these questions with the class:

• Where does our drinking water come from?
• What evidence is there of water problems in our local area? - water shortages? - pollution of local creeks, rivers or lakes?
• How has your own behaviour contributed to these problems?
• What can we do to preserve this precious resource?

Follow-up activities

• Find some articles about water from newspapers and display them on the class notice board.
• Make a class list of things you can do to use less water.

Adapted with permission - from GREEN Cross-Cultural Partners Activity Manual 1991)