Transcript of Geography Activity. Why is there a shortage of water in the world?
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- Geography Activity. Why is there a shortage of water in the
world?
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- Context where is the world's water?
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- https://water.usgs.gov/edu/earthwherewater.html
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- Freshwater availability Only 43 600 cubic kilometres of
freshwater is available as a resource each year, despite more than
twice this amount falling as precipitation
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- Ground water rechgarge Nearly 70% of all freshwater is
groundwater. Groundwater recharge is when the water stored below
ground is replenished. Each year 11 400 cubic kilometres of surface
freshwater becomes groundwater. In many places this is not enough
to replenish water being withdrawn.
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- A mere 2.5% of Earth's water is freshwater and only 0.3% of it
is readily accessible to humans. This is equivalent to 0.01% of all
water on Earth. Of this fraction, 8% goes towards domestic use, 22%
is used by industry, and 70% for irrigation. If the research is
correct, humanity's water footprint will reach a level 40% above
reliable, accessible water supplies by 2030. Source: The Guardian
newspaper Wednesday March 12 2012
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- One estimate of global water distribution(Percents are rounded,
so will not add to 100) Water sourceWater volume, in cubic
milesWater volume, in cubic kilometers Percent of freshwater
Percent of total water Oceans, Seas, &
Bays321,000,0001,338,000,000--96.5 Ice caps, Glaciers, &
Permanent Snow5,773,00024,064,00068.71.74 Ground
water5,614,00023,400,000--1.69 Fresh2,526,00010,530,00030.1 0.76
Saline3,088,00012,870,000-- 0.93 Soil Moisture3,95916,5000.050.001
Ground Ice & Permafrost71,970300,0000.860.022
Lakes42,320176,400--0.013 Fresh21,83091,0000.260.007
Saline20,49085,400--0.006 Atmosphere3,09512,9000.040.001 Swamp
Water2,75211,4700.030.0008 Rivers5092,1200.0060.0002 Biological
Water2691,1200.0030.0001 Source: Igor Shiklomanov's chapter "World
fresh water resources" in Peter H. Gleick (editor), 1993, Water in
Crisis: A Guide to the World's Fresh Water Resources (Oxford
University Press, New York).
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- Until recently, issues of freshwater availability, use and
management have been addressed at a local, national and river basin
scale Since production processes in a global economy can shift from
one place to another, water demands can be met outside the
boundaries of a nation through the import of commodities. All
countries trade water-intensive commodities, but few governments
explicitly consider options to save water through import of
water-intensive products or to make use of relative water abundance
to produce water-intensive commodities for export. (Source:
Mekonnen and Hoestra (2011) p. 7)
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- Water conflicts 1503Florence and Pisa warring states. Military
toolYesLeonardo da Vinci and Machievelli plan to divert Arno River
away from Pisa during conflict between Pisa and Florence. 1907-
1913 Owens Valley, Los Angeles, California Political tool, Control
of water resources, Terrorism, YesThe Los Angeles Valley
aqueduct/pipeline suffers repeated bombings in an effort to prevent
diversions of water from the Owens Valley to Los Angeles.
1940-1945Multiple parties Military target YesHydroelectric dams
routinely bombed as strategic targets during World War II.
1951Israel, Jordan, Syria Political tool, Military tool, Developmen
t disputes YesJordan makes public its plans to irrigate the Jordan
Valley by tapping the Yarmouk River; Israel responds by commencing
drainage of the Huleh swamps located in the demilitarized zone
between Israel and Syria; border skirmishes ensue between Israel
and Syria. 1990South AfricaDevelopmen t dispute, Control of water
resources NoPro-apartheid council cuts off water to the Wesselton
township of 50,000 blacks following protests over miserable
sanitation and living conditions
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- Big idea: that there is only a finite amount of drinkable water
in the world. As populations grow, we have less water to share
between us. Curriculum areas: Science, Geography, PSHE, speaking
and listening, Citizenship. Prior learning: the water cycle
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- Resources needed: 1. A 3D globe 2. A timeline on the
Interactive White Board or wall of 5-6 key civilisations in
history, starting with the dinosaurs (e.g. Stone Age, Egyptians,
Romans, Victorians, present day people) in chronological order. 3.
A jug of water. 4. Enough plastic cups for one per child.
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- Children sit in a circle around a table that has the globe and
a jug of water on, explain that the jug of water represents all the
water available on the planet and the globe represents planet
earth, the timeline is displayed somewhere that the children can
see it. Activity outline:
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- Recap the water cycle, emphasising that the amount of water on
planet earth is not changing, we will always have the same amount,
the water we drink today is the same water that the dinosaurs drank
millions of years ago.
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- Ask two children to volunteer to represent all the dinosaurs
that roamed the planet millions of years ago. They walk around the
table with the globe being dinosaurs. Fill from the jug a cup of
water for each child (ask the two children not to drink the water
but to pretend to!) explain that these dinosaurs had all the water
they wanted from the jug to drink. After a few minutes, pour the
water back into the jug and ask the children to sit back down
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- Move on to the next period in history, e.g. the Stone Age. Ask
4 children to come and represent all the Stone Age people in the
world. Repeat the activity, giving each child a cup full of water,
explaining that they could have as much of this jug as they liked
between them (remind them not to actually drink the water). After a
few minutes, pour the water back into the jug and the children sit
back down.
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- Repeat this activity with each period in history, adding a few
more children to represent each period. When you get to present day
people (2015), have all the class with a cup of water each,
representing everyone that lives on earth today (remember it all
comes from the same jug).
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- After you have emptied the jug, there may be slight chaos as
not every child will get some water. Notice what the children might
say, e.g. I havent got any water yet shes got more than me thats
not fair theres not enough for everyone give me some of yours.
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- Give them a few moments to organise things themselves. It is
important that they experience the feelings of unfairness,
happiness to have more, confusion as to why there isnt enough or
anger. You might find that some pour from their cups to others who
dont have any and that some dont want to share.
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- Here is an example of some key questions you could ask the
children at the end of the activity:
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- Why did the dinosaurs have more water than us? (There was less
of them, so they had more water each) What did you notice happening
to the amount of water on planet earth as we moved through each
period in history? Why is there not enough water to go around
now?
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- Has everyone got exactly the same amount as everyone else? Why
not? Do you think that in real life water is shared out equally?
Why? Why not? In the world, why do some people have clean drinking
water and some dont? What factors might affect this?
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- Teachers notes This activity has the potential to stimulate a
healthy discussion or debate about the serious issues around global
water usage and how we can help to not waste water. Focusing on
virtual water (water used to make or grow things) next, (see
Geography activity- virtual water in food), would highlight the
vast amount of water needed in our modern era to make everyday
items, this is in addition to having a population bigger than ever
before on the planet, hence we need to save water. We can save
water in many more ways than they might initially think of and by
recycling or reducing consumption, we would also have a huge impact
on the water availability in the world.