We use water all of the time and don't think much of it. We drink it everyday, bathe in it, wash our hands to keep us healthy, do our dishes, wash our clothes and our cars, and we even use it to play and have fun. Even though it's something that you come into contact with everyday, I bet you don't realize how much of it you actually use. In this integrated project we are going to investigate our own water usage, as well as look at what it is like to not have direct access to water, like many people in Africa.
Phase I: Earth's Water:
Research:
1. Over the weekend, look closely at how much you and your family use water. Copy & create your own "water usage_your name" Google Spreadsheet (tab is named "Household Data Sheet") using this spreadsheet as a template. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/190QbkFZCEBHcBfKVwleuYnv5hKO-ijiwI4UwtcjGCQo/edit?usp=sharing
Try to get accurate measurements. Time how long you run the water when you wash your hands and brush your teeth. Ask your parents how many loads of laundry you do a week. The more accurate the measurements, the better the data you will be able to record and share. Don't forget that this data is for your ENTIRE household!
2. Add another sheet in your "water usage" Google spreadsheet, and name the tab "Our Earth's Water." Copy & paste the table from the "Our Earth's Water" tab in Mrs. Verlin's Google spreadsheet (link from above).
3. Use the link Where is Earth's Water, to complete the spreadsheet. Convert the data (water volume, in cubic miles) to scientific notation. Calculate the percentages and leave them in decimal form. You may use a calculator to calculate or you may use the spreadsheet commands.
Instructions:
Part I: Where is our water?
1) Calculate the percentage of the total supply of water for each Water Source. Leave this written as a decimal.
2) Create a color pie chart of this data with a title and a legend. Move it to it’s own page.
Part II: Fresh Water vs. Saline Water
1) Calculate the percentage of fresh water to the total water supply.
2) Calculate the percentage of saline water to the total water supply.
3) Make a color pie chart that illustrates the percentages of fresh vs. saline water. Include a title and a legend and move it to it’s own page.
Part III: Analyzing our Fresh Water
1) Calculate the percentage of each of the FRESH water sources to the total amount of FRESH water.
2) Create a color pie chart of this data with a title and a legend. Move it to it’s own page.
Part IV: Presentation & Analysis Questions
1. Save your graphs as images to your computer. Then upload them to your wiki page.
2. Insert a horizontal line to separate this area of your wiki page.
3. Create a title for this project space, and a brief description about what we did.
4. Share the link to your google spreadsheet, and post it on your wiki page.
5. Answer the following analysis questions on a google document labeled "Earth's Water_ Your Name" and create a shareable link to post to your wiki page.
Analysis:
Answer the analysis questions on a Google doc named "Earth's Water_Your Name." Please number each question on your paper and use complete sentences.
1) Describe one thing that you learned about water during this project.
2) Describe one thing that surprised you about water.
3) What are your thoughts about the amount of freshwater that we have available to us (where most of the freshwater is located).
4) “Rivers are the source of water that most people on the earth use.” Describe your thoughts about this statement and why do you think this is?
5) Describe something that you liked about this project.
Still interested in learning more about Earth's Water? Check out these links: Groundwater, & Surface Water
Phase II: Integration:
You are studying Africa in Social Studies. Many countries in Africa do not have access to clean water. After your research about the Earth's water, you know that usable, freshwater is a very small percentage of the total water on Earth. For the next phase of this project, we are going to research and learn more about the water crisis in Africa.
Research: My Personal Water Usage
1. Use the research you gathered about your household water usage to complete the water use estimator: http://www.swfwmd.state.fl.us/conservation/thepowerof10/
2. Add your data to your spreadsheet.
Analysis:
Answer the following questions regarding your personal data in your spreadsheet.
1. Imagine you could carry 5 gallons of water at a time. How many trips would it take you to provide your family with enough water each day?
2. If it takes about 1 hour per trip (round trip) how many hours would this take you? Is it possible for you alone to make enough trips in one day to fulfill your water needs?
3. In Africa, the mother and all of the children make the water trip together. If your mother, you and all of your siblings made the water trip together, how long many trips would it take all of you to fulfill your water needs?
Research: African Water Needs
1. Watch this video for an introduction about water usage, and the lack of that available resource in many countries. http://www.charitywater.org/whywater/
2. Everyone read the following links/articles: Water Crisis Overview, Water Statistics, and Water Study.
a) As you read, or after you have read all the articles, copy & paste the questions from this Google Doc onto your Google Doc labeled "Earth's Water_Your Name." Answer the questions.
b) Then, click on your assigned link and read your website
Websites:
- Water.org (Water stats)
- Rural & Urban Water Issues in Africa
- Water Crisis- South Africa
- Helen's Story
- Water Crisis
- Amount of water on earth
- UN Report- Water & Sanitation on Earth (read pages 6 & 15-17)
- Water Supply & Sanitation
- In the comment section of this page, write about two things. Write about
- ONE thing that you learned (that you did not know) in either the Water Crisis Overview, Water Statistics, or Water Study
- ONE thing that you learn in the article that you read in your assigned link.
More research:
Videos:
Water Pictures- Children in Africa
Analysis:
On your wiki page, add a section underneath your water charts labeled "Integration- Water Usage in Africa"
1. Briefly summarize what you learned about your personal water usage from above as it relates to what you have researched about water usage and availability in Africa.
2. For your assigned website- write down the title of the article and include a hyperlink to the website. Then write down 5 facts that you learned from this article that are relevant to what we have been researching.
RUBRIC
When you are finished with your project, follow the directions to complete your self-assessment.
1. Copy the rubric document found here
2. Rename it "Water Project Rubric_Your Name"
3. Share it with Mrs. Verlin **with EDITING rights** (kverlin@woodlawnschool.org)
4. Go through each section and rate yourself based on the components of the project.
***If you forgot something, now is the time to fix it!
2015- This project is DUE by midnight on Friday, March 6th
Comments (16)
jack barnett said
at 1:28 pm on Mar 5, 2015
The thing that impacted me the most and made me want to help the people in Africa with no near access to water was that "every 60 seconds a child under the age of five dies from a preventable water-borne disease." This means that if we donated enough money to some chairity for Africans, we could save so many innocent lives that would otherwise be taken by easily preventable water-borne diseases.
jack barnett said
at 9:49 pm on Mar 5, 2015
From the second link (water statistics) I got my information
Lily Klett said
at 1:47 pm on Mar 5, 2015
From water statistics I learned that 40 billion hours are spent gathering water in Sub-Saharan Africa. Those hours could be spent doing much better things like attending school. I learned from Rural and Urban Water Issues in Africa that in 2004 only 16% of people in sub-Saharan Africa had access to drinking water through a household connection. Having a house hold connection to water is something that in America we take for granted. We also just assume that everyone has access to clean water at their house.
Hadleyzucker said
at 7:16 pm on Mar 5, 2015
The information from the 3 articles that really impacted me was on "Water Statistics". They spend 40 billion hours gathering water every year in Sub Saharan Africa. That is crazy! they should be having the parents at least do more of that so the kids can go to school and get an education. I learned that from the "Water Supply and Sanitation" that 1.8 million people die every year from diarrhoeal diseases. 90% of those people are children who are under the age of 5! This is a terrible problem in Africa and it is unbearable to know all the kids are suffering from unsanitary water.
Al Wills said
at 7:47 pm on Mar 5, 2015
I learned from the second articlie that carrying water leads to more then back problems, like malnutrition and anemia. I learned form the UN Water article that millions of people don't have the proper equipment to sanitize them selves which leads to spreading of disease.
jack barnett said
at 9:55 pm on Mar 5, 2015
Of the things I learned from my assigned link was that in 2004 "only 16% of people in sub-Saharan Africa had access to drinking water through a household connection (an indoor tap or a tap in the yard)." This means that about 5 in 6 people from sub-Saharan Africa can't just walk up to a tap and get a nice cold drink of fresh water like you and me, instead they have to walk all the way the nearest water source which could be up to a 3 hour walk.
jesse jacobson said
at 9:20 am on Mar 6, 2015
Analysis:
On your wiki page, add a section underneath your water charts labeled "Integration- Water Usage in Africa"
1. Briefly summarize what you learned about your personal water usage from above as it relates to what you have researched about water usage and availability in Africa.
2. For your assigned website- write down the title of the article and include a hyperlink to the website. Then write down 5 facts that you learned from this article that are relevant to what we have been researching.
Mitch Porter said
at 9:28 am on Mar 6, 2015
What I learned from my assigned article was how powerful one well of water can be. It can change the life of a whole village. One woman in a Ugandan village, Helen, had to walk 3 miles to wait in a line of hundreds of women, just to get 10 gallons of water. The water weighs up to 100 pounds. With only 10 gallons of water Helen has to decide if she uses water to grow food in the family's garden, drink the water, or wash her children's school uniforms. Often they get sent home because their clothes are so dirty. What really shocked me from the second article was that every 19 seconds, a mother loses a child from a water-born illness.
Michael Shepherd said
at 9:59 am on Mar 6, 2015
I learned that unfortunately that while our population is increasing at an outstanding rate the amount of water we have is decreasing.Collecting water takes up most of the women and children time in left developed money.Every minute a child dies from a preventable water-borne disease.I did not no it does not take much money to help a person,school,or family. I did not know that collecting water can take time for things like school and fun.97.5% of earth's water is salt and of the 2.5% that isn't 70% of it are icecaps.
Olivia Dionne said
at 6:13 pm on Mar 6, 2015
I learned from the Global crisis water overview that in a developing countries use 90% of their water on agriculture while already developed ones use only 45%. From my assigned website I learned that 2.6 billion people lack sanitized water (2002).
Cole Rogers said
at 6:27 pm on Mar 6, 2015
I learned from the Water Crisis Overview article that "The World Bank reports that 80 countries now have water shortages and 2 billion people lack access to clean water." I then learned from my assigned article (Water Crisis) that 3,900 children die every day from water borne diseases."
Ariana Conway said
at 10:24 pm on Mar 6, 2015
I learned from the "Water Statistics" article that 443 million school days are missed every year because of preventable water-borne diseases. From my article I learned that changing the food habits can help reduce this issue, 1kg of potatoes requires only 100 litres of water, compared to 1 kg of beef requiring 13,000 litres.
Dina Clemente said
at 12:51 am on Mar 7, 2015
From my assigned link, I learned that 35 percent of African cities' water is either stolen or given out through illegal connections. From the articles, I learned that 40 billion hours are spent gathering water every year in sub-Saharan Africa. This was probably one of the most surprising things I learned in this project. I didn't realize how lucky we are to have water instantly available to us until I did this project.
Jackie Jewel said
at 1:08 am on Mar 7, 2015
From My Article I Learned that1.6 million deaths of children per year can be attributed to unsafe water, poor sanitation, and lack of hygiene. From Water Crisis Overview That 80 countries now have water shortages.
Campbell Lindquist said
at 8:14 pm on Mar 10, 2015
I found all of the links very interesting. One fact that completely blew me away was that if I donate $40 than it gives back 29,189 hours to one person!!! I wanted to make sure that the information wasn't misleading. I did the math and 29,189 hrs is roughly 1,216.21 days and 3.378 years! I am going to look into donating after reading that! (This was on Life water)
One thing that I found interesting is that water in cities is stolen! " According to one report 35 percent of the cities water is stolen or given out through illegal connections." I never thought about water being so valuable that anyone would want to steal it or sell it illegally! (assigned link #3)
This project was very eyeopening and I really enjoyed it!
Maggie Kiernan said
at 3:37 pm on Mar 12, 2015
I learned that 70% of fresh water is frozen in glaciers! Also, that it rains 110,000 cubic kilometers globally every year.
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