Congratulations! You have all been asked to join the water committee. A 5th grade student on the water committee? Now that, IS smarter than a 5th grader! What exactly is a water committee and what is their job purpose? A water committee increases awareness and understanding about issues we may encounter regarding our water resources. 
Did you know that dirty water is the world's biggest health risk and it can threaten the quality of life and health? You may have also not known that more than 1/3 of all our countries will face risks of water shortages by mid-century due to global warming. What is global warming?
Global warming is basically a build up pollutants in the atmosphere, which result in trapping the sun's heat causing planet Earth to warm up! Read more about it! Global Warming Facts  But global warming is not the only thing contributing to our water shortages. What are some other factors that may contribute to decreased water shortages? What are some of the factors that contribute to unhealthy fresh water? You will be able to answer these questions upon completion of this project. You have all been learning about the water cycle (click link for additional information.) You have also been learning about the amount of fresh water resources on earth and the limitations that exist. Here is an additional presentation that represents our ocean water resources to recap. About 70% of the Earth's surface is covered by water, but 97% of that is salt water (our oceans). The last 3% makes up our fresh water, but nearly 65% of that is frozen ice or glaciers! Therefore, only 1% of our total freshwater resources are available for human use. Want more facts? Click here to see more about the amount of fresh water resources on earth. Water is essential to life!  Without water, humans wouldn't survive. Neither would the animals, the plants or the any of the trees! Water is the main source of life. Water supply is limited throughout various countries. The water resource in most developing countries is deemed unsafe due to pollution and disease carrying organisms. Over 1 million people in developing countries have no access to safe water and 1 out of 5 children in those countries die from a water related disease. It can dramatically affect poverty levels, health risks and all of our ecosystems (including the organisms within in it). ******************************************************************************************************  But WAIT! Before we get started, there are still a few things we need to discuss! How may gallons of water do you think you use a day? Take a guess at this poll, and see if you came close to other student's responses. Well? Did you have the same answer as the majority of the classroom, or were most of the answers different? You are probably wondering what the answer to that question is. On average, each person uses nearly 90 gallons of water per day! Now imagine if only 1/3 of a small city (10,00 people) used that much water a day. That would be equal to a 12 foot by 24 foot pool, well over 46 feet deep! Now THAT is deep. That is about 900,000 gallons of water for only 1/3 of 1 small city. Imagine how many cities are in a single state, and how many states are in 1 country! How many countries on 1 continent?  Facts about daily water usage: Just how much does it take. The following are averages amounts of water required for basic activities. (Click here to try it yourself!) Have a drink = 1 gallon Wash your hands or face = 2 gallons Brush your teeth =1 gallon Take a bath = 20-30 gallons (depends on the size of the bathtub) Take a shower = 20 gallons (almost 2.5 gallons per minute) Flush the toilet = 2 gallons Wash a load of laundry = 31 gallons Dishwasher = 20 gallons Water the garden = 2 gallons We also use water to fill/maintain pools, wash our cars, hose off patios, and much, much, more! AND, that is not all! Factories and Farms also use a lot of water to produce goods. Just think about how many crops must be planted and watered to produce food for the entire population on Earth! Also think about how many goods are produced each year and how much water it takes to make those goods!  A ton of steel = 60,000 gallons A small car = 450,000 gallons A bicycle = 130 gallons 1 gallon of gasoline = 17 gallons A newspaper = 9 gallons A small chocolate bar = 1 gallon Grow wheat for 1 loaf of bread = 115 gallons 1 slice of bread = 10 gallons 1 lb of hamburger = 4,000-18,000 gallons (to grow grain for food and to drink and service the cow). Now THAT is a lot of water!! You are probably beginning to realize that water is essential to life. We use so much of it daily and the amount of fresh water resources on Earth is NOT increasing. The only way we can assure that humans will have enough fresh water resources in the future, is to do something about this now. We must learn of ways to conserve our water resources (individual usage and better infrastructures) and we also must learn how to clean up and treat our water (even salt water) so that we can use it (without health risks). Are you ready? The water committee is excited to have a bunch of professional Engineers and Scientists to promote their ideas! Remember, they are counting on you to educate our citizens! Ready? GO! Click Here to check out your tasks! ****************************************************************************************************** |