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GRADE LEVEL: Middle School |
Subject Areas
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THE
ACTIVITIES
WATER,
WATER EVERYWHERE?
Water is one of our most valuable and necessary resources. It is imperative that we continue to grow yet plan our communities in a way that sustains a healthy water supply.
Description: Through various exercises, students will begin to understand the direct relationship between population growth and water availability. They will also explore concepts such as: what it means to experience a water shortage; what can be done to conserve water resources; and society's historical and current day needs regarding fresh water.
GO DIRECTLY TO:
- Goals and Objectives
- Procedure and Teaching Suggestions
- Student Activity
- Extension
- Additional Internet Resources
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Students will manipulate a data module showing the relationship between population growth and water availability, and answer questions about what the chart shows; draw a bar graph showing the relationship between population growth and water availability in the United States; draw a similar bar graph for a country facing water scarcity; and research and write and action plan for how that country can tackle its water scarcity problems.
PROCEDURE AND TEACHING SUGGESTIONS
As the world's population grows, access to fresh water declines. This relationship is evident in both industrialized and developing countries and in both arid and wet climates. This activity will introduce students to the relationship between population growth and water availability, asking them to analyze data and report on the water situation in a developing country with an arid climate.
Introduce the activity by defining the word scarcity and asking students to provide examples of scarcities with which they're familiar. Then ask students if they've ever experienced water scarcity, such as drought. If so, what was it like? What did they have to do to conserve water? What was the cause of the scarcity? If no students have been through a water shortage, ask them what they think it would be like and what they think they'd have to do in such a situation.
Tell the class that in some places around the world, water scarcity is a way of life. Why might this be the case? Do people always settle in places that have abundant water supplies, or do some people live in dry, desert climates? Suggest that even in places where water scarcity isn't a problem today, it might become a problem in the future. Ask them what might happen if a country's population increased. Might there be changes to water availability? Have students hypothesize answers to these questions and discuss their ideas.
STUDENT ACTIVITY
Give
each student a copy of the Water, Water Everywhere? handout from
this hotlink and ask them to look at the Water and Population data
module from this
hotlink.
Explain the units on the data module (population in thousands and per capita water availability in cubic meters on the graph; freshwater scarcity, freshwater stress and freshwater sufficiency on the pie chart).
Ask your students to manipulate the data module so that it shows different world population and water data for the four different years. Ask them to examine the data, then answer the questions on the handout. Students may work on their handouts individually, in pairs, or in small groups, depending on your computer availability and time frame.
Discuss your students' answers as a class. Were their hypotheses concerning the relationship between water availability and population confirmed? Why or why not?
Next, ask students to look at the population and water data for the United States at this hotlink.
 The fate of our oceans is not clear. We used to think that the oceans were endless, and that whatever we put in was really not going to be a problem. We know, however, that because we've changed the chemistry of our oceans, because we've over fished our oceans, because we've polluted them so badly, that in effect our quality of life is going to change dramatically. —Dr.
Steven Miller |
Tell them that the data module they've been looking at took its data from this Web site. Ask them to write down the numbers for population and per capita availability for 1950, 1995 and 2025 (UN medium projection) and 2050 (UN medium projection) for the United States. Then ask students to use the data they have copied from the site to create a bar graph indicating the relationship between population growth and water scarcity in the United States. As on the data module, the x-axis of the bar graph should be labeled with the years 1950, 1995, 2025 and 2050 — students should write the appropriate population figure beneath each year. The y-axis will represent per capita water availability (rounded to the nearest 100 or 500).
Ask students to analyze the graphs they have created. Do they notice any resemblance between their graphs and the graph on the data module? Which parts look the same? Which parts, if any, look different?
Divide the class into pairs. Assign each pair one of the following U. S. cities (or others that you know have imminent water shortage and quality situations): Washington, DC, New York City, NY, Raleigh, NC, Daytona Beach, FL, West Palm Beach, FL, Ft. Lauderdale, FL, or Orlando, FL. These cities have been ranked as some of the most sprawl threatened cities in the country, suffering from water shortages and quality, as well as other sprawl-related problems.
Next, tell your students that they're going to research their assigned city and create a "water action plan" for their assigned city. Their action plans should include the following information:
- A water population bar graph for their assigned city, using the parameters outlined in Step 4 above. Perform a Google search under Smart Growth, Water Quality in U. S. Cities, Water Pollution in U. S. Cities, etc. Also try the Web site Water Science for Schools
- A history of the city and how unsustainable growth and population have impacted water resources over several decades
- Current issues and problems facing water quality and availability in the city
- Potential solutions that have been proposed by scientists, city planners, politicians, private civil engineering firms, etc.
- Steps students think their assigned city should take to help its water situation. Students should list as many ideas as they can think of (e.g., reduce or stop building), then choose one idea and make suggestions as to how the city can act on it (e.g., implement a moratorium on building permits, water rationing for lawns, etc.)
When
students' action plans are complete, give them time to share their reports
with the class, then lead an in-depth discussion about their practical
water shortage solutions that students came up with. Which ideas might
be easy to implement and why? Which would be more difficult — or
more expensive? If applicable, what can students do themselves to ease
water shortages in their own towns or cities? How might a lack of water
affect the future of people who live either in the cities they researched
or their own city/town?
Evaluation
You can evaluate groups using the following three-point rubric:
- Three Points: completes handout exercise; conducts in-depth research on selected U. S. city; presents full presentation on their research (full grasp of issues, comprehensive interpretation and development of potential solutions).
- Two Points: completes most of the handout; produces adequate research on their selected city; presents fairly informative/interpretive presentation;
- One point: answers only a few of the questions, etc.
EXTENSION
Getting the Big
Picture
The United Nations has recently reevaluated its projections for population
growth over the next few decades. This is discussed on the Sustaining
Water, Easing Scarcity: A Second Update page. Explain this change
in its predictions to the class, then hold a discussion about how changes
in population growth rate might affect changes in water availability predictions.
ADDITIONAL INTERNET RESOURCES
Web Links
- Water
Science for Schools
- Population Action International
- Cadillac Desert
- "What's It Like Where You Live?"
- Sustaining Water, Easing Scarcity: a Second Update
- World
Factbook
Credit
Betsy Hedberg, former middle school teacher and current freelance curriculum
writer and consultant. DiscoverySchool.com
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© 2002 UNCW
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