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Names
1. Water Distribution Lab
2. Purpose- To learn where the water on the planet is found and begin to understand the limited quantity
that is available to us.
Questions:
a. Which reservoirs contain most of Earth’s water? (Hint-order from greatest to least)
b. Where is most of Earth’s renewable river water located? (Hint-order from greatest to least)
3. Hypothesis (predictions)
a. I predict that…
b. I predict that…
4. Materials:
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one liter of water
pipette
a graduated cylinder
beakers
blue food coloring
5. Background: Write anything here that someone would need to know to understand your lab (definitions, etc)
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FreshwaterSaltwaterVolumeMeniscus-
6. Procedure
1. Fill your container with one liter (or more) of tap water, and add enough blue food coloring to make
it a rich shade of blue. Record the total amount of tap water under the lab volume equivalent
column for total.
2. Using data table A below, convert the percentages to amounts and distribute the water into
separate containers representing the world’s water reservoirs.
3. Graph your data from table A.
4. Place the water back into your original container.
5. Using data table B below, convert the percentages to equivalent amounts in mL. Label the
containers according to the regions below.
6. Graph
7. Data Tables-Complete the data tables.
Table A-World Water Distribution
Reservoir
% of Earth’s Water
Oceans
Inland Seas and Saline Lakes
Freshwater Lakes
All Rivers (Average Level)
Antarctic Ice Cap
Arctic Ice Cap and Glaciers
Atmosphere
Groundwater
Total
Lab Volume
Equivalent (mL)
97.2278%
0.0077%
0.0092%
0.0001%
1.9323%
0.2086%
0.0010%
0.6134%
100%
Table B-Distribution of River Water
Region
Sub-Saharan Africa
Middle East and N Africa
Europe
Asia
Australia
Oceania
N America
S America
Total
% of Earth’s Total
8.2
.3
5.7
28.4
1.0
13.9
16.9
25.6
100
Stay Length (yrs)
17
16 (days)
9700
1600
1400
4.5 Billion
Lab Volume Equivalent (mL)
Observations-Make your own observations about temperature, thermal equilibrium, or energy flow. Make sure
you record in bullet points or in a table.
6. Results (graphs here) Click on insert, picture, and chart. Format the cells to reflect the above data. Two pie
charts are my suggestion. Make sure that your graph makes sense and is presented appropriately in terms of the
lab questions.
7. Conclusion-FOLLOW THE RERUN FORMAT and address the questions. Go beyond the basics (the ice
cube melted). When you are finished, post your lab on your UNIT 4 webpage. Also, remember to post your
conclusion on nicenet. No paper needed!