Name: _____________________________
Date: ___________________Core: _____
Fresh Water: Scav 1 & Fruitvale
Essential Learnings
A. The term hydrosphere refers to the layer of water on the planet. Clearly the abundance of water on
Earth distinguishes it from others in the solar system.
B. Water makes up about 70-75 % of the earth. Ninety-seven percent of this water is salt water and 3%
of it is fresh water.
C. Every living thing on Earth requires water in order to survive, so it is imperative that water flows over
the Earth’s surface to get to all living things.
D. A drainage basin is the land that water flows across or through on its way to a stream, river, wetland,
etc. Areas of higher elevations, such as ridgelines or divide, separate these basins. They are typically
named for the largest tributary the water flows into.
E. When it rains, not all water ends up in a lake, river, or ocean; it can get held up by plants, grasses, sand,
gravel, etc. which allow it to sink into the ground. This is known as groundwater.
F. Water entering the ground first travels through a permeable layer and will start to build up because it
hits the impermeable layer. This underground region of sand, gravel, and rock where water collects
and can be extracted from is called an aquifer.
G. The impermeable rocks layers are referred to as aquitard.
H. One important feature of water as it sinks into the ground is that it gets filtered along the way. This
means any water retrieved from the aquifer is safe for drinking and daily use.
I. The very top of an aquifer is referred to as the water table. In order to get water from the aquifer, wells
have to be dug below this so water is guaranteed to come up, however it is possible for contaminations
to occur.
J. A substance or chemical that pollutes is known as a contaminant. If the substance can be traced back
to a single source, it is known as point source pollution. If there are multiple sources for the
pollution, it is called nonpoint source pollution.
K. The area of the contamination within the aquifer is called a plume. Factors like concentration in parts
per million/billion/trillion or whether the contamination occurred on an incline (higher elevation)
affect the size of a plume or how far contaminant will spread over time.
Name: _____________________________
Date: ___________________Core: _____
L. If fresh water doesn’t sink into the ground it collects in lakes/ponds or runs off (aka, runoff) into
creeks, streams, and rivers (these are called tributaries). From here, fresh water usually ends up in an
ocean.
Application
1
2
3
1. Which is the most permeable 1, 2, or 3? Explain.
1 because there is more space between the particles
2. Which column (A, B, C, or D) would hold the most water? Explain.
A because the top 3 layers contain the most permeable material and the bottom layer is an aquitard
that will trap the water above
X
Y
1
2
3. Which would have a greater affect, a contamination in the spot marked “X” or the spot marked “Y”?
Explain.
X because well 2 is downhill from it
4. Assuming “X” is non-point source pollution, draw what its plume might look like. Would you expect it
to contaminate 1? Well2? Explain.
X
shallow, widespread, less concentrated, flowing
downhill; it would contaminate well 2, but not well 1
5. Assuming “Y” is point source pollution, draw what its plume might look like. Would you expect it to
contaminate 1? Well2? Explain.
Y
deep and concentrated; would not affect either well
because it is downhill of both