Name: ______________________________________
WHY CONSERVE WATER?
The issue of water conservation is not about “saving” water—it is about having
enough clean water at any given time and place to meet our needs. Gifford
Pinchot, an American conservationist and politician who served as chief of the
U.S. Forest Service (see below) between 1898 and 1910, referred to
conservation as “The wise use of the earth and its resources for the lasting
good of men.” The conservation of our water resources depends on our wise
use of these resources. Such wise use, without a doubt, begins at home and in
our community.
As we attempt to meet the water use needs of a growing population, issues of
water quality and quantity will gain increasing significance in years to come. We
cannot afford to take our water resources for granted—not even here in the
water-rich Northeast. Droughts, for example, are natural occurrences that can
cause water shortages.
But human activities can cause water availability problems as well. In some
instances, communities have had to seek other sources of drinking water
because their water supply well had been contaminated. For example, infiltration
of gasoline from a leaking underground storage tank into a ground water supply
well is all it can take to reduce a fresh drinking water and make it unusable. Once
ground water becomes contaminated, it can take years or decades for it to clean
itself naturally
(Established in 1905, the Forest Service is an agency of the U.S. Department of
Agriculture. The Forest Service manages public lands in national forests and
grasslands.)
Your Conservation Challenge
Over the next 5 days you will be challenged to conserve the battery in your
classroom ipad. You will be asked to complete assignments during the week that
may make using the ipad easier, but it will not be the only way you can get the
information. You may have to seek “other” ways to help you complete the
assignments. You will also be sharing the ipads with Ms. Difiore’s classes, as
well as my other classes. You may not be able to control how much of the ipad
battery they use but you may be able to find ways to inform them of on how to
conserve the battery. The better you are about informing others about
conserving, the better chance you will have at having the highest percentage of
battery at the end of the week.
Use the chart below to keep track of your battery use:
Ipad #: ____________
Date
Battery Charge
before class
Battery Charge
after class
Battery charge lost
or gained
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Total battery charge on Friday: _______________
Monday’s homework: Below please brainstorm 3 different ways you can inform
others to conserve the battery on your classroom ipad.
1.
2.
3.
Earth’s Water: A Drop in your Cup
CCCS: 5.4.8. G. 2, 5.4.6. G 3
Objective:
1. Students will learn that Earth has a limited amount of fresh water.
2. Students will learn ways to conserve freshwater and brainstorm ideas to
increase usage of untapped water resources in their local area.
Vocabulary:
1. resource: a natural, economic, or political asset that can be drawn upon
when needed
2. desalination: a process that removes salt from seawater to produce drinkable
water
3. fresh water: water that contains minimal amounts of salt (as opposed to
saltwater in the oceans)
4. scarcity: the state of being in short supply
Monday: How much water is on the planet?
DO NOW: With your partner, brainstorm NATURAL resources of water.
Resources of Water:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Activity: How much water is freshwater?
In class today, you watched me distribute the Earth’s freshwater into small cups.
The water in these cups represents the percentage of that particular water
resource on our planet. With your classmates, decide which cup of water goes
with which resource of water we listed above. Use the globe and or ipad to make
an educated guess.
Bottle A: _____________________
______________
Percentage on the planet:
Cup B: _______________________
______________
Percentage on the planet:
Cup C: _______________________
______________
Percentage on the planet:
Cup D: _______________________
______________
Percentage on the planet:
Cup E: _______________________
______________
Percentage on the planet:
Cup F: _______________________
______________
Percentage on the planet:
Cup G: _______________________
______________
Percentage on the planet:
Cup H: _______________________
______________
Percentage on the planet:
Percentage of water on the planet: _____________
Percentage of salt water: _______________
Percentage of freshwater: ______________
Percentage of accessible surface fresh water: ______________
You may now drink the liquid if you want to, but first you must decide how to
divide it amongst the other students in the class. Discuss with each other how
you might share your portion of the water.
Consider the following:
1. Freshwater has to accommodate the needs of plants and animals as well as
humans.
2. The salt water cannot be used for drinking. Although, salt water can be put
through a process called desalination, it is very expensive and uses a lot of
energy.
3. Ice and glaciers are difficult to get to and is not readily available for human
use.
How does this activity relate to the scarcity of water?
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What do I mean when I say we must “conserve” water? (hint: it does not mean
“save” water)
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Before you leave today: Because fresh, drinkable water is such a limited
resource, it is important to conserve water in our daily lives. On a post-it give me
one way you might try to conserve water?