Finding Freshwater
Unit: Freshwater and Our World
Grade Level: 3rd
Unit EQ: What is the relationship between humans, freshwater, and the environment?
Lesson 1: Finding Freshwater
Lesson EQ: Where do we find freshwater in our world?
MMSD Standard(s):
- Read and interpret simple maps
- Identify and locate geographical and political mapping symbols using a legend
NCSS Standard(s):
- The study of people, places, and environments enables us to understand the relationship between human populations and the physical world.
- Today’s social, cultural, economic and civic issues demand that students apply knowledge, skills, and understandings as they address questions such as: Why is
location important? How do people interact with the environment and what are some of the consequences of those interactions? How do maps, globes, geographic
tools and geospatial technologies contribute to the understanding of people, places, and environments?
- People have wants that often exceed the limited resources available to them.
Materials:
- Water
- 2 five-gallon water jugs
- 2 small clear pitchers
- 1 one-cup measuring cup
- 1 ½-cup measuring cup
- 1 water dropper
- Pictures of a lake, a river, a puddle, a diagram of groundwater, a salt shaker
- Post-it notes
- Writing utensils
- World map
- Exit sips
Objectives:
Students will be able to:
- Distinguish between freshwater and saltwater.
- Explain why clean useable freshwater is only a very small portion of the total water on the earth.
- State where useable freshwater comes from (surface water, groundwater, desalination).
- Create a class world map (with a key) that shows the type of fresh water that cities around the world use.
Lesson Opening:
“Close your eyes and imagine you step in the ocean to go for a swim with your friend. Brrr! The water sure is cold! You walk out farther into the water and start to swim around. Just as you are calling to your friend, a huge wave crashes over you. Your mouth was open when this happened, so you get some water in your mouth. You can open your eyes.”
What does this water taste like?
- Call on children to respond. If none of the children have experienced the ocean, explain your own personal experience of getting salt water in your mouth.
- Explain that water from the ocean is called saltwater because it has salt in it. Have the students repeat this word.
Now close your eyes and pretend you are swimming in a lake. As you are swimming you get a little water in your mouth. You can open your eyes.”
What does this water taste like?
- Call on children to respond
- Explain that water without salt in it is called freshwater. Have the students repeat this word.
- Tell the students that almost all of the water we use in society is freshwater because we can’t use saltwater for drinking, washing, watering our crops, etc.
Procedure:
Part 1
- Draw a circle and color 70% of the circle blue. Tell the children that 70% of the earth’s surface is covered by water. The problem is, not much of this water is clean,
accessible freshwater.
- Gather children around a table with the water jugs. Tell the children that the two five-gallon containers represent all of the water in the world.
- Tell the children that most of the water on earth is saltwater. If we were to separate the freshwater from the saltwater, the freshwater would make up 4.5 cups of water.
(Remove 4.5 cups of water from the jugs and pour it into a clear pitcher.)
- Unfortunately, we can’t use a lot of the freshwater because it is located in glaciers, ice caps, the soil, and the atmosphere. If this is all the freshwater we have (hold up
the pitcher), only one cup is potentially available for use. (Remove one cup of water from the first pitcher and pour it into a second pitcher.)
- The problem is that some of this water is too polluted to use, while some of it is in areas that are really hard to get to. Of all the water that is potentially available, only
10 drops are clean, accessible freshwater. (Put 10 drops of water in a small glass.)
Part 2
- Say, “Where do you think useable freshwater comes from?” Record the children’s ideas.
- Show a pictures of a puddle, a lake, and a river. Tell the children that some freshwater is found on the surface of the earth in puddles, lakes, rivers, etc. It is called
surface water.
- Show a diagram of groundwater. Tell the children that some freshwater is found underneath the earth’s surface. This water seeps through small holes in the soil and
rocks and collects underground.
- Show the children a picture of a salt shaker. Tell the children that some places take get their fresh water by removing the salt from saltwater. The process is call
desalination. It is a very expensive process and can harm the environment, but sometimes it is the only option.
Part 3
- Hand each child the name of a global city and the main source of freshwater for that city (surface water, groundwater, or desalination).
- As a class, come up with symbols for the three sources of freshwater. Make a class key on a large piece of white paper.
- Hand each child a post-it note and have the child draw the symbol(s) representing how their country gets its freshwater. (Information from National Geographic’s April
2010 Issue)
- Have the children find their cities and stick their symbols on a large world map.
- Discuss the geography in relation to the countries’ source of water. Have the children think about regions of the world that do not have much access to clean
freshwater.
Lesson Closing:
When compared to all of the water on our planet, clean accessible freshwater is somewhat scarce.People all over the world use freshwater, and they obtain it from different sources. Challenge the children to think of all the ways we use water in our society.
Assessment:
After the lesson, I will have the children fill out an exit slip with the following questions:
1. What is the difference between freshwater and saltwater?
2. If there is so much water on the earth, why is usable water scarce in some places?
3. Where does useable freshwater come from?
If some children want to orally state their responses instead of writing them down, that is fine. The children’s responses to these questions will help me determine whether or not my objectives were met.
Grade Level: 3rd
Unit EQ: What is the relationship between humans, freshwater, and the environment?
Lesson 1: Finding Freshwater
Lesson EQ: Where do we find freshwater in our world?
MMSD Standard(s):
- Read and interpret simple maps
- Identify and locate geographical and political mapping symbols using a legend
NCSS Standard(s):
- The study of people, places, and environments enables us to understand the relationship between human populations and the physical world.
- Today’s social, cultural, economic and civic issues demand that students apply knowledge, skills, and understandings as they address questions such as: Why is
location important? How do people interact with the environment and what are some of the consequences of those interactions? How do maps, globes, geographic
tools and geospatial technologies contribute to the understanding of people, places, and environments?
- People have wants that often exceed the limited resources available to them.
Materials:
- Water
- 2 five-gallon water jugs
- 2 small clear pitchers
- 1 one-cup measuring cup
- 1 ½-cup measuring cup
- 1 water dropper
- Pictures of a lake, a river, a puddle, a diagram of groundwater, a salt shaker
- Post-it notes
- Writing utensils
- World map
- Exit sips
Objectives:
Students will be able to:
- Distinguish between freshwater and saltwater.
- Explain why clean useable freshwater is only a very small portion of the total water on the earth.
- State where useable freshwater comes from (surface water, groundwater, desalination).
- Create a class world map (with a key) that shows the type of fresh water that cities around the world use.
Lesson Opening:
“Close your eyes and imagine you step in the ocean to go for a swim with your friend. Brrr! The water sure is cold! You walk out farther into the water and start to swim around. Just as you are calling to your friend, a huge wave crashes over you. Your mouth was open when this happened, so you get some water in your mouth. You can open your eyes.”
What does this water taste like?
- Call on children to respond. If none of the children have experienced the ocean, explain your own personal experience of getting salt water in your mouth.
- Explain that water from the ocean is called saltwater because it has salt in it. Have the students repeat this word.
Now close your eyes and pretend you are swimming in a lake. As you are swimming you get a little water in your mouth. You can open your eyes.”
What does this water taste like?
- Call on children to respond
- Explain that water without salt in it is called freshwater. Have the students repeat this word.
- Tell the students that almost all of the water we use in society is freshwater because we can’t use saltwater for drinking, washing, watering our crops, etc.
Procedure:
Part 1
- Draw a circle and color 70% of the circle blue. Tell the children that 70% of the earth’s surface is covered by water. The problem is, not much of this water is clean,
accessible freshwater.
- Gather children around a table with the water jugs. Tell the children that the two five-gallon containers represent all of the water in the world.
- Tell the children that most of the water on earth is saltwater. If we were to separate the freshwater from the saltwater, the freshwater would make up 4.5 cups of water.
(Remove 4.5 cups of water from the jugs and pour it into a clear pitcher.)
- Unfortunately, we can’t use a lot of the freshwater because it is located in glaciers, ice caps, the soil, and the atmosphere. If this is all the freshwater we have (hold up
the pitcher), only one cup is potentially available for use. (Remove one cup of water from the first pitcher and pour it into a second pitcher.)
- The problem is that some of this water is too polluted to use, while some of it is in areas that are really hard to get to. Of all the water that is potentially available, only
10 drops are clean, accessible freshwater. (Put 10 drops of water in a small glass.)
Part 2
- Say, “Where do you think useable freshwater comes from?” Record the children’s ideas.
- Show a pictures of a puddle, a lake, and a river. Tell the children that some freshwater is found on the surface of the earth in puddles, lakes, rivers, etc. It is called
surface water.
- Show a diagram of groundwater. Tell the children that some freshwater is found underneath the earth’s surface. This water seeps through small holes in the soil and
rocks and collects underground.
- Show the children a picture of a salt shaker. Tell the children that some places take get their fresh water by removing the salt from saltwater. The process is call
desalination. It is a very expensive process and can harm the environment, but sometimes it is the only option.
Part 3
- Hand each child the name of a global city and the main source of freshwater for that city (surface water, groundwater, or desalination).
- As a class, come up with symbols for the three sources of freshwater. Make a class key on a large piece of white paper.
- Hand each child a post-it note and have the child draw the symbol(s) representing how their country gets its freshwater. (Information from National Geographic’s April
2010 Issue)
- Have the children find their cities and stick their symbols on a large world map.
- Discuss the geography in relation to the countries’ source of water. Have the children think about regions of the world that do not have much access to clean
freshwater.
Lesson Closing:
When compared to all of the water on our planet, clean accessible freshwater is somewhat scarce.People all over the world use freshwater, and they obtain it from different sources. Challenge the children to think of all the ways we use water in our society.
Assessment:
After the lesson, I will have the children fill out an exit slip with the following questions:
1. What is the difference between freshwater and saltwater?
2. If there is so much water on the earth, why is usable water scarce in some places?
3. Where does useable freshwater come from?
If some children want to orally state their responses instead of writing them down, that is fine. The children’s responses to these questions will help me determine whether or not my objectives were met.
