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Water Heroes Program Lesson 1: Water as an Important Natural Resource A natural resource is a material or substance such as minerals, forests, water, and fertile land that occur in nature and can be used by humans. Where is most of our planet’s water? How much water is on Earth Water 71% Land 29% 96.5% Seawater 3.5% Fresh water 68% Locked in glaciers ~30% Ground water 2% Rivers and streams Common uses for water. Activity On a piece of paper, write down a list of the activities you do in a day that require water and rank them based on importance to you. My Daily Water Usage • Flushing the toilet • Washing hands • Brushing teeth • Showering • Cooking • Washing dishes • Drinking / consumption • Refilling water jug 2 1 4 3 6 5 8 7 How much water do you use? The average person in the U.S. uses 80 gallons of water per day. 16x How do you get water at home? In the Virgin Islands, residents get water from either 1 of 3 methods: •WAPA (desalination) •Cistern •Well The process of removing salt and other minerals from salt water to turn it into fresh water. Very costly (energy) 96.5% Seawater How Does Water Desalination Work? Cisterns collect rainwater for home usage whereas wells pump groundwater from underground. 3.5% Fresh water ~30% Ground water ~30% Ground water How is Groundwater Replenished? Modern-day technologies have made accessibility to water easy in most countries today. “1.1 billion people worldwide lack access to clean, drinking water and 2.7 billion people find water scarce for at least 1 month out of the year.” – World Wildlife Fund A Changing Climate An increase to our annual global temperatures by just 2 degrees Celsius will result in severe, accelerated changes to the climactic systems that support life on Earth may become irreversible, according to a report by the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The Source | charity: water VR Video Scan the QR code with your smart phone to view the video. You can view the video with or without a Google Cardboard headset. If viewing with a headset, tap the Google Cardboard logo (goggles icon) on your phone’s screen. Insert your phone into the headset and attach the Velcro straps to begin viewing. You can also view the video from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlV IsVfWwS4 Water is a precious natural resource that we all depend on. Are there other things you could do to save water? Let’s Recap •71% of Earth is covered by water. •96.5% of that water is found in our oceans while the remaining 3% is fresh water. •68% of the Earth’s fresh water is locked away in glaciers, 30% in groundwater, and 2% in rivers and streams. • Desalination can provide usable freshwater from seawater; however, this process is very energy intensive. • Climate change is affecting water availability; however, there are things we can do to reduce how much water we use/waste. What’s Next? • Activity Sheet #1 • Supplemental reading / videos (Optional) Upcoming Topics • Water Quality – Lesson 2 • Water Filtration – Lesson 3 Water Heroes Program Lesson 1: Water as an Important Natural Resource