Unit 1 Water Systems

1. Unit 1 Water Systems

2. Chapter 1, Section 1.1

3. Name: _______________________

4. Part I - Estimating the Earth’s Water Distribution

5. Using the play-doh provided by your teacher, mold it into a sphere. This entire sphere represents the Earth’s TOTAL water supply – 100%. Draw a picture of the sphere in section (A) of the space provided below.

6. Next, from your sphere, remove the amount of play-doh that you think represents the total amount fresh water on Earth. Illustrate this amount below in (B). Lastly, from the amount of play-doh in (B), remove what you think represents the amount of available fresh water on Earth. Illustrate your estimate in the space provided in (C). Don’t forget to give (B) and (C) a matching percentage estimate!

7. (A)

13. Total % of Earth’s Water

14. (100%) (B)

20. Total % of Fresh Water

21. ( %)

22. (C)

28. % of Available

29. Fresh Water

30. ( %)

31. Part II - The ‘actual’ Earth’s Water Distribution

32. In Part I, each group will likely have estimated differently in trying to determine the total % of fresh water on Earth and the % of available fresh water on Earth. According to page 8 in your text book, only ______ % of the planet’s water supply is fresh water meaning it does not contain ___________. This may still seem like a lot of fresh water, but ___________ of that fresh water supply is frozen in large masses of ____________. These frozen masses of water form ice sheets at the _____________ and _____________ poles, and glaciers in the high mountaintops. That leaves less than _________ % of Earth’s water as liquid fresh water. This tiny remainder must supply hundreds of billions of other organisms with the water they need to survive. This includes over __________ billion humans.

34. Summary!

35. _____ % of the Earth’s water supply is fresh water.

36. _____ % of the Earth’s water supply is fresh water available to humans/organisms.

37. _____ % of the Earth’s water supply is salt water.