Drop In The Bucket Lesson Plan printable pdf download

Drop In The Bucket Lesson Plan

Drop in the Bucket (WET 238)

Investigate the percentage of available fresh water on Earth. Discuss and explore the

implications of their findings, students understand that this resource is limited so must

be conserved and managed sustainably, on personal, local and global scales.

Materials:

water

dropper or glass stirring rod

globe and /or world map

food dye

1000 ml beaker / cylinder

salt

100 ml graduated beaker

small bucket

small dish or beaker

copies of Water Availability table

Method:

Discussion points in italics

Fill 1000ml container. Color with a few drops of food dye so it is easier to see.

This represents all the water on Earth.

Where is most of this water is located? Estimate the amount of salt water on Earth's?

Pour 30 ml from the 1000 ml into the graduated beaker - this represents the 3% of Earth's

fresh water. Salt the remaining 97% to simulate ocean water, unsuitable for consumption.

Consider the 30ml remaining. In what state is this remaining 3%?

What is found at the Earth's poles? Estimate how much water is frozen at the Poles?

Pour 6ml of the fresh water into the small dish or beaker. The remaining 24ml place in a

freezer or frig, or otherwise simulate ice, eg. pour into an ice cube tray.

80% of the Earth's fresh water is frozen in ice caps and glaciers! The amount of water in

the small container (0.6% of the original amount) represents non-frozen fresh water. Only

about 1/4 of this is surface water; the rest (3/4) is underground.

Use a dropper to release a single drop of water into a small metal bucket so students can

listen for the "drop".

This represents clean, fresh water that is not polluted or otherwise unavailable for use -

about 0.003% of the total. This precious drop must be managed with care.

From this demonstration, many of you may conclude that there is only a very small

amount of water available for humans. In fact, on a global scale the single drop actually

represents a large volume of water.

Drop In The Bucket Lesson Plan