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World WiseIntermediate Phase: Social Science – History

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MANZI

LO1: HISTORICAL ENQUIRY The learner will be able to use enquiry skills to investigate the past and present.

In very early times humans stayed close to water sources because they learnt early that humans and animals can survive without almost anything, but not without water. Later, as they found places to live that had everything they needed, but no water, they began to devise ways of storing water or transporting it to where they wanted to live.The San people of the Kalahari live in a semi-desert – an area that most other people would find impossible to live in. They stored every available drop of water in gourds (shells of vegetables like butternut squash) and ostrich egg shells and buried these underground. They used their knowledge of the environment to find these gourds and eggs whenever water was in short supply. The aboriginal people of Australia used similar methods.Later, the Romans built great aqueducts that carried water from one place to another over a system of pipes and bridges. Some of these survive to this day. In this way they were able to provide water to far-flung cities and towns. The Aztecs also devised a wonderful system of aqueducts to transport water to their island capital.Underground water storage systems (which prevented evaporation) were built beneath many European and Middle Eastern cities and can still be seen today. Today, most of us rely on the government (who manage the dams), the water cleaning companies (like Rand Water) and municipalities (that supply the water) to look after our water and conserve it. There are still many things that we can do to ensure that we conserve water and thereby conserve the environment.

Group activityMuch of the rain that falls runs off the ground, into rivers and back into the sea. Some of it evaporates and some is simply wasted, for example, using too much water to wash a few plates and cups or leaving a tap running while brushing our teeth. In your groups, discuss what the ordinary person can do every day to use water wisely and keep it clean. Write down the group’s ideas and share them with the class.Investigate the way that water is stored today in homes, and other places in the community and say whether this is the best way of conserving water or not.

Early aqueducts had to rely on the force of gravity to move water over long distances. So the water could only move from a high point to a lower point. Modern aqueducts use electric pumps and gravity to move the water from one place to another.

Roman aqueduct

reservoirintake

conduitaqueduct

bridge city

CONSERVE WATER, CONSERVE THE ENVIRONMENT

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Conserving water –from ancient times to the present day

Modern aqueduct

cityreservoir

pipelinedam

intake

watercleaningstation

pumpingstation

RANDWATER CHANGES.indd 30 10/9/08 10:21:57