H2OWHAT’S THE BIG DEAL?

LET’S FIND OUT

Okay…first…get up and go sit with some other people.Yes you! You too! No, you can’t be by yourself…if I can’t you can’t.1. 1. List as many “facts” as you can…about water.2. 2. List as many world issues as you can that are centered around

or contain water as a component.3. 3. List as many works of literature as you can that have

something to do with water…either by content or title.4. 4. Describe a work of art (painting, photograph, song…etc). That

is connected to water.5. 5. List one mathematical operation that you’d need to be able to

use if you wanted to store, re-rout, or otherwise work with water.

Well…first off…arth’s surface is covered with the stuff.Life on Earth began in the water and didn’t come out for 3 billion years…that’s a long time to stay in the pool. Probably life’s parents yelled at it to come out and life was all like…”Just one billion more years pleeeeze!” Life’s parents were like…”NOW!” Life was all like…”You’re mean!”

Cells are about 70-95% water (depends on the type) and they’re pretty much surrounded by water…most of ‘em.

Many of the chemical reactions required to sustain life (that’d be METABOLISM) involve water.

Some water chemistry…ya gotta have it!Water is what is know as POLAR COVALENT Whaaaaaa?????Okay…you know that water is H2O right? Riiiight?A water molecule looks like this:Those are three different ways toShow “water,” but they’re all H2O.What you can’t see is that the electrons in water like to hang out closer to the OXYGEN than the HYDROGEN…like this: Looks like Mickey Mouse…don’t itPolar-the molecule has a plus end and minus end...Like magnets!Covelant-means the hydrogen and oxygen are sharingelectrons…it’s a type of atomic bonding.

So…what’s that mean…actually?-Because the H2 side of a water molecule is + and the O side is -, water molecules stick to each other (COHESION). -Water drops are drop-shaped instead if spheres cuz of this!-Because of all of this chemistry stuff…-Water has surface tension, which means CAPILLARY ACTION, which means…water can mover through plant roots, which means that producers can photosynthesize, which means…well…you know. Also…blood can travel through our…uhhhh…capillaries.

Water can absorb a lot of heat because it has a high SPECIFIC HEAT INDEX…that means it is good for cooling things.That’s why the changes in seasonal temperature are gradual…thank you waterSome other fun facts about water…I guess they’re fun…I didn’t give it that much thought.Freezing Temp. 0ºC/32ºFBoiling Temp. 100ºC/212ºFpH=7…that’s called “neutral.”Water is the only substance on Earth that is found as a liquid, solid, and gas! Impressive…donchathink?

Water has a specific gravity of 1.0 meaning…1 cm (ml) = 1 gramWater does something really weird…It gets LESS DENSE as the temperature gets LOWER!That’s HUGE! It’s why ponds and lakes don’t freeze solid in winter. That is key for the Earth’s ecology.