GRADE LEVEL• 3-6

SUBJECT AREAS• EarthScience,Geography,Math

SKILLS• Gather,Analyze,Interpret,

Present,Technology

VOCABULARYAttitude,climate,equator,freshwater,latitude,percent,probability,randomsample,saltwater,watershed

CONTENTSMeasurable Objectives

Background and Text Overview

Vocabulary

Activities

• BluePlanetActivityandAn-swerKey

Take Action!

• PosterItems

• Activities

Assessments

• Pretest/PosttestandAnswerKey

• CriticalThinkingQuestions

• WhatDidILearn?OnlineQuizAnswerKey

Extensions

Resources

• ProjectWETResources

• AdditionalStudentResources

• AdditionalEducatorResources

MEASURABLE OBJECTIVESThelearnerwill:

• EstimatethepercentageofEarth’ssurfacethatiscoveredwithwater.

• Explaindifferencesbetweensaltwaterandfreshwater.

• DiscussthepercentageoffreshwateravailableforhumanstouseinrelationtoallwateronEarth.

BACKGROUND AND TEXT OVERVIEW

INTRODUCTIONFromspace,ourplanetappearsmostlyblueduetothegreatamountofwaterfoundatitssurface.Aboutthree-fourthsofEarth’ssurfaceiscoveredwithwater.Relativelylittleofthislargeamountofwaterisusablefreshwater.TherestissaltwaterintheoceanorisfrozenasiceattheNorthandSouthPoles.Thinkofitthisway:Ifallthewaterintheworldfitintoabathtub(about30gallonsor114liters),freshusablewaterwouldfillslightlymorethanateaspoon.

OUR BLUE PLANETThemajorityofEarth’ssurfaceiscoveredbywater.Theper-centageofEarth’ssurfacethatiscoveredbywaterisabout71percent,oralmostthree-fourths.Fromspace,ourplanetappearsmostlyblueduetothegreatamountofwaterfoundatitssur-face.Whyblue?Forourplanet’sbeautifulbluecolor,wecanthankthesunandtheamazingwaysoflight.Allcolorsaremixedwithinsunlight.Whensunlightfallsontheocean,mostofthecolorsareabsorbedcompletely.However,thecolorblueisab-sorbedtheleast,sotheplanetlooksblue.

SALT WATER AND FRESH WATER ON EARTHMostofthewateronthesurfaceoftheEarthiscontainedintheoceanandseaswhereitissalt

The Blue PlanetWhy do we call our planet Earth when its surface is mostly water?

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water.Saltwateriswatercon-tainingabout3.5percentsalts,orminerals.Mineralsfromgasesthatentertheoceanthroughcracksintheoceanfloorandrocksandsoilsthatwashfromthecontinentsgivetheoceanitssaltytaste.About97percentoftheEarth’swaterissaltwater,2percentislockedintheglaciersandpolaricecaps,0.5percentistoopollutedtouseunlessit’spurifiedand0.5percentisusablefreshwater(orwaterthatdoesn’tcontainalargepercentageofsalts).Thisfreshwatermustbesharedamongallpeople,plantsandanimalsonEarth.People

usewaternotonlyfordrinkingbutforbathing,washingclothes,flush-ingthetoilet,togenerateelectricity,runfactories,etc.It’sveryimportanttoconserveasmuchfreshwateraspossible.

WATER AND LIFETherearemanythingsweneed,suchasshelterandclothing,butatthecoretherearefourfactorsnecessaryforlifetoexist:soil,air,sunlightandwater.

WEATHER AND CLIMATEClimatesandweatherpatternsaroundtheentireplanetarelargelycausedbytheocean,be-causeitplayssuchalargeroleinthecirculationofenergy,waterandcarbon.Theoceanabsorbs,storesandmovesheat,energyandcarbon.Surfacecurrentscarrywarmwatertowardthepolesfromtheequator.Deepercurrentscarrycoldwatertowardtheequatorfromthepoles.

SOILSoilistheresultofrockthathasbeenbrokendown

byphysicaland/orchemicalprocessescalledweathering.Soilcontainsdecomposed(decayed)

plantsandanimals.Soilprovidesplantswithmineralsandnutrientsandhelpstransportwater

toplants’roots.

WATERWateristhecombinationoftwocolorlessandodorlessgases—hydrogenandoxygen.Itisneededtodissolveandcarryfoodandwaste

withinorganisms.

AIRAirisamixtureofnumerousgasesincluding

nitrogen,oxygen,hydrogen,carbondioxide,neon,heliumandothers.Duringplantphotosynthesis,carbondioxideisusedtobuildsugar.Respiration(oxygenintakeandcarbondioxiderelease)helpsmanyplantsandanimalsmetabolize(convertintoenergy)sugarintheircells.Thisburningofsugar

suppliesenergytolivingthings.

SUNLIGHTThesunilluminatesandwarmsEarth’ssurface.Plantsusethesun’senergytomakesugarfromcarbondioxideandwater—aprocesscalled

photosynthesis.Sunlightandsoilareuseddirectlybyplantsandindirectlybyanimals.Animalsgettheirnutrientsandenergyfromplantsorfrom

animalsthateatplants.

Whencoldwatermeetswarmwater,itrisesandmixes.Circulationintheoceanispoweredbywindandtides,thesun,Earth’srota-tionandwaterdensity.

ATTITUDE IS EVERYTHINGIsithotordrywhereyoulive?Ordoyouhavelotsofrainyormistydays?Howaboutdeepsnowsandfreezingtemperatures?Yourattitude(thoughtsandfeelings)aboutsavingwaterandusingitwiselydependsonwhereyouliveintheworld.Forexample,ifyouliveinthemountainsofWesternMontana,wherethere’slotsofsnowandrain,yourattitudeaboutsavingwaterisprobablyquitedifferentfromakidliving

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intheGobiDesert.AyoungpersonintheBrazilianrainforestprobablythinksdifferentlyaboutwaterthanayoungnativeoftheKalahariDesert.

ACTIVITIESBLUE PLANET ACTIVITYPleaseseeBlue Planet Activitystudentcopypage.

ANSWER KEYAnswerswillvary

TAKE ACTION!POSTER ITEMS1.Iwillshopsmartbytaking

myownreusablebagsandrecyclingplasticshoppingbags.

2.Iwillrecycleandreuseglass,plasticsandcardboard.

3.Turnoffthewaterwhilebrushingyourteeth,washingyourhandsandshampooing.

ACTIVITIES

ASSESSMENTSPRETEST/POSTTESTBeforestudentsvisittheBlue Planet UnitoftheDiscover Waterwebsite,havethemtakethefollowingquiztoseewhattheyalreadyknowaboutwa-teronplanetEarth.Havestudentstakethesamequizagainasaposttesttomeasurelearn-ing.

PleaseseeBluePlanetPretest/PosttestStudentCopyPage.

PRETEST/POSTTEST ANSWER KEY1.True

2.True

3.True

4.Alloftheabove

5.Hydrogenandoxygen

6.True

7.True

CRITICAL THINKING QUESTIONSLEVEL 1IfthereissomuchwateronEarth,whyisonlyasmallportionofitdrinkable?

Answer should include discussion about how

much—3/4 or about 75%—of the water on Earth is salt water and that humans can’t drink salt

water.

LEVEL 2WhydowecallourplanetEarthwhenitssurfaceismostlywater?

Answer should include discussion about how much of the water on Earth is salt water, and therefore not necessarily usable for humans, also that humans live on land and are focused on our lives on land and the fresh water we use.

LEVEL 3Whatisyourattitudeaboutwater?Howisitinfluencedbywhereyoulive?Compareyourattitudewiththeideasaboutwaterinotherareas.

Answer should be an opinion piece with reasoning to explain the student’s attitude about water and include discussion of the local climate, ways water is used in your area and how that affects local people’s attitudes. Discus-sion should also include mention of different climates and how that might affect attitude about water.

WHAT DID I LEARN? ONLINE QUIZ ANSWER KEY

Q.HowmuchofEarth’ssurfaceiscoveredwithwater?

A.Three-fourths

Q.EarthiscalledtheBluePlanetbecausethereissomuchwateratitssurface?

A.True

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Q.IfallthewateronEarthfitintoa30gallon(114liter)tub,theamountthatisfreshwaterwouldfillslightlymorethana:

A.Teaspoon

Q.Thedifferencebetweensaltwaterandfreshwateristhatsaltwatercontainsmorenaturaldis-solvedsalts.

A.True

Q.ThereareactionsonepersoncantaketomakeadifferenceinthehealthoftheBluePlanet.

A.True

EXTENSIONSIdeasforwaystosupportandexpandlessonplansaboutthistopicorprovideadditionalac-tivitiesforadvancedlearners.

• Becomepenpalswithsome-onefromadifferentclimateandcompareyourattitudesaboutwater

• Researchmajorbodiesofwa-teroneachcontinent

• Havestudentsmakesaltwaterusingthesameproportionsasseawater

RESOURCESPROJECT WET RESOURCES

ProjectWETKIDS(KidsinDiscoverySeries)Booklets

• Discover Floods

• Discover Marine Mammals

• Discover Ports and Harbors

• Discover Recycling, Take Action!

• Discover Sea Turtles

• Discover Drought

• Explore Oceans

• The Water Story

• Water, Every Drop Counts

ProjectWETCurriculumandActivityGuide2.0Activities

• A Drop in the Bucket

• Blue Planet

• Common Water

ADDITIONAL STUDENT RESOURCES

Eales,Philip.2007.Map: Satellite.NewYork,NY:DorlingKinderse-ley,Inc.

Hooper,Meredith.2008.A Drop in My Drink: A Story of Water on Our Planet.London,UK:FrancisLincolnChildren’sBooks.

ADDITIONAL EDUCATOR RESOURCES

StrahlerandStrahler.2010.Introducing Physical Geography, FifthEdition.NewYork:JohnWileyandSons,Inc.PublishingCompany.

Vowell,JulieandMariannePhillips.2007.ADropthroughTime.Science and Children,44(9),30-34.

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Blue Planet ActivityFortheBluePlanetActivityonline,youwillusethepowerofprobabilityandwillsamplerandompointsonthesurfaceofaglobetodetermineifyourresultscoincidewithwhatyouknowabouttheproportionoflandandwateronEarth’ssurface.

Intheory,arandomsamplingof100pointsonanaccurateglobewouldyield71pointsonwaterand29pointsonland.Thenum-berofsamples,orthesamplesize,isimpor-tant.Thelargerthesamplesize,themoreaccuratetheresultsobtained.Intheonlineactivity,thesamplesizeis25points.Togetamoreaccurateresult,usethechartbelowtokeeptrackofyourclassmates’results,ormultipleturnsofyourown.Youcanthenusetheformulabelowtoseeifalargersamplesizegavemoreaccurateresults.

Numberofturns

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

ClicksinwaterTotalnumberofclicks

25 25 25 25 25 25 25 25 25 25 25 25 25 25 25

TOTAL # OF CLICKS IN WATER _____

TOTAL # OF CLICKS _____ X 100 = PERCENTAGE OF WATER ON EARTH

_____%

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StudentCopyPage

DiscoverWater.org©2011ProjectWETFoundation

Blue Planet Unit Pretest/Posttest1. Trueorfalse,thereismorewaterthanlandatEarth’ssurface?

2. Trueorfalse,Earthappearsmostlybluebecausemostofalltheothercolorsareabsorbedcompletelyandblueisabsorbedtheleast.

3. Trueorfalse,saltwatercontainsatleast3.5percentsaltsorminerals.

4. WhichofthefollowingisnecessaryforlifetoexistonEarth?

a. Air

b. Sunlightandsoil

c. Water

d. Alloftheabove

5. Waterisacombinationofwhichtwogases?

e. Hydrogenandoxygen

f. Oxygenandnitrogen

g. Hydrogenandnitrogen

h. Neonandhelium

6. Trueorfalse,globalclimatesandweatherpatternsareaffectedbycurrentsintheocean?

7. Trueorfalse,yourattitudeaboutwaterisaffectedbywhereyoulive?

Score:_____/7

StudentCopyPage

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