Activity 2.1.

1 Global Water Distribution

Introduction
Earth might be best called the water planet, as water covers roughly seven-tenths of
the Earths surface. Given there is so much available water, how much of this do you
think is readily accessible and suitable for human consumption? Surprisingly, the
answer is very little. In fact, not having sufficient clean drinking water is a major
issue in many parts of the world, including both the developing and industrialized
nations.
Many humans value Earths rivers and lakes as recreational opportunities; however,
nearly every living thing relies on them for survival. Free-flowing rivers provide
several necessities. They're an important source of drinking water and irrigation for
crops. They carry sediments that help create coastal wetland features such as
marshes that provide habitats for many animals and plants. Clean, flowing rivers
provide dissolved oxygen in the water that aquatic life and fish need to breath.
Pollution poses the largest threat to fresh water systems. Pesticides in agricultural
runoff unintentionally kill fresh water organisms, and raw sewage from municipal
sources spreads disease to people and animals that rely on the water. Protecting
rivers from pollution, however, isn't the only challenge to be met. Even though the
Earth's supply of fresh water is continually being renewed through the water cycle, it
is still in short supply in many places. Finding ways to conserve this precious
resource is of utmost importance.
In this activity you will use scientific estimates of the different types of water on Earth
to first calculate the relative amounts of each type of water as a percentage of all
water. You will represent the relative amounts of all of Earths water using an 18 liter
model. You will use a variety of laboratory measuring equipment to precisely
measure each type of water for this scaled down model in order to physically
determine the amount of freshwater that is available for human use compared to
total water sources.
Through this activity you will also learn to select appropriate volumetric measuring
equipment and develop skills for accurately and precisely measuring volume with
each type of measuring device.

Equipment

2 - 5 gallon buckets
18 liters of water
1 - 1 L beaker
Graduated cylinders of various sizes (10 mL, 50 mL, 100 mL, 250 mL, 500
mL, 1000 mL)
1 - Transfer pipette (1.0 mL with 0.1 mL graduations)
Calculators or computer with Excel or other spreadsheet software

2015 Project Lead The Way, Inc.

Environmental Sustainability Activity 2.1.1 Global Water Distribution Page 1

Procedure
NA
Look at all of the different sources of water shown on Table 1 below. Place a
checkmark in the last column next to what you think are the three most
common sources of human drinking water.
Calculate Percentages and Proportions - These calculations can be done
using a calculator and the chart on the next page or using the Excel
spreadsheet 2.2.1.A Global Water Distribution Excel.xlsx.
A. Using the data for each type and amount of water on Earth,
calculate the total water percentage of each type of water source
and record your calculations in Table 1.
B. Calculate the percentage of each freshwater (non-saline) source
compared to the total fresh water and record your calculations.
C. For the scaled-down water model in which 18.00 liters (L) of water
represents all of Earths water, calculate the proportional volume in
milliliters (mL) for each type of water. Record these values in Table
1. Check to make sure that the sum of all these proportional
calculations equals 18.00 L.
D. Total the amount of water available for human consumption in the
18 L scale model and record this figure in your engineering
notebook.
Select Measuring Equipment
A. Research the internet on how to read liquid volumes using
laboratory equipment.
B. Look at the volumes of water to be measured in 18 L scale model
and determine which type of laboratory measuring tool, from the list
of equipment available, should be used to most accurately and
precisely measure that volume. Record your choice and reasoning
in Table 1.
NA

2015 Project Lead The Way, Inc.

Environmental Sustainability Activity 2.1.1 Global Water Distribution Page 2

Table 1: Global Distribution of Water

7.) Measure Water Volumes for the 18 L Scale Model

A. Using one of the buckets provided, send rotating group members to
collect and document water volumes representing two (2) saline
sources and five (5) fresh sources. Use the most appropriate
measuring device for each job and document by taking a photo.
B. Make sure that you take turns using the bucket of water. Once you
have measured your sample (be as accurate and precise as you
can!), take a photo to document your work, and dump the water
back into the bucket. You will upload these photos to your digital
portfolio
Use your Excel Spreadsheet data to create a chart to demonstrate the
distribution of the Earths water. Upload your spreadsheet and answers to the
following questions to your portfolio.

Conclusion
Explain why there might be differences between the calculated volume and the
actual measured volume. What are the potential sources of error in this
activity? What could be done to minimize errors?
-Differences between the calculated and measured volumes, in this activity,
most likely come from the imprecision of the instruments. Beakers overshoot
the amount of water they contain slightly inorder to compensate for the fact
that some liquid will remain inside of it due to adhesive forces, for example.

2015 Project Lead The Way, Inc.

Environmental Sustainability Activity 2.1.1 Global Water Distribution Page 3

Explain how you chose the correct volumetric measuring instrument, such as a
beaker, a graduated cylinder, a pipette, or a micropipette.
-I used a beaker for measurements in excess of 500 ml, Graduated cylinders
for between 50-200 mL, Pipettes for anything below 10 ml, and micropipettes
for below 1 mL. The lab equipment that we have works roughly in this range.
How did your choice of different volumetric measuring instruments potentially
affect the accuracy and/or precision?
-The larger volumes definitely werent as precise, due to some quanitity of it
sticking inside the beaker.
Considering the percentage of usable fresh water, what should we be
concerned about when we use water?
-Whether or not if we can recycle and use it again, where exactly it goes, and
how we can make sure it doesnt flow into a saline water source.
Describe at least three other factors that might make availability of fresh water
for human consumption a challenge in different parts of the world.
-Whether or not if it can be thoroughly sanitized, whether or not if it could be
stored, and whether or not if it was easily accessible.

2015 Project Lead The Way, Inc.

Environmental Sustainability Activity 2.1.1 Global Water Distribution Page 4