Water Scarcity
Introduction
This page provides a comprehensive introduction to water scarcity. It provides detailed worksheets, reading material and interactive activities on water scarcity. It begins with a map from memory activity on global patterns, leading to a comprehensive explanation of the causes of droughts. Students complete the lesson by exploring the social, economic and environmental impacts of drought.
Enquiry Question
Lesson Time: 1 hour
Lesson Objectives:
- To describe water stress and water scarcity including physical and economic water scarcity
- To explain the causes of water scarcity, both natural and human-made
- To describe the consequences of drought
Teacher Notes:
1. Starter- Map from Memory - Spatial Interaction _Give a pair of students a blank world map and in turn ask them to come up to see the following map (30 seconds). They need to return and describe its pattern to their partner. Then switch over
2. Water in the Anthropocene - Students can watch the video and make notes on the ways humans are impacting access to water
3. Defining key terms_ Processes_ students can then read the text and complete the definitions of key terms on their worksheet
4. Spatial Interaction and Place _Mapping and GIS - Students can click on the interactive map called, The Growing Blue Tool and identify different reasons for water stress and scarcity. They should make notes of these in the table provided.
Students should click on the flagged countries shown to have water scarcity. More specific regional information is layered within the countries
5. FAO video resource_ Spatial Interactions_Students can then answer the questions on their worksheet based on the video
6. Classifying_ Spatial interactions, scale and processes_ Students can then work with the card sort to connect the image with the text and then classify into physical and economic water scarcity
7. Reading Comprehension_Processes_Student can read through the handout on causes of drought
8. Possibilities_Synthesis - Students can then work in pairs or small groups to outline the social, economic and environmental impacts of droughts.
Starter Activity - Spatial Interaction - Map from Memory
Map from memory the following water scarcity map with a partner
World Outline Map
Source: World Development Report 4
Student Activity - Processes - Defining Water Scarcity
Water Scarcity WorksheetRead the following text and complete the gap-fill on your worksheet Water stress: When the water demand exceeds the supply of water and shortages exist.
Physical Water Scarcity: When the supply of rainfall is lower than the demand for water.
Economic Water Scarcity: When water supplies exist, but the local population can not access them because of pollution, lack of technology, etc.
Water scarcity is both a natural and a human-made phenomenon. There is enough freshwater on the planet for the human population but it is distributed unevenly and too much of it is wasted, polluted and unsustainably managed.
Hydrologists typically assess scarcity by looking at the population-water equation. An area is experiencing water stress when annual water supplies drop below 1,700 m3 per person. When annual water supplies drop below 1,000 m3 per person, the population faces water scarcity, and below 500 cubic metres "absolute scarcity"
Student Activity - Water in the Anthropocene - Processes and Spatial Interactions
Watch the following video and make notes on the ways humans are impacting access to water
Student Activity - Spatial Interactions and Place - The Causes of Water Scarcity
Click on the map to go to 'Interactive growing Blue Tool'. Navigate the map to identify different reasons for water scarcity. Complete your table with 5 different places
This link is unfortunately temporarily unavailable
Use the following link for example locations
Source: Growing Blue
Water Scarcity - Spatial Interactions - FAO Video on Water Scarcity
Watch the following video and answer the question on your worksheet
Student Activity - Processes - Water Scarcity Card Sort
Work with the card sort to
- Match the image with the text
- Classify into physical scarcity and economic scarcity
Student Activity - Spatial interactions, scale and processes - Major Causes of Droughts
Read the following text and answer the following questions:
- Sort the different causes of drought into global and regional/continental scale
- How does sinking air create dry conditions?
- Can you think of any human causes of drought?
Drought can affect nearly every place on the planet, even places like the British Isles, which has a Temperate Maritime climate experiences droughts as part of anticyclonic weather systems. These systems are caused by the slow sinking of cooler air creating areas of high pressure. As air sinks it warms and relative humidity falls. This process, in turn, locks moisture in, creating dry calm conditions. These conditions can be prolonged when these high-pressure systems get anchored to one place for an extended period.
High pressure
This process of sinking cool air follows a distinct spatial pattern at the global scale. This can be seen in the global atmospheric circulation presented in the tricellular model. High pressure is experienced at 30 degrees and the poles create the warm and cold desert belts. In places like the Sahel in Africa, droughts are a natural part of their Tropical Dry/Wet climate. However, with climate change droughts seem to be increasing in both frequency and extremity. Another global system that causes drought is El Nino. This event takes place due to changes in ocean currents in the Pacific Ocean, leading to drier conditions in the normal wet climate of Southeast Asia. El Nin, with climate change, seems to be increasing in frequency not only increasing droughts in South East Asia but impacting climate patterns globally.
Other places experience drought conditions as part of their geographical positioning to rain shadows of mountain ranges. As air sinks downwards on the leeward side of ranges, the air warms and relative humidity falls locking moisture in. A good example of this is found in the Atacama Desert region of South America.
Continentality is also a factor that causes droughts. Air movement over large land masses such as Asia and Australia becomes moderated by the dry conditions of the land. This distance from large bodies of water means the air is dry and little rain forms. This can be seen in the image below of Australia.
Student Activity - Possibilities - The Impacts of Drought
Complete the worksheet by identifying the social, economic and environmental impacts of droughts