Questions and Answers for Pg.229 in Geo Active1 Book

• 1. List the main reasons for water scarcity.

The main reasons for water scarcity are the changess in climate, land degradation, population growth and water pollution.



2. What is a drought?What type of hardships do you think that a draught could cause if you were living in a village in a poor country such as Ethiopia?


A drought is a period of a little amount of rainfall that falls to the Earth. The type of hardships a drought could cause is loss of human lives.



3.How does land degradation affect the supply of fresh water?


If the land is paved off the rainfall will run off to the rivers,lakes and streams. This means the water won't infiltrate in the ground and into the aquifer.



4. a) What is El Niño?


El Niño is a climate change that builds up every three to five years.

b)Why does El Niño often cause drought in Austrailia?


El Niñ0 often causes drought in Australia because of the reversal of air pressure over the Pacific Ocean, resulting in high pressure systems covering the most of Australia.

5. Observe the map showing the global effects of El Nino in 1982-83.
Show all
a)What effects does El Nino have on the availability of fresh water?
The Effects El Niño has on the availability of fresh water is....
1. Flooding
2. Drought
3.No water to grow food ( caused by droughts).


b)Name the countries and describe the problems that arose from decreased rainfall.


Africa

• There are reduced corn crops in the sub Saharan region

Indonesia

• There is pollution high up in the air which triggers forest fires.

China

• Agricultural land is under threat from drought in the northern regions and flooding in southern parts of China.

Papua New Guinea

• Drought-related failure of food crops,leading to famine conditons requiring food and aid.

Phillipenes

• There is not enough of rain to grow rice which is followed by a drought.

Austrailia

• Wheat exports threatned by drought conditions across grain-growing areas,particulary New South Wales

Peru

• Flooding(also in Chile)
• Fishing operators affected by lower catch as anchovy and Pacific sardine move offshore to escape warm currents(5Deg.C above normal temperatures.)

United States

• There is too much of rainfall in the northern-western part which doubles the historical averages.

Colombia

• Fishermen have a lower catch which decreases by 20%.

Bintaro Lama Field Trip

On the 12th of November we went to a special kampung located in Bintaro. The reason why this kampung is special is because they purify and treat their water. They get the water from a small polluted river located near the village. The bus journey from school to the Kampung was about one and a half hour. At first I thought, "how could the villagers live and drink the water that was so dirty?" I then learnt how they purify their own water. We visited three of the six stages of how they purify their own water.

The first stage which was station six that we visited was called Disinfection. There are 2 ways of making the water potable. They use a small tablet which is called "Aqua Tab." One Aqua tab can disinfect about 30 liters of water, but the setback is that you have to wait for 30 minutes before the Aqua tab dissolves in the water and disinfects it. The ingredients for the Aqua tab is chlorine and other chemicals. One strip of 6 aqua tabs cost Rp.6000. The second way the villagers used to purify their water is that they use a liquid called Air Rahmat . A few drops of Air Rahmat can disinfect 5 liters of water. The disadvantage is that you have to shake the water with the drops of Air Rahmat inside a container for 30 seconds.

The second stage that we visited which was station 2. Station 2 is about the importance of hygiene. The guide explained about what happens if you don't wash your after you have gone to the toilet. (\_/) There are 5 ways that the feces from the human waste that can contaminate

(=*_*=)

the food we eat. One way is by not washing your HANDS!!

Our final stage that we visited was station 4. Station 4 was about filtration,flocculation and sedimentation. First the villagers put a chemical inside. The name of the product is called PUR. PUR is used to collect the dirt particles in the water to make floc. One packet of PUR costs Rp.1000. Then the floc particles sink to the bottom of the container which is called sedimentation. Then they filter the water by inserting a clay pot in a bucket. They cover the hole in the clay pot by laying filter cloth. Then they pour the water with the floc particles in the water. The dirt gets trapped in the clay pot and the water flows through the cloth. This process is similar to the Water Treatment Plant.

Although the kampung was very dirty, the villagers were extremely kind to us. There is only one small school in the village and most of the children who live in the village can't afford education. I think it was a great learning experience for me. The most interesting part was when the children sang a song about the importance of washing your hands.

Ouestions for page 227 in Geo Active 1 Book

1. What percentage of the world's supply of water is fresh water?

There is 2.5% of fresh water in the world.

2. Where is the world's supply of fresh water found?

The world's supply of fresh water is found in ice on land,groundwater and soil,atmosphere,rivers and lakes.

3. Even though the supply of fresh water is abundant it is still a problem. Why?

Even if the supply of fresh water is still abundant it is still a problem because the fresh water is unevenly distributed across the Earth. Some parts are very dry, like Africa and some parts have a lot of water like in America.

4. a) Describe the changes in rainfall that occur as you move from the southern to the northern tip of Africa.

The southern tip of Africa has more water availability per person and rainfall than in the north of Africa

b) Describe the changes in rainfall that occur as you move from the western to the eastern tip of Australia along the Tropic of Capricorn.

The west part has very little of annual rainfall,but as you move along to the east part the amount of annual rainfall is increasing.

5.a) Which parts of the world appear to have a large amount of water available per person?

The parts of the world that have the largest amount of water per person is in the northern part of Mongolia which is in Asia and the northern part pf north america.

b) Which parts of the world appear to have a small amount of water per person?

The parts which have the smallest amount of water per person is in Africa and in the north-west part of Europe.

6.a) What are the main uses of water?

The main uses for water is Agricultural and Reservoir losses from evaporation and seepage.

b) Which uses have increased the most over the last century?

The uses that have increased over the century is Reservoir losses from evaporation and seepage.

The Six Different Stages of the Water Treatmemt Plant

)n Thrusday, the 5th of November we 6th Graders went on a field trip to the Aetra Water Treatment Plant. It was about an hour and a half away drive from school. When we reached we went straight away to the Plant. There were six important stages that water from the river has to pass through before it is sent to the city.

The first stage is to separate the big pieces of garbage by a gate with holes then the smaller pieces of garbage are separated by another gate with smaller holes. This is very similar to the process of filtration. The second part of the first stage is that the water needs to be oxidized(aerate)

The second stage is to add alum to the water so the dirt particles clump to one another to form one big dirt particle, called floc. The process of this is called coagulation.

The third stage is when the larger floc particles settle to the bottom. At the Aetra Water Treatment Plant the water is stored in large tanks for the floc particles to settle at the bottom. This is known as sedimentation.

The fourth stage is the water goes through a series of filters. At the Aetra Water Treatment Plant, they use layers of sand,coal and gravel to filter the water. The process of water going through a series of filters is called filtration. While the water flows through the filters the other dirt particles including the floc particles are left outside while the water flows through. Think of it as a strainer instead of wanting spaghetti you want the water that boiled the spaghetti.

The fifth stage is called disinfection. Disinfection is when a disinfectant,such as chlorine or bleach is added to the water which kills any remaining germs,bacteria and harmful chemicals which cannot be seen.

And the last stage is when the water goes through inspection to see if all the machines are working to keep our water clean! In the lab they take water samples from the start of the week till the end of the week, so they can make comparisons from the water that they purified today and with another day.

Now you may think that it will take over an hour just to purify a liter of water, but let me tell you this the Aetra Water Treatment Plant produces over about 5,000 liters of treated water per second, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Think, how much litres of treated water would the Aetra Water Treatment plant produce in a day, if they produced about 5,000 litres per second?

The Acrobats by Shel Silverstein

This a little video about me reading a poem out loud, titled "The Acrobats" by Shel Silverstein. HOPE YOU ENJOY!!!

Explanations of Evaporation, Condensation, Infiltration,Precipitation and Run-Off

1. Evaporation

Evaporation is the process when water is in it's liquid state turn into water vapor.

As you can see the water molecules are turning into water vapor

(water in it's gaseous state) from the heat of the sun.

2. Condensation

Condensation is the opposite of evaporation. Instead of water in it's liquid state turning into water vapor, it's water vapor turning into water in it it's liquid state. As you can see here condensation has appeared on the outside of a window. You can also there are many water droplets on the that indicates there is condensation on the outside of the window.

3. Precipitation

Precipitation is any form of water that falls to the ground, such as rain, hail,snow sleet and e.t.c.

As you can see in the picture rain is a form of precipitation. Precipitation occurs when the water droplets from condensation get bigger in size, and the air can no longer support them.

4. Infiltration

Infiltration occurs when water soaks into the ground from ground level. Some water will be soaked up by plant roots to help the plants grow, the rest will be stored underground this is known as ground water. As you can see in this picture the water from precipitation has been soaked up by the soil and is stored underground.

5. Run-Off

When Precipitation occurs and the water is not soaked by the soil the water moves forward through the rivers and ends back in the this is known as run-off. This is the most important part of the water cycle.