Resources (water) challenge

Entry Task • What resources are abundant in Africa? • What resources are scare in Africa? • How have both types of resources

affected African people?

Objective: • The students will be able to analyze the

affect of abundant and scare resources on African society and livelihood.

The Powerof Water!

Resources

Challenge

Resources (water) – Challenge

CRISIS! • https://

www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRTk7aSbyd0

Why all the concern over something that covers about 70% of the Earth’s surface?

WHY DO HUMANS NEED WATER?

• Drinking water: our bodies need to stay hydrated in order to function properly

• For cleanliness: Poor sanitation can lead to disease

• To grow food: Many people depend on farming for survival

If the earth is covered in water, why can’t we just take what we

need?

Remember, only 3% of the water on earth is freshwater…

…we cannot use saltwater for drinking or watering crops

So where is the usable water????

Where is all the freshwater?

Glaciers and IcecapsGroundwaterRivers and LakesAtmosphere

What does that mean?

• There is very little freshwater to go around

• High Demand + Low Supply = High Value

• Water is incredibly valuable in areas such as Northern & Eastern Africa

So here’s the dilemma…

You need fresh water

There are limited places to get fresh water

How do you get it?

First let’s take a look at some physical features

Physical Features of North & Eastern Africa

Mountains!

• In the Western part of North Africa you can find the Atlas Mountains

Rivers

• Many rivers were the site of early civilizations

• Egyptians depended on the yearly Nile flooding for survival

So back to our original question

Given the landscape of North & Eastern Africa how do you think people get the water they need?

Aquifers

• One solution is to pump water out of aquifers– An aquifer is water that is stored in underground

layers• Problems with aquifers– Not all locations have great sources of

groundwater that are easy to access– Groundwater can be contaminated by bad soil– If water is removed faster than nature replaces it,

the aquifers run dry

Building Dams

• Building a dam on a major river can allow water to collect, and be redirected to another location

• Problems with building dams– It takes away water that would flow to other

countries– Can cause conflict among those countries

Rationing

• Making water resources available in limited amounts

Desalinization

• Treating saltwater to remove salts and minerals, makes it drinkable

• Very expensive process, so poor countries do not have this option, and still have shortages

• Oil rich countries have developed plants, making Southwest Asia the leader in the process

So what is the right answer?

• There are pros and cons to each option

• Is there a right answer? Is there a way to make everyone happy, and get everyone the water they need to survive?

• What do you think is the best solution to this challenge?

Living on Water

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_W-SZtjnKE

Water Wars in Kenya & Ethiopia

• http://pulitzercenter.org/video/focus-water-wars

• What do you think the filmmaker's purpose is in creating this documentary?

• Why some countries have more water than others?

“Drought Spurs Resource Wars”

• Read the article “Drought Spurs Resource Wars.”

• http://pulitzercenter.org/articles/drought-spurs-resource-wars

• Complete the “Drought Spurs Resource Wars” Questions (located on Google Classroom).