*
Introduction:
There is nothing fair or equitable about the way fresh water is distributed on Earth. Some places, like Seattle, Washington, are awash in rain for much of the year, while other areas, such as the Arabian Peninsula, get almost none. Kuwait gets almost all of its drinking water from salt water, an expensive process.
This activity will explore where water falls on Earth, and gives students an opportunity to predict the weather of their "neighbor" schools.
Materials:
Have a rich assortment of precipitation
and water storage maps, either from the library or bookmarked
web sites (see below), for the students to explore.
Classroom Management:
Activity Steps:
Step 1. Investigate: Where on
Earth does water fall?
How does its distribution vary around the globe? What people
on earth have the least amount of water? The most? Which "neighbor
schools" have the greatest supply of fresh water? The least?
Look at water maps and charts in the
library or on the web.
World Water Distribution
http://danpatch.ecn.purdue.edu/~epados/ground/src/supply2.htmh
Step
2. Where is water falling right now?
New technologies enable
web viewers to actually see the sky of cities and rural areas
around the world. Satellites gather data about large areas of
the world at a glance, and small video "eyes" send
continuous pictures out onto the Internet.
YAHOO! Weather http://weather.yahoo.com/images.html
features weather in particular areas of the world (bottom of the page). Look up the countries of your Neighbor Schools.Maps and Webcams
http://www.allianceit.net/~kenconk/links.html
See live cameras of world weather
http://www.weatherimages.org/weathercams.html#world
For example, look at Tokyo, Japan,GLOBE offers good precipitation maps in its visualization section, especially those generated by satellite data. http://www.globe.gov/fsl/welcome.html
Step 3. Predict whether it will rain over a country on another continent.
One hint: Which way does weather move? Review prevailing winds.
Click to enlargeGo to the world map, and study the direction of wind (and weather). Send a message to one or more Neighbor Schools letting them know your prediction!
Extensions:
Research the major wind streams (e.g. Jet Stream) and consider how it impacts the flow of weather.
*photo by Barbara
Tinker