Today in Science
World Water Day
Did you know that it takes 2,000-5,000 liters of water to produce one person's daily food? Or that 70% of the world's water use goes toward agriculture? Water is a renewable, but finite resource.
World Water Day is celebrated every year at the behest of the United Nations as a means of focusing international attention on the importance of freshwater and advocating for the sustainable management of freshwater resources.
This year's theme is "Water Cooperation," in keeping with the designation of 2013 as the International Year of Water Cooperation. Because water is essential in so many ways (agriculture, transportation, drinking water, fishing, sanitation, etc.) and because freshwater resources are often a shared boundary between diverse groups, the U.N. states that "cooperation is essential to strike a balance between the different needs and priorities and share this precious resource equitably, using water as an instrument of peace."
Science NetLinks offers you a variety of resources to begin that conversation:
- Crops 1: Where Does Food Come From? (K-2)
- Crops 2: What Crops Need To Grow (K-2)
- Food Chains (K-5)
- Cycle of Life 1: Food Chain (3-5)
- Global Breakfast (3-5)
- The Water Cycle (3-5)
- The Water Cycle at Work (3-8)
- Water Treatment Cycle (3-8)
- Ecosystem Services: Water Purification (6-8)
- Great Rivers 3: Great Rivers, Great Givers (6-8)
- Models of the Water Cycle (6-8)
- Wasted Food (6-12)
- Wastewater Drug Mapping (6-12)
- The Fish Trade (9-12)
