All About Water

Without water, life could not survive.

Water covers about 70% of the Earth’s surface. Approximately 97.2% of it is saline (salt water), and just 2.8% is fresh. Water is of major importance to all living things; in some organisms, up to 90% of their body weight comes from water. Up to 60% of the human adult body is water. According to H.H. Mitchell, Journal of Biological Chemistry 158, the brain and heart are composed of 73% water, and the lungs are about 83% water.

Each day humans must consume a certain amount of water to survive. Generally, an adult male needs about 3 liters per day while an adult female needs about 2.2 liters per day.

Learn more about The Water in You.

What Is Water Made Of?
Everything is made of atoms. An atom is the smallest particle of an element, like oxygen or hydrogen. Atoms join together to form molecules. A water molecule has three atoms: two hydrogen (H) atoms and one oxygen (O) atom.

Water comes in all 3 states of matter: liquid, gas, and solid.

The Water Cycle
Read about the Water Cycle, the movement of water on, in, and around the Earth.

How Water Gets To My Faucet
Depending upon where you live, there are two basic ways that water gets to your house. If you live in the country, your water probably comes from a deep well located on your property. If you live in a small town or larger city, you most likely get your water from a public water supply.

The Central Arizona Project allows passage of water from the Colorado River to central and southern Arizona. At 336 miles (541 km), it is the largest aqueduct (shown below) ever constructed in the United States.

Arizona Cap Canal

Water Is A Humanitarian Issue

Carrying Water – sub-Saharan Africa

Water is a humanitarian issue with 663 million people in the world (one in ten) not having access to clean water. Women walk an average distance of 10 kilometers daily to get clean water everyday.

Agriculture is the biggest water user, with irrigation accounting for 70% of global water withdrawal.

Water Conservation
Water conservation methods used to manage the amount of fresh water for future human use. Read more about Water Conservation and learn about ways you can save water.

Activities
1. Watch A Day In The Life Of A Village Girl.

2. Do the Water Word Search Puzzle.

3. Research the facts and create a slide presentation about Water Shortages Worldwide.

4. Make some Infused Water to drink.

5. Learn about the Water Cycle on Wikipedia and on this page, print a Water Cycle Placemat, and do the Water Cycle Mouseover activity.

6. Print and color the Water Cycle Coloring Page.