Learn Something
The Water Princess & A Lesson About The World's Water
An easy experiment about a precious resource.
By Hollis 8/4/21
(This book and craft combo was featured on Hullabaloo's Instagram page this summer as part of our virtual Camp Hullabaloo. Love books and crafts? Check out our subscription series Club Hullabaloo for even more fun!)
We learned so much reading this week’s book, The Water Princess, by Susan Verde, illustrated by Peter Reynolds, and inspired by Georgie Badiel. It’s a tender but eye-opening account of a young girl’s journey over the African terrain to gather water every day. We went back and forth over what to share with you because, if you live in a developed country, fresh water is ever-present and that is not the case for so many on this earth. It would be insensitive to not acknowledge that fact and appreciate the embarrassment of wet riches we have access to whenever we want. So today we’re going to have an easy science lesson on just how precious fresh water is as a resource. Hopefully it’ll encourage more conscientious conservation in our day to day! We found this very educational but easy lesson via shareitscience.com and we’re grateful because we are not scientists.
The World's Water
You’ll need:
1 gallon jug
Measuring cup
2 clear cups
1 tablespoon
Eyedropper (or a straw to make a drop)
Water
Get Started:
1.) Fill the jug with water. This represents all of the water on Earth.
2.) Pour 1/2 cup of water from the jug into the measuring cup. This represents Earth's fresh water. The rest of the water in the jug represents salt water. We can't drink salt water!
3.) From the 1/2 cup of water, take 4 Tablespoons and drop this into a clear cup. This represents the fresh water that is not frozen in ice caps or glaciers.
4.) From the cup with the 4 Tablespoons of water, remove one drop with the eyedropper or straw and put it in the second clear cup. This represents the water that is clean, fresh, not polluted and otherwise available to use.
Pretty crazy, huh?? It’s so small we couldn’t even figure out how to get a picture of it. Now pour that water back into the jug (or a glass with ice), think about beautiful Georgie as she works to bring wells to people all over Africa, and USE IT WISELY. We’re lucky enough to have it, we certainly shouldn’t waste it.
That's it! Now go share a crunchy vegetable with your Escargot and pat yourself on the back for a craft that we're sure turned out tres, tres bon!