Questions for Social Studies 2

1. List the main reasons for water scarcity.

 The main reasons are low rainfall, variations in climate, land degradation, population growth and water pollution.

2. What is a drought? What type of hardships do you think that a drought could cause if you were living in a village in a poor country such as Ethiopia?

A drought is the opposite of a flood-it's when there is precipitation below average. If I was living in a poor country like Ethiopia, a drought would be terrible. Nobody would get enough water, and because Ethiopia is poor, they would not have very good dam systems and stuff, which would cause to lack of water for everybody. People could even die if a drought continues too long.  

3. How does land degradation affect the supply of fresh water?

When land is degraded, the soil loses its ability to absorb water. So, when rain comes down(fresh water) the fresh water will run off a lot, because the soil cannot absorb, due to land degradation. The fresh water run-off would go to rivers and seas, and we would be losing our fresh water.

4.
a) What is El Nino?

El Nino is the Pacific Ocean getting warm every 3-5 years. 

b) Why does El Nino often cause drought in Australia?

During El Nino, the wind going across the Pacific Ocean changes its direction. There is also reserved air pressure across the Pacific, which leads to high pressure systems over Australia. This pressure stops moist air from coming into Australia for a long time, which can cause droughts.

5. Observe the map showing the global effects of El Nino in 1982-83.

a) What effects does El Nino have on the availability of fresh water?
El Nino causes droughts, which cause rarely any rain. Rain is fresh water.

b) Name the countries and describe the problems that arose from decreased rainfall caused by El Nino.

Africa-decreased corn crop. China-Agricultural under serious problems from small amount of water and floods. Philippines-Decreased rice harvest. Indonesia-Forest fires and air pollution. Papua New Guinea-Failure of food crops. Australia-Wheat exports failure. Peru-Fishing problems. 

Bintaro Lama Movie

Hi, this is a video I filmed back in my field trip to Bintaro Lama last week. It shows what kinds of station I went to and how the local people cleaned water. Hope you enjoy!!

Trip to Bintaro Lama

On November 12th, the P module went to Bintaro Lama, to see how local people cleaned water. I went to station 2, 4 and 6. Even though the local people didn't have all the filters and machines like the water treatment plant, they could still make it clean. I thought that was pretty smart.

Station 2.

Station 2 was where the people taught us why we had to wash our hands. The water was mostly contaminated by open-waste, and people who drank and used the contaminated water afterwards got diarrhea. The WatSan people told us that babies under five would die in two days after getting diarrhea, and that millions of babies die every year because of contaminated water. They showed us a diagram of how the water was contaminated, and how people became sick. Washing our hands is important!

Station 4.

Station 4 was where the WatSan people demonstrated how they cleaned the water by using Pur, a packet of chemicals they put in to clean the water. It was really quite simple. All you had to do was pour in the Pur, then wait for 30 minutes. Between the 30 minutes, sedimentation happened. Then, you pour the water through a filter made out of a handkerchief, and voila! The water was drinkable. But the Pur was only for emergencies, like when there was a flood. The other way to clean water was through this filter, but it took 12 hours to clean water using the filter.

Station 6.

Station 6 was where AquaTabs and AirRahMat was introduced. AquaTabs were these tablets to put in the water. The tablet dissolved, and cleaned the water while dissolving. The tablet was used to clean flood water. One AquaTab can clean 10L of flood water, and 20L of ground water. The AirRahMat was a liquid. You would put in a few drops of AirRahMat, then shake it for 15 seconds. Then it was drinkable. AirRahMat was 3,000 Rp., and AquaTabs were 1,000 Rp. per tablet. 

The way of cleaning water was really smart. I learned how to clean water three different ways. From both trips to Bintaro and the water treatment plant, I thought how fortunate I was to get clean water so easily. After the field trips, I think I now know a bit more about how important clean water is. 

Preparation for pg.227, no. 1-6

1. What percentage of the world's supply of water is fresh water?

Only 2.5% of the Earth's water is fresh. 

2. Where is the world's supply of fresh water found?

Fresh water is found in ice on land, groundwater, soil, atmosphere, rivers and lakes.

3. Even though the supply of fresh water is abundant it is still a problem. Why?

It is a problem because water and people are unevenly distributed and some people don't get as much as they would need and want to.

4. Observe the map of world average annual precipitation (opposite).

a) Describe the changes in rainfall that occur as you move from the southern to the northern tip of Africa.

There isn't much rainfall at the southern and northern parts, but there's a lot of rainfall between the southern and the northern tip. There is more rainfall as you get to the middle of Africa.

b) Describe the changes in rainfall that occur as you move from the western to the eastern tip of Australia along the Topic of Capricorn.  

There is more rain at the eastern part of Australia than the western part.

5. Observe the map above of water availability per person.

a) Which parts of the world appear to have a large amount of water available per person?

Mostly the Northern parts. Russia, Canada, Australia, Africa, South America

b)Which parts of the world appear to have a small amount of water per person?

Some parts in Asia, a couple of Northern tips in Africa, the southern tips in Australia and the Middle East

6. Observe the diagram of water use.

a) What are the main uses of water?

Agricultural use

b) Which uses have increased the most over the last century? 

Reservoir losses from evaporation and seepage

Trip to the Water Treatment Plant

On November 5th, all the P module went to the water treatment plant for a field trip. There we had a quick tour around the treatment plant, and learned they cleaned the water. Then, we watched a movie about the steps.

1. The first step was taking out all the floating garbage in the water. Often garbages like plastic bags and diapers flow in with the water, and they need to be removed. There are big iron gate-like fences, which lets the water flow in, but not the garbage. It hooks the garbage, removing it from the water.

2. The second step was adding minerals and oxygenating, once the garbage was removed. This was done for aeration, letting some oxygen mix with the water. Adding good and healthy minerals for us was also done in the second step.

3. The third step was adding chemicals, which also included allum. Allum was put in, and all the big pieces of dirt floated upwards, making a hay-and-water sort of gooey mixture called floc. It was the first step of removing dirt from the water, and to clean it. 

4. The fourth step was taking out the floc. A lot of people just think floc as a waste and throw them away, but the water treatment send the floc to a waste tower, where they make a paste using the floc. The paste is used to build houses and stuff. So, the water treatment plant was being nature-friendly! 

5. The fifth step was filtration and disinfection. The remaining water passed through a layer of very fine sand for last removal of any dirt left, and then more chemicals were added for disinfection for one more time. This was part was one of the most important step, because they had to make sure the water was clean.

I had a pretty fun time at the water treatment plant. It was really cool how they transformed the murky, dirty brown water to a perfectly drinkable water. I never knew this much steps were done for my shower water and stuff. I think I'm really lucky to get all this clean water quickly, whenever I want it.  

Where the Sidewalk Ends

This is me reading a poem called 'Where the sidewalk ends'. I chose this poem because I like how calm and smooth the poem makes me feel.