Water*

Helpful Hints:

For each category, we have provided several examples to get you thinking about the wide variety of topics on which you might develop a website. Remember, your website entry is only required to fit into one of the broad categories, such as Water.

You will notice that many of our examples include cross-cultural references or highlight international aspects of a particular topic. The criteria used to score ThinkQuest entries reward collaboration among student teams in different regions or countries, so we have provided examples that we hope will inspire you to think globally and collaboratively as you choose your topic area and develop your website.

Here is one way you might choose a topic with your team:

• Look at all six official categories. Which one is most interesting to you?
  
• Read the examples provided below. Remember, they are only examples.
  
• Then, discuss/brainstorm topic ideas:
  • Which ideas are you most excited to learn about?
  • If you’re doing ThinkQuest as part of a class, what are some subjects you will learn about this school term? In other words, can you think of a topic that links to your curriculum?
  • Are you an expert on a certain topic already? What about your friends and family? Think about all of the resources available to you.
  • Look at the ThinkQuest Library. Are there already lots of web sites about your topic? Can you think of something new?
  • Is this a good topic for collaboration—with kids from another school, community, or country?

Water Examples:

Water is the tie that binds every living thing on our planet, making this a vast and challenging category for exploration. Consider these interesting facts:

• The adult human body is 50 to 65 percent water; a child’s body is approximately 75 percent water.
• An estimated 1.2 billion people do not have access to clean drinking water.
• Lack of clean drinking water leads to nearly 250 million cases of water-related disease each year and between 5 and 10 million deaths.
• The Earth has 1,386,000,000 cubic kilometers of water, only 2.5 percent of which is fresh water.
• Of this fresh water, only one tenth of one percent (0.01 percent) is usable in a renewable fashion.

Explore the topic of water as it relates to people, animals, health, culture, environment, agriculture, and/or economy. You might research threats to current water supplies and their effects on the future well-being of ecosystems, and/or different ways of providing and conserving water. You might also look at different uses of water across cultures and geographic regions. We are sure you will come up with lots of ideas, but here are some examples to get you started.

Academic Subjects/Standards you could explore in this category: Language Arts, Physical Science, Life Science, Earth Science, Social Studies, Civics, and Technology.

Example one: Water-related disease

Freshwater is essential for human survival. However, in many parts of the world, poor water quality poses a major threat to human health. An estimated 1.2 billion people do not have access to clean drinking water and must depend on water sources contaminated with bacterial and viral organisms, or industrial waste. Over the next twenty years, 76 million people could die from water related diseases – that’s more than are threatened by the global AIDS pandemic -- unless major changes are made.

Example two: Water usage across cultures

The human body can live for weeks without food, but it can only survive a few days without water. The average person needs a minimum of 5 liters (1.3 gallons) of water per day to survive in a moderate climate at an average activity level. The minimum amount recommended for drinking, cooking, bathing, and sanitation totals 50 liters (13 gallons). The average person in the United States uses between 250 to 300 liters (65 to 78 gallons) per day for these tasks. The average person in the Netherlands uses 104 liters (27 gallons) per day for the same tasks. The average person in Somalia uses only 8.9 liters (2.3 gallons) per day, much less than the recommended minimum.

Example three: Pollution’s effects on frogs

In the United States, water pollution is threatening the survival of fish and amphibians. In 2002, the U.S. Geological Survey tested 139 rivers and found that 80 percent showed evidence of drugs, hormones, and products such as soaps and perfumes. Here is one example of how this consumer waste can harm wildlife: A scientist at the University of Georgia has found that exposure to anti-depressants in the water can cause tadpoles (immature frogs) to grow much more slowly than normal. Frogs often lay their eggs in temporary wetlands, such as ponds that dry up in the summer. If the tadpoles that hatch from the eggs are exposed to anti-depressants, they may take a longer time to develop into frogs. If the tadpoles don’t become frogs before the wetlands evaporate, they die prematurely, before they can lay their own eggs, changing the ecosystem.

Example four: Irrigation pump in Africa

The MoneyMaker is a low-cost water pump that is changing the lives of East African farmers. In the past, farmers had to rely on carrying buckets of water to irrigate their crops. The MoneyMaker allows farmers to water larger pieces of land more easily. It is a portable pump that is powered entirely by foot. It can transport water from a depth of 23 feet and spray it up to 46 feet in the air. Farmers who use the MoneyMaker are able to switch from “subsistence farming” (growing just enough food to feed their families) to farming as a small business. One example is Janet Ondiak, who used to struggle to irrigate a small piece of land with buckets of water. She purchased the MoneyMaker and now operates a vegetable farm business with three full-time workers. The MoneyMaker was developed by a nonprofit organization called ApproTEC, who estimate that the pump has helped create 16,000 new jobs and $30 million per year in profits and wages.

Example five: Three Gorges Dam

In 1994, the People's Republic of China began a 15-year project to build a dam across the Yangtze River. When completed, the Three Gorges Dam will be the world's largest dam and most powerful hydroelectric power plant, towering 610 feet high and stretching 1.3 miles wide. It will also create a 400-mile reservoir that will flood 19 counties. Those who favor building the dam say that it will provide clean, renewable energy, control natural flooding, and allow big commercial ships to reach China's interior regions. However, critics warn that the project may have negative effects on the local environment and culture. When the dam opens in 2009, over a million people will have been relocated, over a thousand archeological sites will be underwater, and endangered species, such as the baiji dolphin, may be closer to extinction because of changes the dam will cause to the ecosystem.

Citations:

• A World Transformed. Map. Washington, D.C.: National Geographic Maps, Sept. 2002.
• Gleick, P.H. "Dirty Water: Estimated Deaths from Water-Related Diseases 2000-2020." Pacific Institute for Studies in Development, Environment, and Security. 15 Aug. 2002 <http://www.pacinst.org/reports/water_related_deaths.htm>.
• “Water-related Disease”. Home page. World Health Organization. 26 Nov. 2003 <http://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/diseases/en/>.
• “Access to Safe Water”. DEPweb. The World Bank Group. 1 Dec. 2003 <http://www.worldbank.org/depweb/english/modules/environm/water/>.
• Gleick, P.H. "Basic Water Needs." Water International 21 (1996). <http://www.pacinst.org/reports/human_right_to_water/>.
• Walton, Marsha. “Frogs, fish and pharmaceuticals a troubling brew”. CNN.com. 14 Nov. 2003. 14 Nov. 2003. <http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/science/11/14/coolsc.frogs.fish/index.html>.
• Stevens, Jane Ellen. “Martin Makes a Middle Class. Stanford grad Martin Fisher has gone low-tech in search of solutions for Kenyan farmers.” San Francisco Chronicle. 8 Dec. 2002. 19 Feb. 2004 <http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2002/12/08/CM151986.DTL>.
• “Micro-irrigation Technologies.” Home page. ApproTEC. 19 Feb. 2004 <http://www.approtec.org/tech_irrigate.shtml>.
• Great Wall Across the Yangtze. PBS. 1 Dec. 2003. <http://www.pbs.org/itvs/greatwall/>.
• “As Yangtze River dam rises, questions arise”. CNN.com. 8 May 1998. 1 Dec. 2003. <http://www.cnn.com/EARTH/9805/08/china.doomed.river>.

*This category was developed in partnership with the Pacific Institute for Studies in Development, Environment, and Security, an independent, non-profit center created to conduct research and policy analysis in the areas of environment, sustainable development, and international security. Please visit http://pacinst.org/ for more information on their work.