Summary
Explains that while most of Earth's water is salt water, freshwater is the scarce resource almost all land life depends on — and shows where freshwater is stored: glaciers, groundwater, rivers, and lakes.
Viewer safety
All ages
Common Sense Media — not yet ratedIMDb Parents Guide — not yet rated
Our rating is a quick teacher-to-teacher guide — preview before showing.
Teaching resources
Discussion questions
Discussion
- What percentage of Earth's water is freshwater? Of that, how much is accessible to us?
- Where is most of Earth's freshwater stored?
- Why can't we just use ocean water to drink?
- What happens to freshwater supplies when glaciers melt?
Quick work-a-long
Vocabulary: freshwater, saltwater, glacier, groundwater, aquifer, reservoir.
Try it: Fill a large bowl with 1,000 mL of water to represent all of Earth's water. Pour 30 mL into a cup for freshwater. Of that, freeze 28 mL (glaciers). The remaining 2 mL is all accessible freshwater. What does that tell you?