Water makes all life possible and connects all living things through time. Water is a never-ending cycle being reused. The water in a cave today is the water that the dinosaurs drank, that the ancient Egyptians used, and that you will use for dinner when you are 80. Here are some interesting facts about water.
- The average person uses about 100 gallons of water each day
- It takes: 25 gallons
of water to make one ear of corn
- 1300 gallons of
water for one hamburger
- 2607 gallons of
water for one pound of beef
- 815 gallons of
water for one pound of chicken
- 65 gallons of
water for a gallon of milk
- 100 gallons of
water for a watermelon
- 120 gallons of
water for one egg
- 1000 gallons of
water for a two pound loaf of bread
- 80 gallons of water
to make one Sunday newspaper
- 1800 gallons of water to make a pair of cotton jeans
- 100,000 gallons
of water to make a new car
- Water weighs about 8 pounds a gallon
- One half of the
world's fresh water is in Canada
- 20% of the available fresh water of the world is in the Great Lakes
- 60% of the fresh water in the world is used for irrigation
- California accounts
for 20% of the nation's irrigation
- 60% or more of
the human body is water
- 70% of the human
brain is water
- 82% of the blood is water
- 90% of the lungs
are water
- A leaky faucet
dripping 20 times a minute will waste close to 700 gallons of water
a year
- 40% of household
water is flushed down the toilet
- Water is the only substance on Earth that naturally exists in all three states: solid, liquid, and gas.
- A jellyfish and
a cucumber are each 95% water!
- Each day 4,200,000,000,000 gallons of water falls in the US and 70% of it is evaporated or used by plants
- Water levels in the Midwest Aquifer have dropped over 1000 feet due to over-consumption
- Did you know that each year people who change their own oil throw away 11 times the amount of oil spilled by the Exxon Valdez? This oil can easily pollute surface and groundwater.
- Did you know that nearly one half of the world's population lacks access to clean water for sanitation, drinking and other human needs?
- Did you know that using hot water straight from the tap for cooking or anything else is not healthy because lead from the plumbing can get into hot water?
- Did you know that more than 200 million pounds of contaminants are dumped into our water resources every year?
- Did you know it can take up to 45 minutes for a water supplier to produce one glass of drinking water?
- Did you know that water expands by 9% when it freezes?
- Did you know
that only 1% of the earth's water is drinkable?
This activity is available as an Adobe PDF.
Introduction