[ Lesson 1 ]

Why Is Water Important?

1. Body Processes
• All living things need water for body processes.

• Water helps organisms:

• Break down food

• Grow

• Reproduce

• Get and use materials from the environment

• Animals get water by drinking or eating foods that contain water.

• Most animals cannot survive more than a few days without water.

• Plants and algae also need water (use it in photosynthesis).

• Other organisms get food by eating plants or plant-eating organisms.

⸻

2. Habitats
• Water provides habitats for many organisms.

• A habitat = the place where an organism lives and gets the things it needs to
survive.

• Some organisms cannot live without water.

• Examples:

• Large water-dwelling animals (sharks)

• Many microscopic organisms

• Aquatic (water) habitats usually have more types of organisms than land
habitats.
⸻

Notes – The Water Cycle

3. Condensation Forms Clouds

• Warm air can carry water molecules upward.

• Air gets colder as it rises.

• At lower temperatures, water vapor condenses into liquid water.

• This forms clouds when water droplets clump around solid particles in the air.
⸻

4. Water Falls as Precipitation

• As condensation increases, droplets grow larger.

• When heavy enough, they fall back to Earth as precipitation: rain, snow, hail, or
sleet.

• Most precipitation falls into oceans.

• On land:

• Some evaporates

• Some runs off into streams and lakes (runoff)

• Most seeps into the ground as groundwater

⸻

5. Importance of Precipitation
• Precipitation = source of almost all fresh water on Earth’s surface and
underground.

• Water cycle has stayed constant for millions of years.

• Balance exists between evaporation and precipitation.

 6. Where Is Water Found?

Earth’s Water Supply

• 97% of Earth’s surface water is salt water (oceans).

• Only 3% is fresh water.

• Of that 3%:

• ~2/3 is frozen in ice (North & South Poles).

• ~1/3 is underground.

• A small amount is in rivers and lakes.

• A tiny fraction is in the atmosphere as water vapor.

Oceans

• Oceans = Paci c, Atlantic, Indian, Arctic (plus Southern Ocean sometimes).

• All are interconnected, forming one global ocean.

• Paci c Ocean: largest, bigger than all land on Earth.

• Atlantic Ocean: second largest.

• Indian Ocean: smaller but deeper.

• Arctic Ocean: smallest, surrounds the North Pole.

• Smaller saltwater bodies = seas.

⸻
fi
fi
Ice

• Much of Earth’s fresh water is frozen in ice sheets.

• Massive ice sheets cover Greenland & Antarctica.

• Icebergs = oating chunks of freshwater ice broken off from ice sheets.

• Found in Arctic Ocean & North Atlantic.

Rivers and Lakes

• Rivers and lakes contain fresh water.

• Example: North America’s Great Lakes = about 20% of the world’s freshwater
lakes.

• Many smaller rivers and lakes also hold fresh water.

Groundwater

• Fresh water underground.

• When rain/snow doesn’t evaporate, it soaks into the ground.

• Water trickles through soil and rock spaces.

• Fills underground cracks & rock layers = groundwater.

• More fresh water underground than in all rivers and lakes combined.
fl
[ Lesson 2 ]

Rivers, Watersheds, Ponds, and Lakes

What Is a River System?
• Gravity makes streams ow downhill.

• Small streams join together → form larger streams → eventually form a river.

• Tributaries = smaller streams/rivers that feed into a main river.

• A river system = the main river + all its tributaries.

⸻

Watersheds
• All water in a river system drains into a main river.

• Watershed (or drainage basin) = land area that supplies water to a river system.

• When rivers join another system, their drainage area becomes part of a larger
watershed.

• Example: Mississippi River watershed = nearly 1/3 of the U.S.

⸻

Divides
• A divide = a ridge of land that separates watersheds.

• Streams on each side ow in opposite directions.

• The Great Divide (Continental Divide) = longest divide in North America, follows
Rocky Mountains.

• West of it: water ows to Paci c Ocean.

• East of it: water ows to Mississippi River & Gulf of Mexico.

fl
fl
fl
fl
fi
What Are Ponds and Lakes?
• Both ponds & lakes = still water.

• Ponds: smaller, shallower → sunlight reaches bottom everywhere.

• Lakes: larger, deeper → little sunlight at bottom.

• Both are supplied by rainfall, melting snow, ice, runoff, rivers, or groundwater.

• Form when water collects in hollows/low-lying land.

⸻

Exploring a Pond
• Shallow → sunlight allows plants to grow throughout.

• Bacteria & algae live in ponds.

• Plants/algae provide oxygen & food.

• Fish and animals in ponds use oxygen and food, and some use plants for
shelter.
⸻

Exploring a Lake
• Larger & deeper → less sunlight reaches bottom.

• Few plants in deep, dark water.

• Mollusks & worms live on lake bottom.

• Fish:

• Young sh eat tiny bottom dwellers.

• Adult sh eat other sh.

⸻

How Can Lakes Change?

• Lakes can shrink over time (natural processes or human activity).

• Eutrophication: nutrients build up → algae grow → thick layer blocks sunlight

→ plants die → animals die.
fi
fi
fi
• Dead material lls lake → becomes meadow.

• Human role: fertilizers from farms run into lakes → speed up eutrophication.
⸻

Lake Formation
• Natural processes:

• Rivers bend/loop → oxbow lakes.

• Ice sheets melting → depressions form lakes.

• Movements of Earth’s crust → rift valleys (e.g., Lake Tanganyika).

• Volcanoes → lava/mud block rivers, craters form lakes.

• Human activity:

• Reservoir = human-made lake created by damming a river for water storage.

[ Lesson 3 ]

Notes – Groundwater

How Does Water Move Underground?

• Underground water mostly comes from precipitation that soaks into
the ground.
• Water moves downward due to gravity, trickling through soil particles
and cracks in rock layers.
• Different materials affect how easily water moves:
• Permeable materials (sand, gravel): have large pores → water
passes through easily.
• Impermeable materials (clay, granite): few/no pores → water cannot
pass through easily.

⸻
fi
Water Zones
• As water soaks downward, it passes through layers of soil
and rock:
• Unsaturated zone: top layer, pores contain both air and
water.
• Saturated zone: deeper layer, pores are completely lled
with water.
• The water table = the top of the saturated zone.
• Depth of water table varies: can be shallow or very deep.
• Water movement can be slowed by impermeable layers.

How Do People Use Groundwater?

• In some places, the water table may be only a few meters
underground.
• Groundwater can form springs, bubbling out of cracks in rock.
• Aquifer = underground layer of permeable rock or sediment that
stores water and allows it to ow.
• Example: Ogallala Aquifer (USA) → provides water for millions
of people, crops, and livestock.
• If water is used faster than the aquifer re lls, the aquifer level
drops.

Movement in Aquifers
• Groundwater is always moving, not still.
• Rate depends on slope of the water table and permeability of
rocks.
• Moves slowly (about 10 m per year).
• Can travel hundreds of kilometers, staying underground for
thousands of years.
• The water table level follows the shape of the land (higher under
hills, lower in valleys).

⸻
fl
fi
fi
Wells
• People obtain groundwater by drilling wells below the water
table.
• When well reaches the saturated zone → provides water.
• If water table drops below the bottom of the well → well runs
dry.

Using Pumps
• Long ago: people used buckets or simple pumps.
• Today: wells are drilled with machines, pumps bring
groundwater up.
• Problem: pumping too much water lowers the aquifer and water
table → well may run dry.

Relying on Pressure (Artesian Wells)

• In some aquifers, groundwater is trapped between two
impermeable rock layers.
• Water is under pressure → if top layer is punctured, water
spurts out naturally.
• Artesian well: no pump needed, water rises on its own due to
underground pressure.

[ Lesson 4 ]

Wetlands
What Are Wetlands?
• A wetland = land area covered with a shallow layer of water during some or all
of the year.
 • Many wetlands have been destroyed by humans, but their importance is now
recognized.

• Wetlands:

• Help control oods

• Provide habitats for many species

⸻

Freshwater Wetlands
• Three main types: marshes, swamps, and bogs.

• Marshes: grassy areas covered by shallow water or streams; plants like

cattails grow here.

• Swamps: look like ooded forests; trees and shrubs grow in water; common
in warm, humid climates.

• Bogs: common in cooler northern areas; often formed in depressions left by

ice sheets; water tends to be acidic; mosses thrive.
⸻

Why Are Wetlands Important? (To Wildlife)

• Wetlands provide nutrients and sheltered waters, making them rich habitats.

• Support many living things: sh, amphibians, reptiles, insects, birds, mammals.

• Larger animals (manatees, beavers) live year-round.

• Migrating birds (geese, ducks, waterfowl) use wetlands to rest and feed during
seasonal travel.
⸻

Importance to People
• Wetlands serve functions for people too.

• Bene ts:

• Act as natural water lters – roots trap silt/mud and absorb waste.

• Control oods – absorb extra runoff from heavy rains like sponges.
fi
fl
fl
fl
fi
fi
 • Help regulate climate – cooler in summer, warmer in winter.

• Laws now protect wetlands after many were destroyed in the past.