Have we got enough water?
1.
What are the differences between the two (1998 and 2011) satellite images of Lake
Orumiyeh?
2.
Watch the clip from BBC news from March 2012:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-17345531. Write down three key
pieces of information that you found out from watching this clip.
Share these with the person next to you.
3.
Watch the clip from 1976, when the UK had a severe drought:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-17100033.
a) Write down as many impacts of the drought as possible.
b) Colour code the impacts to classify them into social, environmental or
economic impacts.
4.
On average each person in England and Wales uses at least 150 litres of water every day.
Thinking about what you know about our water use in the UK, is this situation sustainable?
Explain why you think this.
5.
Imagine that you are the minister for the environment and you have to come up with some
solutions to the lack of water in the east of the UK today. With a partner, list ten practical
solutions that you could implement (hint: think back to some of the solutions from both of
the clips). Rank your solutions from 1 to 10 with 1 being the best solution and 10 being the
worst.
6.
Swap your solutions with another pair. Rank their solutions from 1 to 10. Why have you
ranked them like this? Give the other pair feedback on their solutions and then listen to the
feedback that they give you on yours.
Extension tasks

Read the article or watch the clip at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-17656317. What
are your opinions about selling water like oil?

Investigate the drought pages at http://www.defra.gov.uk/.

Finally, use the water use calculator at
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_depth/629/629/5086298.stm. How much water does your
household use? What could you do as individuals to reduce the amount of water that you
use?
© www.teachitgeography.co.uk 2012
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Have we got enough water?
Lake Orumiyeh in 1998 and 2011 © the NASA's Earth Observatory
http://www.flickr.com/photos/nasaearthobservatory/6328575373/
© www.teachitgeography.co.uk 2012
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