Fresh water for everyone

Ages 9 to 12 Read alone or together · about 35 minutes

Read together

Most of the Earth's water is salty. Only about 2.5 percent is fresh, and most of that is frozen in ice or deep underground. Less than 1 percent is easy to reach in rivers, lakes and shallow groundwater.

Clean water is needed to drink, cook, wash and grow food. In 2022, around 2.2 billion people did not have safely managed drinking water at home.

We can all help: use only what we need, fix leaks, and protect rivers and seas from pollution.

Do it

1. Show the water on Earth with 100 cups: 97 salty, 2 frozen, 1 fresh. Take one spoonful from the “fresh” cup. That is the easy-to-reach water.
2. Measure how much water your family uses in one day for drinking, washing and cooking. Which uses are biggest?
3. Test a leaking tap with a cup for a minute. How much water is lost in a day?
4. Plan one way your family can save water this week, and one way to help people without clean water, such as supporting a charity.

Talk about it

• Why can't we drink seawater?
• How can we protect our rivers?

For the grown-up

Access to clean water is a basic need. UNICEF and the World Health Organization estimate that 2.2 billion people lacked safely managed drinking water in 2022. The Bible often speaks of water as a gift. This lesson can lead to giving, praying and acting for others.

Mark as done

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Where this comes from

• U.S. Geological Survey, Water Science School, “How much water is there on Earth?”
• WHO and UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene, Progress on household drinking water, sanitation and hygiene 2000 to 2022 (2023)

Written with AI assistance and checked against the sources listed. Please read it before sharing it with a child.