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Drippy Stats

     This week at my unorthodox, project based high school, GCE lab school, we have finished up with our first Action project of the year for our water class. An action project is a project we complete that can be used to broadcast and show our learning in a unit, this unit we learned about conversions, fractions, and part vs. Percent. These topics were then applied to the real world when we learned about how many around the world do not have easy access to clean water and how this means that many around the world must walk long distances every day to bring home surface water to sustain themselves and their families.  This units action project echo's what we've learned and has provided us an opportunity to teach others about this ongoing tragedy.

    to get some perspective on water usage we used a website to calculate approximately how much water we use on a daily basis, I learned that I use about 161 gallons of water daily which I found out is MORE than the US national average of 150 gallons a day per person. I was shocked since I'm not a particularly wasteful person. Next we took a field experience to the Chicago river which is only 0.3 miles away from our school. Our goal was to simulate what it would be like to have to carry water if we didn't have access to water like we do. We all brought containers from home for this purpose and I chose to bring a Styrofoam cooler, I quickly learned this was a bad choice. the cooler which had the capacity for 7.5 gallons was not equipped for water and didn't have wheels like the other coolers, meaning I had to HOLD it. I nearly didn't make it and struggled greatly. It also happened to have a slow leak from where the handles attached on each side. It was BRUTAL, by the end everything hurt and I was soaked and the whole experience lasted a mere 15 minutes given that info to collect my daily average of 161 gallons it would take me 22 whole trips (there and back) and it would take 5 hours and 30 minutes! NO WAY!








My Infographic displays key points about living life off of surface water alone, using Madagascar with 12% of the population dong exactly that as my example. It shows how I found that if I were to collect this much it would take almost 1/4th of my day along with a breakdown of my own water usage.

In conclusion this action project has provided me great insight as far as how many live when there is no easy access to water. It has caused me to think about my own use of water and how I take it for granted since I can get so much so easily.  I have really enjoyed this unit regardless of how physically taxing it was to carry 7.5 gallons of water .3 miles, I'm thankful for the perspective it has offered me regarding water consumption especially after seeing just how much I use compared to the average Madagascan I hope this presentation has made you think about your own water usage and whether or not there are things you could do to conserve water! 


Lastly before you go I've provided a few examples of how you could cut down on water if you are interested! I ask that you take a look through and consider them!

Taking shorter showers, turning off the faucet while brushing your teeth, Water saving shower head, collecting rain water for gardening, fix household leaks, and DON'T LEAVE ANYTHING RUNNING. Thank you so much for reading, I hope you learned something!


Work Cited

"Madagascar". UN Water. https://sdg6data.org/country-or-area/Madagascar. Accessed 4 October 2021

"Worldometer". Madagascar population (live), https://www.worldometers.info/world-population/madagascar-population/. Accessed 4 October 2021

"How much water do you use at home?". USGS science for a changing world. https://water.usgs.gov/edu/activity-percapita.php. Accessed 4 October 2021


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