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Earth Science
Learner Activity Sheets
Quarter 1 - Week 5A
Title: Activities that Affect the Quality and Availability of Water

First Edition, 2021

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Published by the Department of Education

Secretary: Leonor Magtolis Briones
Undersecretary: Diosdado M. San Antonio

Development Team of the Learners’ Activity Sheets

Writer/s: Marielle C. Gubaton

Division Validators: Relyn D. Raza

Tamarah Harel Consigna
Marietta C. Asignar

Regional Validators: Kevin Hope Z. Salvaña

Rex M. Andante, Jr.
Rey Julius Ranoco
Pejie Ann S. Cornites
Abraham Masendo

Management Team: Evelyn R. Fetalvero

Lorenzo O. Macasocol
Isidro M. Biol, Jr.
Kevin Hope Z. Salvaña
Maripaz F. Magno
Nelia S. Lomocso
Relyn D. Raza
 WEEKLY LEARNING ACTIVITY SHEETS
Earth Science Grade 11, Quarter 1, Week 5A

ACTIVITIES THAT AFFECT THE QUALITY AND AVAILABILITY OF WATER

Learning Competency:

Explain how different activities affect the quality and availability of water for human use.
(MELC S11ES-Ig-16)

Specific Objectives:
At the end of the lesson, the learners will be able to:
1. describe human activities that affect the quality and availability of water;
2. explain the different factors affecting water quality and availability; and
3. value the importance of water conservation.

Time allotment: 2 hours

Key Concepts

• We live on a blue planet where water circulates through the water cycle in its different states,
as water vapour, liquid water, and ice. The freshwater in our world is found in three main
places:
1. Atmospheric water in the air either as a solid (hail, snow), liquid (fog, mist, rain) or gas
(invisible water vapour).
2. Surface water as runoff and base-flow into and from the catchment areas like lakes.
3. Groundwater in the cracks and spaces of soil, sand, and rocks underground, generally
adequate and of high quality that does not require treatment for human use.
• Despite the seeming abundance of water on Earth, freshwater availability is less than 2.5
percent of the world’s water supply. Of this percentage, less than one third is easily
accessible from surface water bodies like lakes and rivers and from the underground stored
in aquifers. This leaves us with less than 1% available for water, sanitation and hygiene
needs.
2.5%

Only a small fraction

of this easily
accessible freshwater
can be used to meet
the drinking water
needs of the world’s
7.4 billion people.

Freshwater lakes
0.3% and rivers.
Less than 2.5
percent of the world’s 29.7% Groundwater
water is freshwater. .
Ice and snow cover in
70%
mountainous regions.

Figure 1. World’s small fraction of freshwater for human needs

Source: https://www.unicef.org/media/49621/file/UNICEF_Thirsting_for_a_Future_ENG.pdf

Author: Marielle C. Gubaton

School/Station: Siargao National Science High School
Division: Siargao Division
Email address: [email protected] 1
 • Human activities (settlements, industry, and agricultural developments) can disturb the
components of the natural water cycle through land use diversions, water use/reuse and
discharge of wastes into the natural groundwater and surface water pathways.

Direct and Indirect Water Uses

2 categories of water use:

1. direct - use of actual water in activities like hand washing, drinking, cooking, bathing,
cleaning and many more.

2. indirect - virtual water used to produce or process a commodity, commercial goods or

service.

Human Impacts on Freshwater

• Just as there are direct and indirect water usages, there are also direct and indirect drivers
that change water resource ecosystems. A direct driver clearly impacts ecosystem processes
while an indirect driver works by influencing one or more direct drivers:

1. direct drivers are physical and biological factors that include climate change, land
conversion, plant nutrient use, and the onset of diseases and invasive species.

2. indirect drivers are demographic; economic; socio-political; cultural and religious;

and scientific and technological factors.

Effects of Human Activities on the Interaction of Ground Water and Surface Water

• Human activities commonly affect the distribution, quantity, and chemical quality of water
resources.
• The range in human activities that affect the interaction of ground water and surface water is
broad. The following discussion does not provide an exhaustive survey of all human effects
but emphasizes those that are relatively widespread.

1. Agricultural Development

Agriculture has been the cause of significant modification of landscapes throughout

the world. Tillage of land changes the infiltration and runoff characteristics of the land
surface, which affects recharge to ground water, delivery of water and sediment to surface-
water bodies, and evapotranspiration.

Figure 2: The schematic map of agricultural pollution for water sources

Source: https://tinyurl.com/b8ksn42

Two activities related to agriculture that are particularly relevant to the interaction of
ground water and surface water are irrigation and application of chemicals to cropland.

Author: Marielle C. Gubaton

School/Station: Siargao National Science High School
Division: Siargao Division
Email address: [email protected] 2
 Irrigation Systems

Surface-water irrigation systems represent some of the largest integrated engineering

works undertaken by humans.
Many irrigation systems that initially used only surface water now also use ground
water. The pumped ground water commonly is used directly as irrigation water, but in some
cases the water is distributed through the system of canals.
Significant changes in water quality accompany the movement of water through
agricultural fields. The water lost to evapotranspiration is relatively pure; therefore, the
chemicals that are left behind precipitate as salts and accumulate in the soil zone. These
continue to increase as irrigation continues, resulting in the dissolved-solids concentration in
the irrigation return flows being significantly higher in some areas than that in the original
irrigation water.
To prevent excessive buildup of salts in the soil, irrigation water in excess of the needs
of the crops is required to dissolve and flush out the salts and transport them to the ground-
water system. Where these dissolved solids reach high concentrations, the artificial recharge
from irrigation return flow can result in degradation of the quality of ground water and,
ultimately, the surface water into which the ground water discharges.

Use of Agricultural Chemicals

Applications of pesticides and fertilizers to cropland can result in significant additions

of contaminants to water resources. Some pesticides are only slightly soluble in water and
may attach to soil particles instead of remaining in solution; these compounds are less likely
to cause contamination of ground water.

2. Urban and Industrial Development

Point sources of contamination to surface water bodies are an expected side effect of
urban development. Examples of point sources include direct discharges from sewage-
treatment plants, industrial facilities, and stormwater drains. These facilities and
structures commonly add sufficient loads of a variety of contaminants to streams to strongly
affect the quality of the stream for long distances downstream.

Contaminants in streams can easily affect ground-water quality, especially where

streams normally seep to ground water, where ground-water withdrawals induce seepage
from the stream, and where floods cause stream water to become bank storage.

Point sources of contamination to ground water can include; septic tanks, fluid
storage tanks, landfills, and industrial lagoons.

If a contaminant is soluble in water and reaches the water table, the contaminant will
be transported by the slowly moving ground water. If the source continues to supply the
contaminant over a period of time, the distribution of the dissolved contaminant will take a
characteristic “plumelike” shape.

Figure 2: Point source of contamination

Source: https://pubs.usgs.gov/circ/circ1139/pdf/part2.pdf

Author: Marielle C. Gubaton

School/Station: Siargao National Science High School
Division: Siargao Division
Email address: [email protected] 3
 3. Drainage of the Land Surface

Drainage can be accomplished by constructing open ditches or by burying tile drains

beneath the land surface.

Drainage of the land surface is common in regions having extensive wetlands, such as
coastal, riverine, and some glacial-lake landscapes. Construction of artificial drainage
systems is extensive in these regions because wetland conditions generally result in deep,
rich, organic soils that are much prized for agriculture

4. Modifications to River Valleys

Construction of Levees

Levees are built along riverbanks to protect

adjacent lands from flooding. These structures
commonly are very effective in containing smaller
magnitude floods that are likely to occur regularly
from year to year. Large floods that occur much
less frequently, however, sometimes overtop or
breach the levees, resulting in widespread flooding.
Flooding of low-lying land is, in a sense, the most
visible and extreme example of the interaction of
ground water and surface water. During flooding,
Figure 4: Levees and Dikes
recharge to ground water is continuous; given
Source: https://www.geoace.com/app/Riverbank-and-
sufficient time, the water table may rise to the land Channel-Protection/Levees-and-Dikes#view2
surface and completely saturate the shallow aquifer.

Construction of Reservoirs

The primary purpose of reservoirs is to store water for uses such as public water
supply, irrigation, flood attentuation, and generation of electric power. Reservoirs also
can provide opportunities for recreation and wildlife habitat.

Reservoirs can cause a permanent rise in the water table that may extend a
considerable distance from the reservoir, because the base level of the stream, to which the
ground-water gradients had adjusted, is raised to the
higher reservoir levels.

Human-controlled reservoir releases and

accumulation of water in storage may cause high flows
and low flows to differ considerably in magnitude and
timing compared to natural flows. As a result, the
environmental conditions in river valleys downstream
from a dam may be altered as organisms try to adjust
to the modified flow conditions. For example, the
movement of water to and from bank storage under
controlled conditions would probably be much more
regular in timing and magnitude compared to the
highly variable natural flow conditions, which probably Figure 5: Reservoir
would lead to less biodiversity in river systems Source: https://tinyurl.com/b7k5f4pm
downstream from reservoirs.

Removal of Natural Vegetation

To make land available for agriculture and urban growth, development sometimes
involves cutting of forests and removal of riparian vegetation and wetlands. Forests have a
significant role in the hydrologic regime of watersheds. Deforestation tends to decrease
Author: Marielle C. Gubaton
School/Station: Siargao National Science High School
Division: Siargao Division
Email address: [email protected] 4
 evapotranspiration, increase storm runoff and soil erosion, and decrease infiltration to
ground water and base flow of streams. From the viewpoint of water-resource quality and
management, the increase in storm runoff and soil erosion and the decrease in base flow of
streams are generally viewed as undesirable.

Some of the important functions of riparian vegetation and riparian wetlands

include preservation of aquatic habitat, protection of the land from erosion, flood
mitigation, and maintenance of water quality. Destruction of riparian vegetation and
wetlands removes the benefits of erosion control and flood mitigation, while altering
aquatic habitat and chemical processes that maintain water quality.

Activity 1. Picture it out!

Objective: Describe human activities that affect the quality and availability of water.

What you need: Worksheet, paper, ball pen

What to do:
1. A picture below shows different activities that might affect the quality and availability of
water.
2. Study the picture, then answer the questions that follow.
3. Answers should be in 2 to 3 sentences only.
4. Write your answers on the space provided after the questions or in a separate sheet of paper.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0168169913001063

Questions:

1. How will runoff from farm affect water quality?

2. How will pipe discharges from industries and homes affect water availability?

Author: Marielle C. Gubaton

School/Station: Siargao National Science High School
Division: Siargao Division
Email address: [email protected] 5
 3. Which activity/ies do you think has/have the greatest impact on water quality and
availability?

Scoring Rubric
2 points Discussions are complete, with no misconception.
1 point Discussions are incomplete.
0 point No discussions shown.

Activity 2. #To be continued. . .

Objective: Explain the different factors affecting water quality and availability.
What you need: Worksheet, paper, ball pen
What to do:
• Indirect drivers such as demographic, economic, socio – political, cultural and religious,
and scientific and technological factors cause changes to the water resource ecosystems.
• Based on your generalizations about the topic, complete the sentences for each indirect
driver as each further influences’ threats to water resources.
• Write in a separate sheet of paper your own hashtags and a brief explanation for your
generalizations.

Sample answer:
Demographic As population grows, the demand for land conversion from agriculture to
#waterforlife residential will result to soil erosion and water runoff rather than water
infiltration to aquifers and ground water systems for freshwater recharge
or renewal.

1. Economic Ensuring clean and safe water for our homes has environmental and
financial costs because
#

2. Science and As future technologist, engineer or scientist, I can

Technology
#

Scoring Rubric
2 points Discussions are complete, with no misconception.
1 point Discussions are incomplete.
0 point No discussions shown.

Reflection

Human activities greatly affect the quality and availability of water for human consumption.
Household usage of water such as drinking, cooking, bathing, washing, garden watering, etc., can
also affect the quality and supply of water.

Author: Marielle C. Gubaton

School/Station: Siargao National Science High School
Division: Siargao Division
Email address: [email protected] 6
 The Philippine Water Code defined domestic purpose of water as not exceeding 250 liters per
capita per day of water by a single household. How does your water usage in your household
compare to this water regulation guideline?

Conduct a personal water audit of your direct water use at home for 1 day. Fill in the table
below.

TOTAL water use in litres

Estimated Number of
L (Estimated average
Activity average amount times in a
amount used X Number of
used (in litres L) day
times in a day)
Washing face or hands 4
Taking a shower 17
Taking a bath 90
Drinking water 1
Washing dishes by hand 37
Dishwasher load 56
Washing machine 115
Brushing teeth 1
Watering garden / lawn 150
Cooking a meal 10

Total litres of water used in a day:

• For activities that other members in your family might be doing for the household (go through
the list to talk about which ones those might be, such as cooking a meal, doing dishes or
laundry, etc.), count the number of times anyone in your family does one of those activities in a
day, and then divide that total by the number of people in the household to count your portion
of that water usage.

Questions:

1. How many litres of water did you use in a day? Did you exceed the maximum water usage of
250 liters per capita per day by the Philippine Water Code?

2. What might you do to lower your water usage? List 2 ways that you can do to conserve water.

3. Why is water conservation important?

Scoring Rubric for number 2 and 3

3 points Practical application is scientifically explained consistent to the concepts
and has no misconception.
2 points Practical application is scientifically explained consistent to the concepts,
but with minimal misconception.
1 point Practical application is explained consistent to the concepts, but with
misconceptions.
0 point No discussions shown.

Author: Marielle C. Gubaton

School/Station: Siargao National Science High School
Division: Siargao Division
Email address: [email protected] 7
 8 [email protected] Email address:
Siargao Division Division:
Siargao National Science High School School/Station:
Marielle C. Gubaton Author:
Activity 1
1. Answers may vary. Farmers apply nutrients on their fields in the form of chemical fertilizers and
animal manure, which provide crops with the nitrogen and phosphorus necessary to grow and
produce the food we eat. However, when nitrogen and phosphorus are not fully utilized by the
growing plants, they can be lost from the farm fields and negatively impact air and downstream
water quality. High levels of nitrogen and phosphorus can cause eutrophication of water bodies.
Excess nutrients can cause harmful algal blooms (HABs) in freshwater systems, which not only
disrupt wildlife but can also produce toxins harmful to humans.
2. Answers may vary. Pipe discharges, warm waters (from cooling towers), effluents from industries
and treatment plants, sewage from private and domestic sectors all add chemical / biological /
thermal pollution to surface waters and groud waters (for unsealed pipes and sewers). These
render the waters polluted to varying degrees causing it to be unfit for its intended classification
purpose.
3. Answers may vary. Activities under a combination of two or more direct drivers of ecosystem
change would have the greatest impact on the availability of unpolluted water for drinking, bathing,
industry or agriculture. Poor water quality would impact water quantity useable for a given area or
water user.
Activity 2
1. Economic – Answers may vary.
2. Science and Technology – Answers may vary.
Reflection
Answers may vary.
Answers key
2021.
28, June Accessed https://www.epa.gov/nutrientpollution/sources-and-solutions-agriculture
Accessed June 28, 2021. http://www.nwrb.gov.ph/images/laws/pd1067_amended.pdf
The Author, “WATER CODE OF THE PHILIPPINES Amended Implementing Rules and Regulations”.
h2o.org/visualizing/gallery/antoniod/
https://usaus- 2021. 24, June Author, USAUS-H2O. Accessed The
Accessed June 24, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compag.2013.05.001
catchment-scale management using integrated wireless sensor networks". Science Direct.
The Author, "The impact of agricultural activities on water quality: A case for collaborative
https://www.teachengineering.org/activities/view/cub_dams_lesson01_activity1
The Author, "How Much Water Do You Use?". Teach Engineering. Accessed June 28, 2021.
USGS. Accessed June 23, 2021. https://pubs.usgs.gov/circ/circ1139/pdf/part2.pdf
The Author, Effects of Human Activities on the Interaction of Ground Water and Surface Water.
https://thelivingplanet.com/wp-content/uploads/Water-Use-Worksheet.pdf
2021. 28, Author, “Activity: How Much Water Do You Use?". Accessed June The
de Oro City: Department of Education - Division of Cagayan de Oro, 2020
Marcaida, Judith F. Earth Science - Grade 11/12: Quarter 1 - Module 6: Water, Soil and Me. Cagayan
References for Learners: