Earth’s Water Cycle for Elementary School Students Global Precipitation Measurement Mission Developed by the GPM Education and Public Outreach Team NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

Guiding Questions The Big Picture: Why is it important to measure rain and snow around the globe? Earth’s Water: How much of Earth’s water is freshwater? Freshwater versus Saltwater: Which of these do we need for our survival? The Water Cycle: How does water move through the “water cycle? Precipitation: Where do rain and snow come from? Are these made up of freshwater or saltwater? GPM: How will the GPM mission measure precipitation all over the world? NASA and Earth Science: NASA is helping us learn about our home planet! 2

ENGAGE

Solid? Liquid? Gas?

Water on Earth

Water for Survival Why do we need water to meet our needs?

How much water is on Earth’s surface?

Saltwater versus Freshwater

Water on Earth

Where is our Freshwater?

The Big Picture The Freshwater Connection Link to GPM movie

How do we use freshwater? In addition to home use, fresh water is used for transportation, agriculture, heating and cooling, industry, livestock, and many other purposes. That one percent of water is primarily used in eight different ways, or categories: Domestic. Residential home indoor and outdoor use, such as drinking, cleaning, and watering lawns Public supply. Public and commercial buildings, such as schools and restaurants Irrigation. Watering systems for farms that grow food

Freshwater Usage Livestock. Watering systems for animals on ranches and farms Aquaculture- Watering systems for fish farms and hatcheries Industrial -Water used for manufacturing products, including food, paper, and petroleum products Mining- Water used for extracting natural resources such as metals, minerals, natural gas, and oil Thermoelectric- Water used for generating electricity using steam-driven generators

Estimated Water Use in US From the American Water Works Assoc. Thermoelectric 49% Public Supply 11% Domestic 1% Irrigation 31% Other- 8%: Mining 1%, Industrial 4%, Aquaculture 2%, Livestock 1%

Earth’s Water Cycle

Let’s watch the water cycle in action! ycle.html ycle.html

Global Precipitation Measurement NASA is sending up a new mission next year, called Global Precipitation Measurement, or GPM.

“For Good Measure” In this short video, we will learn how NASA is going to help us measure how much precipitation falls on Earth every few hours. Can you imagine how we can measure precipitation from above the clouds? Why do we need to measure precipitation from above the clouds? Let’s learn the answers to these questions in this video: good-measurehttp://pmm.nasa.gov/education/videos/for- good-measure

Questions? Do you have any questions about Earth’s water cycle and how we are learning more about it?