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Science · Grade 12

Water, Soil and Land Use

Learners balance a watershed's water budget in millimetres and cubic metres, then follow water underground to explain how aquifers store and transmit it and to calculate how fast over-pumping lowers a water table. They compare water use by sector, separate withdrawal from consumption, and test claims about irrigation efficiency. Finally they explain how soils form and are layered, convert erosion rates into lost depth, and evaluate land-use and farming practices with data and tradeoffs.

  • 5 lessons
  • About 115 minutes
  • Water, soil and land check: 11 questions
  • Ways to answer: choose an answer, highlight a text, label a picture, match pairs, type a number and put in order
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What learners will discover

  • Construct and use a watershed water budget, P = ET + Q + ΔS, converting between depth of water (mm) and volume (m^3^) over an area.
  • Explain how aquifers store and transmit groundwater (porosity, permeability, recharge, confined and unconfined aquifers, cones of depression, saltwater intrusion) and calculate the effect of pumping on an aquifer's stock.
  • Compare water use by sector, distinguish withdrawal from consumptive use, and calculate and critically evaluate the effect of irrigation efficiency.
  • Explain how the five soil-forming factors produce soils, and describe soil horizons and texture and how they affect water.
  • Evaluate land-use and agricultural practices for erosion control and soil conservation, comparing erosion rates with soil formation rates.

Lessons

  1. Watershed water budgets 7 steps5 practiceabout 22 min
  2. Groundwater and aquifers 8 steps5 practiceabout 24 min
  3. Who uses the water? 7 steps4 practiceabout 22 min
  4. How soil forms 6 steps4 practiceabout 22 min
  5. Erosion and land-use choices 8 steps5 practiceabout 25 min
  6. Water, soil and land check 11 questions at the end

Keep exploring

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Guide for grown-ups