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Science Launch G5 / Week 11 / Tuesday
2/6
Week 11 · Protect Our Planet

Tuesday

The drip that adds up
// Communities use science to protect resources
⏱ about 15 min

Tuesday: The drip that adds up

Plink. Plink. Plink. The workshop sink has a drip.

"It is just a little drip," Rocket says, waving his hand. "It cannot matter."

Raven puts a measuring cup under the faucet. "Let's collect evidence before we decide," she says.

Nova starts a timer. "One drip per second," she reports. "Would you like a hint? Multiply by every second in a whole year."

Rocket's eyes go wide. "That is a lot of seconds," he says.

Small drips, big totals

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency studies water waste in homes.

A faucet that drips once every second can waste more than 3,000 gallons of water in a year.

The leaks in an average home can waste more than 9,300 gallons of water every year.

Fixing leaks is one simple way people conserve water.

LeakWater wasted in one year
One faucet dripping once per secondMore than 3,000 gallons
All the leaks in an average homeMore than 9,300 gallons
LEAK MATH
  • Read the question.
  • Tap your answer.
Two faucets each drip once per second for a year. About how much water could they waste?
Which wastes more water in a year: one dripping faucet or all the leaks in an average home?
To use water carefully so it is not wasted is to ____ it.
Which government agency studies water waste in homes? Type its three letters.
Try it
With a grown-up, check the faucets in your home for drips.
If you find one, tell your grown-up so it can be fixed.

Doing the drip math

One drip a second does not sound like much.

But there are a lot of seconds in a year.

That is how one faucet can waste more than 3,000 gallons.

Three faucets each drip once per second for a year. They could waste more than ____ gallons.
One faucet drips for two years. It could waste more than ____ gallons.
StatementTrue or false?
The leaks in an average home can waste more than 9,300 gallons a year.?
A drip once per second wastes less than 10 gallons a year.?
Fixing leaks is one way to conserve water.?
WHY THIS EXERCISESmall drips add up to thousands of gallons.
LEAK THINKING
  • Read the question.
  • Tap your answer.
Who studies water waste in homes?
Why did Raven collect drips in a measuring cup first?
FIXING A DRIP
  • ?Check that the drip has stopped.
  • ?Measure how fast it drips.
  • ?The grown-up fixes the leak.
  • ?Tell a grown-up.
  • ?Notice a drip.
WHY THIS EXERCISEMeasuring and fixing leaks saves water.

You turned a little plink into real data. Tomorrow you will build a water filter model.

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