Video Worksheet National Geographic’s The Power of Water

List the many metaphors for water that are used in this video.

Columbia River

1. Why is the Columbia called a freeway for salmon?

2. Salmon were called the canary in the coal mine. What does this term mean and why was it used in this instance?

The Great Lakes

3. How much of the world’s fresh water is stored in the Great Lakes?

4. What are PCBs used for? What are other pollutants mentioned in the video? Why are they bad for humans and fish?

5. Why was the class stenciling Dump No Waste: Drains to River onto storm drains?

Everglades

6. Why does the narrator say the Everglades are dying of thirst?

7. How are people in South Florida trying to reverse the decline of the Everglades?

Ogallala Aquifer

8. Where does water come from in an aquifer? How far does the farmer say groundwater levels have dropped in his area?

9. What is dryland framing? how much more land is needed for dryland farming as opposed to irrigation farming?

10. How might new technology help the farmers? Would your suggestions benefit them in the short-run or the long-run?

Colorado River and the Southwest

11. The narrator states that moving water from one place to another is a western obsession. Why is this the case and how does it relate the Boulder Water supply and other cities in the Front Range?

12. What 7 states use water from the Colorado River? What about Mexico?

13. What are some solutions to Las Vegas water shortages? Who would benefit and who would be adversely impacted?

Return to Water: Colorado's Precious Resource