Where Is All the Water?

Now think about this: when you visit a beach, you see a huge ocean full of water. When you go to a park, you might see a pond or a lake. A river flows through many towns. Water is in so many places!

Water is found in many places on Earth. Let's learn about the four main places where we find water!

Scientists learn about water by looking at maps and reading information. You can do this too! Let's be scientists and find out where water is on Earth.

• Look at a globe or a map of the world. What color is the water? (It's blue!)
• Point to the big blue parts. Those are the oceans. Can you find the Pacific Ocean? It's the biggest one!
• Look for thin blue lines. Those are rivers. They go across the land like tiny blue ribbons.
• Look for small blue spots. Those are lakes and ponds. They have land all around them.

What you might use: a globe, a world map, or a picture of Earth from space.

When you look at Earth from space, it looks mostly blue. That's because water covers more of Earth than land does. Most of that water is in the oceans.

Now we know that water is found in many places! Each place where we find water is a little different. Let's compare them.

Oceans are the biggest. They have salty water. You cannot drink ocean water! Rivers, lakes, and ponds have fresh water. Fresh water is the kind we can drink after it is cleaned.

Rivers are different because they move. Water in a river flows from one place to another. Lakes and ponds are mostly still. Oceans have waves, but the water stays in the same big space.

Scientists love to look for patterns. A pattern is when something happens the same way again and again. Let's look for patterns about water!

We see this same kind of pattern in other places too! Think about plants. Big trees hold more water inside them than tiny flowers. Think about containers. A big bucket holds more water than a small cup. Bigger things can hold more — that's a pattern!

People use water every day! Knowing where water is helps us take care of it.

🚰 How People Use Water

We get our drinking water from rivers and lakes. That water is cleaned at a special place so it is safe to drink. We also use water from rivers and lakes to water farms so our food can grow.

Ocean water is too salty to drink. But people use the ocean for fishing, sailing, and traveling. Many animals live in the ocean too!

🌱 Taking Care of Water

Can you think of a way to help keep water clean? Here are some ideas:

We can pick up trash near rivers and ponds. We can use less water at home by turning off the sink. We can keep our ponds, rivers, lakes, and oceans clean so plants and animals can live there!

• Ocean — A very large body of salty water. Oceans cover most of Earth.
• River — A long body of fresh water that flows across the land.
• Lake — A large body of fresh water with land all around it.
• Pond — A small body of still, fresh water with land all around it.
• Fresh water — Water that is not salty. We can drink fresh water after it is cleaned.