InTeGrate Modules and Courses >Water Science and Society > Student Materials > Section 1: Fresh Water: Scarcity or Surfeit? > Module 1: Freshwater Resources - A Global Perspective
InTeGrate's Earth-focused Modules and Courses for the Undergraduate Classroom
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These materials are part of a collection of classroom-tested modules and courses developed by InTeGrate. The materials engage students in understanding the earth system as it intertwines with key societal issues. The collection is freely available and ready to be adapted by undergraduate educators across a range of courses including: general education or majors courses in Earth-focused disciplines such as geoscience or environmental science, social science, engineering, and other sciences, as well as courses for interdisciplinary programs.
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These student materials complement the Water Science and Society Instructor Materials. If you would like your students to have access to the student materials, we suggest you either point them at the Student Version which omits the framing pages with information designed for faculty (and this box). Or you can download these pages in several formats that you can include in your course website or local Learning Managment System. Learn more about using, modifying, and sharing InTeGrate teaching materials.
Initial Publication Date: March 31, 2017

Module 1: Freshwater Resources - A Global Perspective

While only just beginning this course, you likely already appreciate that water is a precious commodity. For example, a human can survive at least three weeks without food, but can go only about three days without drinking water (or water-based liquid) before dehydration becomes a medical emergency (see the U.S. National Library of Medicines article, Water in Diet. Nonetheless, in the U.S., we commonly take access to quality drinking water for granted, not to mention the availability of water for all other important activities including production of food and energy. And, this water presently comes to most people in the U.S. at a very low cost—just cents per gallon. We are, of course, privileged relative to other regions of the world, some of which do not have sufficient fresh water resources and where people may not even have access to safe drinking water supplies.

In this module, we will examine the distribution of freshwater resources, the major uses of water, and present and anticipated future demand for water, globally, as human population increases. We will explore the question as to whether water has a value greater than presently appreciated and whether it will always be readily available to us. For example, you may already know that the western U.S. is experiencing a severe shortage of water as the result of prolonged drought in that region. Is this an anomaly, or might we expect longer-term shortages there and elsewhere in the U.S. and globally as the result of climate change?


These materials are part of a collection of classroom-tested modules and courses developed by InTeGrate. The materials engage students in understanding the earth system as it intertwines with key societal issues. The collection is freely available and ready to be adapted by undergraduate educators across a range of courses including: general education or majors courses in Earth-focused disciplines such as geoscience or environmental science, social science, engineering, and other sciences, as well as courses for interdisciplinary programs.
Explore the Collection »