Let’s chat about pineapples for a moment. They’re super tasty and packed with vitamin C. But remember, they aren’t great for playing football with because they can hurt your hands!
The most important thing to know about pineapples is that they only grow in warm, tropical places. Just like other natural resources, there are some areas where you simply can’t find pineapples. So, what if you really want a pineapple but live somewhere they don’t grow?
You have two choices: First, you could get pineapples from places where they do grow, even if those places are far away. Second, you could decide to live without pineapples and adapt to a pineapple-free life.
While we can live without pineapples, there are other resources that are much harder to go without, like clean water. Humans need clean water to survive, but some communities find it hard to get.
Let’s look at Las Vegas, Nevada, a city in the desert with almost no natural access to fresh water. You might think Las Vegas couldn’t exist because of this, but people there have plenty of water. How? They use a reservoir called Lake Mead, the largest in the country, created by a dam on the Colorado River.
The water from Lake Mead is transported to Las Vegas through pipelines and other structures. Without these, Las Vegas and other desert cities couldn’t exist where they do.
To survive in places where the land and climate aren’t ideal for human life, like areas lacking food, shelter, or water, we’ve found ways to adapt and change our environment to get the resources we need.
While there are some things we can’t change, like growing pineapples in cold places, humans have an amazing ability to build big communities in places that seem tough to live in. Viva Las Vegas!
Pineapple Hunt: Next time you visit a grocery store with your family, go on a pineapple hunt! Look for pineapples and other fruits that come from tropical places. Can you find out where they are grown? Discuss with your family why these fruits are available in your store even though they don’t grow nearby.
Water Detective: Become a water detective in your home! With the help of an adult, find out where your water comes from. Is it from a nearby river, a reservoir, or somewhere else? Draw a picture of the journey your water takes to reach your home. Think about why it’s important to have clean water and how you can help save water every day.
Adaptation Art: Create a drawing or a model showing how people adapt to living in different environments. For example, you could draw a city in the desert with pipelines bringing water, or a house with solar panels in a sunny place. Share your artwork with your class and explain how your creation helps people get what they need.
