Answer card
Is the water we drink the same water dinosaurs drank?
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Write a guess down before you look, and you will notice what surprises you. You can’t get it wrong.
What we know
- True: Water goes round and round. It evaporates, falls as rain and flows back to the sea, again and again. Ask Dr. Universe, Washington State University — Do we drink water from dinosaur days? (2016)
- Stretched: One place that answers children’s questions says yes: Earth’s water is the same water that has been here for billions of years, so there is a very good chance your glass held water a dinosaur drank. Ask Dr. Universe, Washington State University — Do we drink water from dinosaur days? (2016)
- True: Another scientist worked it out differently. Plants take water apart to make sugar, and breathing makes new water, so not every bit of water lasts. His answer: “SOME of the water we drink is the same water, but more than half is different water.” The Naked Scientists — Do we drink dinosaur drinks? (Prof. Ken Carslaw, 29 July 2008)
- Nobody knows: Which glass of water any dinosaur drank. Nobody can follow one glass of water back to one animal.
What we made simpler
We left out every number except the one in the quote. The two answers above disagree about “the same water”, and we show both.
Still open
Exactly how much of today’s water was ever inside a dinosaur.
Next why
How can a leaf take water apart?
GrowForge — Photosynthesis and Plant Energy →Try it
Written by people and checked against the sources named beside each line. All answer cards