- Investigations in Environmental Science
- Course Overview
- → Lesson Summaries
- Unit 1: Land Use
- Unit 2: Energy Generation
- → Unit 3: Water Management
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- Replacement Pages and Updates
- Coal Power Plant Virtual Tour
- Correlations
- Price List
Investigations in Environmental Science
Lesson Summaries, Concepts & Practices
Unit 3: Water Management |
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| LESSON SUMMARIES | CONCEPTS & PRACTICES |
| Chapter 1: Soil | |
| Lesson 1: Water Issues Students are introduced to a water usage conflict in Fresno, California. Students hear different perspectives on the issue, evaluate each group's claim, and devise a plan to develop a solution. |
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| Lesson 2: Mechanical Analysis of Soil A variety of laboratory experiments teach students about soils and soil properties. |
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| Lesson 3: Organic Components Performing chemical tests teaches students about the nutrients contained in soils. Students learn how farmers can add nutrients to soil deficient in organic matter and create their own compost pile. |
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| Lesson 4: Spaces in Soil Students perform labs to determine the pore space in soil and how quickly water can flow through soil with different amounts of pore space. |
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| Lesson 5: Available Water Experiments show students that soil texture affects how much water is available to plants. Students are also introduced to wetlands and the issue of wetland preservation/restoration. |
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| Lesson 6: Growing Fast Plants Students hypothesize what type of soil would provide the best growing environment. Students learn about, grow and, monitor fast plants to test their hypothesis. |
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| Chapter 2: Agriculture | |
| Lesson 1: Farming and Crops This lesson introduces students to hydroponic and organic farming, and explores ways farmers can improve their crop yield. |
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| Lesson 2: Evapotranspiration Students conduct labs to measure water evaporation, how much water plants use, and how much water is lost through transpiration. Then students map the water cycle. |
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| Lesson 3: Crop Types The class discusses the water requirements of different plants and analyzes graphs of their water use in different seasons. |
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| Lesson 4: Farm Water Budgets Spreadsheet software allows students to examine the relationship between rainfall, soil type, and the water needs of certain plants as they manage a farm water budget. |
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| Lesson 5: Irrigation Labs and computer spreadsheets help students design farm irrigation systems that efficiently reach plants in fields with minimal amounts of wasted water. |
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| Lesson 6: Farming in Fresno Using WorldWatcher software, students develop a Precision Farming plan to help a farmer increase his crop yield. |
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| Chapter 3: Dams | |
| Lesson 1: What are Dams? Students learn about the parts and functions of dams. The class constructs a small dam on a steam table and observes the change in water movement. |
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| Lesson 2: California Dams ArcView software allows students to look at and explore the functions of California's dams. Students also learn about some of the social consequences of dams. |
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| Lesson 3: Topographic Maps After learning how to read and construct contour lines on topographic maps, students identify areas suitable for holding a water reservoir and estimate its potential size and volume. After learning how to read and construct contour lines on topographic maps, students identify areas suitable for holding a water reservoir and estimate its potential size and volume. |
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| Lesson 4: Steam Flow Students learn how to use and draw hydrographs, and calculate discharge rates. They also read about the effect of dams on the environment. |
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| Lesson 5: Inflows and Outflows A computer model allows students to see what it is like to manage a dam. Students decide how much water to release, how much to give to farmers, and how best to manage their water resource. |
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| Lesson 6: Fresno Water Board Drawing on their knowledge of streamflows, dams, and water management, students use GIS software to analyze data and select the dam location that best meets the area's needs. |
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| Chapter 4: Salmon | |
| Lesson 1: Salmon on the Sacramento GIS software familiarizes students with the Sacramento River. Students create a storyboard of the life cycle of salmon and produce a graph of salmon population statistics. |
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| Lesson 2: Salmon Mortality Students explore the hazards faced by salmon and draw connections between human development and salmon depletion. |
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| Lesson 3: Policies and Budgets Students develop a plan to aid the growth of salmon populations in California. |
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| Chapter 5: Aquifers | |
| Lesson 1: Human Water Use Students calculate how much water they use, discuss ways of conserving water, calculate how much water they could save, and compare their water consumption to that of people in other countries. |
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| Lesson 2: Aquifer Basics Demonstrations of how water moves underground and building a model in class introduce students to aquifers. |
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| Lesson 3: Withdrawing Water from Aquifers Students explore how water is removed from aquifers and the effects of withdrawing too much water. |
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| Lesson 4: Recharging and Balance Diagrams help students analyze how water moves in and out of aquifers. Students also identify aquifers underlying California watersheds. |
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| Lesson 5: Pollution and Water Movement Students study different types of groundwater pollution, observe the process of diffusion, and look at the connections among California's aquifers. |
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| Lesson 6: Point and Non-Point Source Pollution in Fresno By testing water samples from several wells in Fresno, students are able to determine where contaminant's have spread through the aquifer and use that information to select locations for new wells. |
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| Lesson 7: A Plan for Fresno Students evaluate plans for managing Fresno's water shortage crisis. This includes analyzing inflow/outflow data. |
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| Chapter 6: Water Management | |
| Lesson 1: System Out of Balance Students synthesize all their knowledge of dams, aquifers, and people's water usage to create a diagram of Fresno's water system and determine why Fresno is running out of water. |
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| Lesson 2: Possible Solutions Students familiarize themselves with the three water management proposals available to the citizens of Fresno and use ArcView to gather information about the benefits and drawbacks of each. |
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| Lesson 3: Social and Political Concerns Reading give students further insight into the sociopolitical implications of each proposal to aid them in making their final decision. |
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| Lesson 4: Decision and Presentations Using the Environmental Decision-Making process, students balance the consequences and stakeholders for each proposal and decide on the best choice. Students prepare a report and present their decision to the class. |
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