The Wise Mans Drink Water is the only

The Wise Man’s Drink “Water is the only drink for a wise man. ” -Henry David Thoreau

th 10 A Web. Hunt for Grade Environment Science Designed By Rebecca Reichenbach rsreichenbach@interact. ccsd. net

You never miss the water ‘til the well has run dry. - Irish Proverb

Introduction • This lesson was developed as part of the Clark County School District’s High School Science Summer Institute 2005 • This lesson is designed to investigate water quality topics through a web based inquiry activity.

What is useable water?

Learners • This web project is designed for a high school level Environmental Science course, but can also be applied in Biology, Earth Science, and has some connection to Chemistry and Applied Bio/Chem.

Students should have some skill with inquiry before embarking on this lesson or: • Frustration will be high • Too much off task searching

Curriculum Standards • • Environmental Science Standards 1. 9 The student will analyze government policies regarding the environment 8. 6 the student will investigate the water quality of the Las Vegas Valley • • • Nevada State Standards N. 12. A. 1 Using Data N. 12. B Science, Technology, and Society E. 12. C. 4 Earth’s Composition and Resources L. 12. C Organisms and Their Environment P. 12. A. 5 Rates of Reaction

In this project we will encourage inquiry and critical thinking through analysis of policy as well as empirical data.

Students Use the following websites to aid in your quest: http: //water. usgs. gov/education. html http: //www. lvwash. org http: //www. epa. gov/nerlesd 1/chemistry/pharm a/index. htm http: //epa. gov/nerlesd 1/chemistry/pharma/ima ges/drawing. pdf http: //www. cdc. gov/health/water. htm

Student Goal: • Investigate a minimum of 5 substances found in our drinking water and their health effects. • Become an expert on these 5 and be ready to answer the questions:

Student Questions 1. What is the established/acceptable safe level for each of the substances? 2. What are the health effects suspected or known for this substance? 3. Is there a way to clean each substance out of our water? If so, how? 4. How does this substance get into our water? 5. Is this substance found in the water in Las Vegas or is this only a problem for other areas? 6. Which of the pollutants you investigated are you personally most concerned about? Why?

Summative Evaluation Your final evaluation will be a 3 – 5 minute presentation on one pollutant agreed upon by you and your teacher. It is expected to include appropriate diagrams and maps and to answer the six questions above. You must also appropriately answer a minimum of three questions generated by your fellow students.

Teacher Set-up • Allow students 5 minutes to organize and brainstorm pollutants they expect to find in our drinking water. • List ideas for the class. Try to steer them away from things that are added like chlorine and fluorine. • Ask students to each pick one substance to become an expert on for the class. Each student should have something different.

Teacher Trouble Shooting • You may have to pair up students instead of having individual projects. • Lack of generated topics – be ready to prompt or have them do preliminary research. • Keep the research moving. It’s easy to lose track of time when doing webquests! • Be ready to spend extra computer lab time.

Time Planning • 1 day for brainstorming and activity set-up • 2 days for computer research • 1 – 2 days for presentations

Resources Needed • Internet Access • Presentation Equipment