Kansas Water Usage:
How Much is Enough?
Paul E. Phillips
Fort Hays State University
Hays, Kansas

Overview:

This lesson will provide students with the experience of developing an isoline water usage map. Students will find the process similar to doing a "dot to dot" exercise with one important difference. The isoline, because it is of a specific value, often will not go through the dots, but will need to be positioned intermediate to the dots. Students will need to extrapolate the position of the line from the value of the dots. Because of the limited number of data points, a certain amount of flexibility in the positioning of the line should be accepted In addition to producing the map, students will be able to describe how water usage varies across the state and relate this variability to a map of precipitation. The data utilized in this lesson are actual water usage figures as reported in the 1993 Kansas Municipalities Water Use publication available from the Kansas Water Office.

 

Time Needed: Two class periods

 

Grade Levels: 7-12

 

Geographic Themes:

Place, Location, Region, Human/Environment Interaction

 

Kansas Social Studies Standards for Benchmarks, Grade Levels 12-K:

The student will understand the connections among people, places, and environments in the local school and community, Kansas and its surrounding states, the United States and its region, and the world.

 

The student will understand the effects of economics, science, and technology in the local school and community, Kansas and its surrounding states, the United States and its region, and the world.

 

National Geography Standards, Grade Levels 9-12:

#1	The geographically informed person knows and understands how to use maps and other geographic representations, tools, and technologies to acquire, process, and report information from a spatial perspective.
#3	The geographically informed person knows and understands how to analyze the spatial organization of people, places, and environments on Earth's surface.

 

Outcomes:

The students will:

1. Be able to describe the spatial characteristics of municipal water usage in Kansas.
2. Be able to relate Kansas water usage to precipitation.

 

Performance Objective:

The students will:

1. Construct an isoline map showing Kansas municipal water usage.
2. Be able to locate selected Kansas cities by using a city reference key and grid as found on the Kansas Transportation Map.

 

Vocabulary (see Glossary):

Isoline
GPCD

 

Materials:

Data sheet of water usage Data sheet of GPCD isoline values Kansas county outline map of Kansas

Kansas road map Precipitation and evapotranspiration maps of Kansas

Map production procedures:

1. Students may complete this exercise individually or in groups. If done in groups, give each member of the group a task to perform. For instance, one student may construct the dot map while another student identifies the location of the city using the Kansas highway map.
2. Before beginning this exercise, copy the water usage data sheet and outline maps of Kansas so that each individual or group has a copy. Have enough Kansas Transportation Maps so that each student or group has a copy. This map is available free of charge from the Kansas Department of Transportation, 915 Harrison, 7th Floor, Topeka, KS 66612-1568.
3. Before students begin the mapping process, have the class become familiar with the city key and grid as it appears on the Kansas Transportation Map.
4. Walk students through the process of locating sites on the outline map by using the first site on the data sheet, Wallace, KS. Locate Wallace in the city key of the Kansas highway map (C-2) and then locate (C-2) on the highway map. After locating Wallace on the highway map, place a dot on the county outline map at the approximate location of Wallace.
5. Students should now be given the opportunity to ask questions and then should proceed to locate each of the remaining sites of data set 1 onto their Kansas county outline map. As each site is identified with a dot, have the students also write in small print the GPCD (Gallons Per Capita Per Day) usage for that site onto the map as close to the dot as possible.
6. Utilizing data set 2, students should now properly position the isolines onto the Kansas county outline map, using the water usage dots as reference points. Wherever possible, extend the isolines to the border line. Remember to tell the students that these isolines should be placed at their approximate location and to expect a certain amount of error.

Analysis and Interpretation Procedures:

1. When the students have completed their isoline maps, have the class compare their completed maps. All maps should portray similar patterns, but some differences should exist in the placement of isolines. Ask why these differences occurred, and hypothesize about additional information which would allow more accurate placement of isolines. The answers should suggest that one cannot be sure about isoline placement, and that more data points would more accurately identify the location of the isolines.
2. Have the students interpret and draw conclusions from their maps. The answers should suggest that water usage decreases from west to east, and that usage amounts run from 240 in the West to less than 100 in the East.
3. Ask students to hypothesize why the usage pattern shows a gradual increase in usage from east to west. Physical variables which could significantly impact upon water usage include temperature, precipitation, and wind. Socioeconomic variables might include personal income, industrial characteristics and landscaping. Although all of the above are important variables, focus primarily upon the variable of precipitation, by showing them the map of Kansas precipitation.
4. Utilizing the map of precipitation included with this teaching strategy, ask the students if their hypothesis is true. The answer should be affirmative.

 

Assessment:

1. Check accuracy of isoline maps.
2. Observe student use of grids.

 

Extensions:

You may now conclude the lesson, or you may extend the lesson by looking at the spatial characteristics of other above-mentioned variables. Data on many Kansas characteristics is available in the Kansas Statistical Abstract available from the Institute for Public Policy and Business Research at the University of Kansas, phone 913-864-3701.

 

A particular variable, closely related to precipitation, which you may want to include in your discussion on precipitation and water usage, is evapotranspiration. Transpiration is the process of giving off vapor through the pore of the skin or the stomata of plant tissues, while evaporation is the process of changing liquid water to a vapor. Evaporation and transpiration are both related to wind speeds and temperature. As wind and temperature increase, both evaporation and transpiration will also increase.

 

A map of mean annual precipitation minus potential evapotranspiration ration has been included in this teaching strategy. The map shows that negative values exist in the west, while positive values exist in the east. Precipitation equals potential evapotranspiration in central Kansas. The greater the negative value on the map, the more one will need to supplement water availability by increasing GPCD.

 

Resources:

• Kansas Water Office. (1994). 1993 Kansas municipalities water use. Topeka, KS: Author.
• Self, H. (1978). Environment and man in Kansas. Lawrence, KS: Regents Press of Kansas.

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DATA SET 1

GALLONS PER CAPITA PER DAY (GPCD)
FOR SELECTED KANSAS PUBLIC WATER SUPPLIERS

SITE	GPCD	SITE	GPCD
WALLACE	248	HAVEN	139
SYRACUSE	245	STAFFORD	138
ELKHART	238	OSBORNE	137
SATANA	238	BURDETT	136
OAKLEY	234	LOGAN	134
KANORADO	231	RUSH CENTER	134
REXFORD	228	BISON	133
GRAINFIELD	212	KIOWA	130
GRINNEL	212	FRANKFORT	110
MONTEZUMA	212	FREDONIA	110
LANE	211	LEROY	110
JETMORE	179	MILTONVILLE	110
MINNEOLA	171	BALDWIN	101
WAKEENEY	160	EFFINGHAM	100
BOGUE	159	LA CYGNE	100
KINSLEY	140	ARMA	99

Source: 1993 Kansas Mucicipalities Water Use, Kansas Water Office 1994.

DATA SET2

GALLONS PER CAPITA PER DAY (GPCD) ISOLINE VALUES

240 230 210 160

130 110 100

Top of Page

Attachments: KS Counties Isoline Values (GPCD) KS Precipitation Mean Annual Precipitation

 

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e-mail: pphillip@fhsu.edu

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