COOL, CLEAR WATER-OR IS IT?
Melinda Schoenfeldt
Kansas State University
Manhattan, KS
 
 
Overview:
Students in grades 4 through 6 are probably already familiar with the idea that people control water quantity by using dams. This lesson begins with a quick review of that concept and moves on to the problem of water quality, specifically in the Kansas-Lower Republican Basin.
 
Grade Level: 4-6
 
Outcome:
The student will offer a solution to one of the three identified water quality issues.
 
Geographic Themes:
Place; Region; Human/Environment Interaction
 
Kansas Social Studies Standards for Benchmarks, Grade Levels 5-K:
The student will understand the connections among people, places, and environments in the classroom, local school, community, Kansas, the U.S., and different regions in the world.
 
The student will use problem solving and decision making strategies to propose ways of addressing issues or problem situations in the classroom, local school, community, Kansas, the U.S., and different regions in the world.
 
National Geography Standards, Grades 5-8
 #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. 
 #5 The geographically informed person knows and understands that people create regions to interpret Earth’s complexity. 
 #14 The geographically informed person knows and understands how human actions modify the physical environment. 

Performance Objective:
The student will use a problem solving method to offer a solution to one of the water quality problems within the Kansas Lower Republican River Basin
 
Vocabulary:
atrazine  sediment 
coliform bacteria  surface water 
river basin  water quality 

Materials Needed:
Procedures:
1. Divide the class into groups of 3 or 4. 
 2. Write “Water” on the chalkboard or overhead. 
 3. After reading Water, Sun, and Moon, add the words “Controlling” in front of the word water and “Quantity” below it, and then briefly discuss the devastation brought about by flood and ask students if they know how water can be controlled, eliciting, “build a dam.” 
 4. Hand out to each group, a map of the River Basins in Kansas. (in the Kansas Water Plan Appendix). Write the definition of river basin on the board. Have each group, using the map, list on a piece of paper all the river basins in Kansas and circle the one in which they live. 
 5. Then hand out the map of the Kansas Lower Republican Basin. Have the students find it on the map of all the basins. Have them identify 2 lakes formed by dams within the basin. 
 6. Write “Quality” (and its definition) on the board next to Quantity. Explain that the people within the Kansas Lower Republican Basin get their drinking water from surface water (write the definition). Show a jar of river water that has set long enough for the sediments to settle to the bottom. Ask the students if the water looks clean enough to drink. Then shake the jar and ask again. Explain that some dangers to water quality are visible, but that others are not visible. Underneath Quality, write “ 1. sediments 2. atrazine 3. coliform bacteria” and that these are 3 problems with the water quality. Tell them that they are going to research one of the problems and report back to the class. 
 7.
Each group is to: a) Define the problem, b) Define any unknown words, c) Identify at least one source of the problem, d) Through research find a possible solution, and e) Share their findings in one of the following ways:
 a. an informational brochure 
 b. a large poster or mural 
 c. a skit 
 d. a poem, song, or story 
 e. a model or diagram 
 8. Assign a problem to each group. Note: More than one group will be working on each problem. Provide them with the materials listed in the resource section and suggest people to contact. 
 9. Supervise the groups as they work, adding direction as needed. 
 10. On a predetermined day, have each group share their work with the class. 
 
Assessment:
 1.
Use a rubric to score the projects. Suggestion: 
Clearly stated the problem-20%
Defined new words in understandable language-20%
Identified a source of the problem-20%
Offered a reasonable solution-20%
Clear a presentation-20%
 2. Have a matching test-students match terms with their definitions (river basin, Kansas Lower Republican Basin, the name of their own basin, surface water, sediment, atrazine, coliform bacteria, quantity, quality.) 

Extensions:
  1. Students can identify water quantity or quality issues within their own river basin (or another if they live within the Kansas Lower Republican) and repeat the problem solving activity.
  2. Students can draw a map of Kansas and identify the reservoirs.
  3. Students can take a field trip to a reservoir to learn how a dam controls water quantity and how the operators know when and how much water to let out.
  4. Students can visit a water treatment facility in their community to learn about water quality.
Resources:

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FHSU Geoscience | Kansas Geographic Alliance
National Geographic Society | Kansas Water Office
Fort Hays State University | Kansas State University
e-mail: pphillip@fhsu.edu