Education Standards Addressed by Legacy Cycle A, Water Basics

Correlation to TEKS / NSES Grades 9-12 / ESLI

Correlation to Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS)

The full TEKS may be downloaded from the Texas Education Agency Web site.

Correlation to National Science Education Standards Grades 9-12

Source: National Science Education Standards Grades 9-12, accessed November 27, 2009.

Correlation to the Earth Science Literacy Initiative

The Earth Science Literacy Initiative (ESLI), funded by the National Science Foundation, has gathered and codified the underlying understandings of Earth sciences to establish the “Big Ideas” and supporting concepts that all Americans should know about Earth sciences.  The primary outcome of the Earth Science Literacy Initiative is a community-based document of Big Ideas and supporting concepts known as the Earth Science Literacy Principles.  These principles were created through a community effort representing the current state-of-the-art research in Earth sciences.  They have been written, evaluated, shaped, and revised by the top scientists working in Earth science.

• Big Idea 1.  Earth science explores our planet.
  • 1.1  Earth science is critically relevant to human existence.  The 21st century will be defined by grand challenges such as climate change and the availability of water and energy resources.  Understanding the ideas and concepts of Earth science is critical for the ability of human society to respond successfully to these challenges and thrive in the decades to come.
• Big Idea 3.  Earth is a complex system of interactions between rock, water, air, and life.
  • 3.1  Systems of rock, water, air, and life are contained within the geosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere, and biosphere.  The geosphere includes a metallic core, solid and liquid rock, soil, and sediments.  The atmosphere is the envelope of gas surrounding Earth.  The hydrosphere includes ice, water vapor, and liquid water in the atmosphere, oceans, lakes, streams, soils, and underground in rocks.  The biosphere is Earth’s life, which can be found in many parts of the geosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere.  Humans are part of the biosphere and human activities have important impacts on all four spheres.
  • 3.6  Earth’s systems continually adjust to changing influences.  Components of Earth’s systems such as magnetic fields, global climate, landscapes, ecosystems, and the extent of glaciers may appear stable, change slowly over long periods of time, or change greatly and abruptly with significant consequences for living organisms.
• Big Idea 5.  Earth is the water planet.
  • 5.2  Water is essential for life on Earth.  Earth is unique in our solar system in that water has coexisted at Earth’s surface in three phases (solid, liquid, and gas) for billions of years, allowing the development and continuous evolution of life.
  • 5.5  Earth’s water cycles between the reservoirs of the ocean, atmosphere, streams, lakes, glaciers, and porous rocks and sediments beneath the ground.  The total amount of water near the surface does not change significantly over human timescales.
  • 5.6  Water shapes landscapes.  Flowing water in streams strongly shapes the land surface through weathering, erosion, transport, and deposition.  Water participates in both the dissolution and formation of Earth’s materials.
  • 5.9  The availability and distribution of clean, accessible water affects the security and quality of human life.  Once contaminated, water quality is difficult to restore.  In many places, both surface water and groundwater are withdrawn faster than they are replenished.
• Big Idea 7.  Humans depend on Earth for resources.
  • 7.1  Earth is our home; its resources mold civilizations, drive human exploration, and inspire human endeavor.
  • 7.2  Human populations have historically concentrated at sites that are geologically advantageous to commerce, food production, and other aspects of civilization.
  • 7.4  Water resources are distributed unevenly around the planet.  Their distribution is a result of how and where geologic processes have occurred in the past, and has extremely important social, economic, and political implications.
  • 7.5  Water resources are essential for agriculture, manufacturing, energy production, and building.  Earth scientists and engineers find and manage our freshwater resources, which are limited in supply.  In many places, humans withdraw both surface water and groundwater faster than they are replenished.  Once freshwater is contaminated, its quality is difficult to restore.
• Big Idea 8.  Natural hazards pose risks to humans.
  • 8.1  Natural hazards result from natural Earth processes.  These hazards include earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes, floods, droughts, landslides, volcanic eruptions, extreme weather, lightning-induced fires, sinkholes, coastal erosion, and comet and asteroid impacts.
  • 8.7  Humans cannot eliminate natural hazards, but can engage in activities that reduce their impacts.  Loss of life, property damage, and economic costs can be reduced by identifying high-risk locations and minimizing human habitation and societal activities in them, improving construction methods, developing warning systems, and recognizing how human behavior influences preparedness and response.
• Big Idea 9.  Humans significantly alter the Earth.
  • 9.1  Human activities significantly change the rates of many of Earth’s surface processes.  Humankind has become a geological agent that must be taken into account equally with natural processes in any attempt to understand the workings of Earth’s systems.  As human populations and per capita consumption of natural resources increase, so do our impacts on Earth’s systems.
  • 9.4  Humans affect the quality, availability, and distribution of Earth’s water through the modification of streams, lakes, and groundwater.  Engineered structures such as canals, dams, and levees significantly alter water and sediment distribution.  Pollution from sewage runoff, agricultural practices, and industrial processes reduce water quality.  Overuse of water for electric power generation and agriculture reduces water availability for drinking.