For Teachers: Information about Legacy Cycle A, Water Basics

• Challenge 1: How Fair Are the Water Properties?
• Challenge 2: One Bite Can Kill You
• Challenge 3: WHO Can Map This?

Challenge 1: How Fair Are the Water Properties?

This first challenge is intended as a review of the properties of water.  It sets the stage for learners to pursue subsequent challenges.

Enduring Understandings

• Water is everywhere on Earth — oceans, glaciers, rivers, lakes, air, soil, and living tissue.  All of these reservoirs make up Earth's hydrosphere (Tarbuck and Lutgens, 2006).
• Water is essential for life on Earth (Earth Science Literary Principle 5.2).
• 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 (Earth Science Literary Principle 5.2).
• Water’s unique physical and chemical properties are essential to the dynamics of Earth’s systems.  These properties include the manner in which water absorbs and releases heat, reflects sunlight, expands upon freezing, and dissolves other materials (Earth Science Literary Principle 5.3).
• Freshwater is humanity's most important natural resource.
• Environmental water quality determines suitability for human use (drinking water, swimming, boating, and so on), the health of aquatic organisms that live in the water, and the impact on wildlife, which use the water for drinking or as a habitat.
• The Clean Water Act (CWA) is the primary federal law enacted in the United States to regulate water quality.  It requires each governing jurisdiction (states, territories, and covered tribal entities) to monitor its water quality and submit reports to the Environmental Protection Agency.

Essential questions for students to answer in order to address the Enduring Understandings are listed in the “Generate Ideas” section.

References

1. American Museum of Natural History, Water H2O = Life, accessed October 2016.
2. Carpi, A., 2003, Water — Properties and behavior; Visionlearning, accessed October 2016.
3. Chang, R., 2000, Molecular view of solution formation; Essential Chemistry, accessed October 2016.
4. Environment Canada, Properties of water, accessed October 2016.
5. Hebert, P., (lead author), Matlock, M., (topic editor), 2008, updated 2011, Origin and age of lakes, in Cleveland, C.J., eds., Encyclopedia of Earth: Washington, D.C., Environmental Information Coalition, National Council for Science and the Environment, accessed October 2015.
6. The secret nature of hydrogen bonds, 1999, ScienceDaily, accessed October 2016.
7. Tyson, P., Life’s little essential — Liquid Water: Nova Online, accessed October 2016.
8. United States Environmental Protection Agency, Summary to the Clean Water Act, accessed October 2016.
9. United States Geological Survey, Water Science School, accessed October 2016.
10. Water: Wikipedia, accessed October 2016.

Suggested Rubric.  Teachers may develop their own rubrics, using this one as a guide.

• Highly Proficient.  Sophisticated, innovative, comprehensive, and accurate; contains all required products; addresses the enduring questions in an insightful, illuminating, creative manner; demonstrates sensitivity, maturity, and respect for cultural elements.
• Capable.  Systematic, skilled, and accurate; contains all required products; addresses the enduring questions in a thoughtful, considered, and mature manner and demonstrates a thorough understanding of the concepts.
• Adequate.  Adequate and clear; contains all required products; acceptable treatment of the enduring questions but without a thorough understanding of the concepts; lacks perspective and sensitivity.
• Limited.  Developed, but incomplete; unreflective; contains inaccuracies and misconceptions; limited success in addressing the enduring questions; limited understanding of the concepts.
• Inadequate.  Naïve and superficial; incomplete; contains inaccurate material; simplistic, uncritical attempt to address the enduring questions; poor understanding of the concepts; immature treatment of cultural elements.

Challenge 2: One Bite Can Kill You

Enduring Understandings

• Water in the hydrosphere cycles between reservoirs — ocean, atmosphere, rivers, lakes, glaciers, wetlands, and groundwater.
• The water cycle is made up of several processes, including evaporation, transpiration, condensation, precipitation, and the eventual return of flowing water to the ocean.
• The energy of sunlight and the force of gravity power the water cycle, which in turn distributes water globally.
• A hurricane is a type of tropical cyclone, a low pressure system that generally forms in the tropics.
• Hurricanes are both a natural hazard and a natural safety valve, transporting heat from the tropical ocean to higher latitude regions.
• Hurricanes bring rainfall to Texas and are part of the region's weather regime.
• The availability of water influences the life cycles of many disease pathogens and their vectors and can affect the timing and intensity of disease outbreaks.
• Hurricanes can cause flooding when they strike, which may result in disease outbreaks due to waterborne pathogens and their vectors.
• Hurricane preparedness can mitigate the consequences of a hurricane.

References

1. Biological characteristics of water, accessed October 2016.
2. Cleveland, C. (lead author), Slanina, A., and Slanina, S. (topic editors), Cleveland, C.J., eds., 2009, updated 2011, Energy release from hurricanes, in Encyclopedia of Earth: Washington, D.C. Environmental Information Coalition, National Council for Science and the Environment, accessed October 2015.
3. Emanuel, K. A., 2006, Is climate change increasing hurricane activity?: Hot Science, Cool Talks Outreach Lecture Series, accessed October 2016.
4. Hurricane features: University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) Remote Sensing Using Satellites, 2^nd edition, accessed October 2016.
5. Keim, M., 2006, Cyclones, tsunamis and human health, The key role of preparedness: Oceanography v. 19 no. 2, p. 40-49.
6. Nasci, R., and Moore, C., 1998, Vector-borne disease surveillance and natural disasters: Emerging Infectious Diseases, v.4, no. 2, accessed October 2016.
7. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Water cycle, accessed October 2016.
8. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Hurricane Center,Hurricane history: Hurricane Preparedness, accessed October 2016.
9. Pidwirny, M. (lead author), Vranes, K., and Slanina, S. (topic editors), Cleveland, C.J., eds., 2007, updated 2012, Tropical weather and hurricanes, in Encyclopedia of Earth: Washington, D.C. Environmental Information Coalition, National Council for Science and the Environment, accessed October 2015.
10. Texas Department of Public Safety, Division of Emergency Management,Hurricane awareness, accessed October 2016.
11. Ready.gov, Federal Emergency Management Agency, Hurricane, accessed October 2016.

Suggested Rubric.  Teachers may develop their own rubrics, using this one as a guide.

• Highly Proficient.  Sophisticated, innovative, comprehensive, and accurate; contains all required products; addresses the enduring questions in an insightful, illuminating, creative manner; demonstrates sensitivity, maturity, and respect for cultural elements.
• Capable.  Systematic, skilled, and accurate; contains all required products; addresses the enduring questions in a thoughtful, considered, and mature manner and demonstrates a thorough understanding of the concepts.
• Adequate.  Adequate and clear; contains all required products; acceptable treatment of the enduring questions but without a thorough understanding of the concepts; lacks perspective and sensitivity.
• Limited.  Developed, but incomplete; unreflective; contains inaccuracies and misconceptions; limited success in addressing the enduring questions; limited understanding of the concepts.
• Inadequate.  Naïve and superficial; incomplete; contains inaccurate material; simplistic, uncritical attempt to address the enduring questions; poor understanding of the concepts; immature treatment of cultural elements.

Challenge 3: WHO Can Map This?

Water is life.  All living organisms, including humans, are predominantly made of water.  Therefore, safe clean water is a critical resource for a healthy human population in the 21st century.  However, water is distributed unevenly around the planet and within Texas as a consequence of Earth processes, including geologic processes, and ocean and atmospheric circulation, which together drive weather and climate.

Water distribution in Texas varies widely due to Texas’ geographical location, which influences climatic variations across the state.  The Gulf of Mexico borders the southeastern portion of the state and is important as it regulates climate along the coast and provides a significant source of moisture for the state.  Moist, humid air from the Gulf Coast travels westward across the state and interacts with seasonal air masses, such as arctic fronts, the jet stream, subtropical west winds, tropical storms, and a subtropical high pressure system known as the Bermuda High.

Enduring Understandings

• The total amount of water at Earth’s surface has remained fairly constant over geologic time, although its distribution among reservoirs has varied (Earth Science Literacy Principle 5.5).
• Freshwater is less than 3 percent of the water at Earth’s surface.  Most of this freshwater is stored as glaciers in Antarctica and Greenland.  Less than 1 percent of Earth’s near-surface water is drinkable liquid freshwater, and about 99 percent of this water is in the form of groundwater in the pores and fractures within soil, sediment, and rock (Earth Science Literacy Principle 5.8).
• All living organisms, including humans, are predominantly made of water.
• Safe clean water is a critical resource for a healthy human population in the 21st century.
• Water resources are distributed unevenly around the planet.  Their distribution is a result of climate, weather regimes, and how and where geologic processes have occurred in the past.
• The uneven distribution of water resources has extremely important social, economic, and political implications.
• Natural hazards, such as floods and droughts, shape the history of human societies.  Hazardous events can significantly alter the size of human populations and drive human migrations (Earth Science Literacy Principle 8.2).

Essential questions for students to answer in order to address the Enduring Understandings are listed in the “Generate Ideas” section.

References

1. 20-year map of global rainfall, accessed October 2016.
2. Caran, S. C., and Baker, V., 1986, The Balcones Escarpment — Flooding along the Balcones Escarpment, central Texas, in Abbott, P., and Woodruff, C. M., eds., The Balcones Escarpment central Texas, Geological Society of America, p. 1-14.  Available online through the University of Texas libraries, accessed October 2016.
3. Eckhardt, G., Hydrogeology of the Edwards Aquifer: Edwards Aquifer, accessed October 2016.
4. Long, L., 2002, Geologic wonders of central Texas: Environmental Science Institute Outreach Lecture Series, University of Texas, Austin, accessed October 2016.
5. National Drought Mitigation Center, University of Nebraska, U.S. drought monitor, accessed October 2016.
6. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Satellite and Information Service, National Centers for Environmental Information, accessed October 2016.
7. Ocean temperatures and climate patterns, accessed October 2016.
8. Rogers, P., 2008, Facing the freshwater crisis: Scientific American, accessed October 2016.
9. University Corporation for Atmospheric Research, Introduction to Climate, accessed October 2016.
10. U.S. Geological Survey, Where is Earth’s water located? The World's Water, Water Science School, accessed October 2016.

Other Resources

• The Texas Water Development Board has many excellent maps that are available to the public at the cost of reproduction plus shipping.
• "Godzilla" El Nino enters a new phase
• Jet stream animation.
• Visualization of water vapor during 1998 La Niña event.
• Climate data.
• Climate maps (global).
• National Weather Service Precipitation Analysis.
• Interactive map with images from different climatic zones.
• Virtual field trip of the Balcones Escarpment.
  Students investigate how the geology of central Texas causes intense flooding.
• Water, water almost everywhere? Module 2 — Why is Earth called the "water planet"?
• Global water distribution
• Exploring Google Earth.  Students will become more familiar with using Google Earth by navigating through tutorials.
• The BBC News Online World Water Crisis Quiz tests our knowledge of the uses and diminishing supplies of water around the world, accessed October 2016.

Suggested Rubric.  Teachers may develop their own rubrics, using this one as a guide.

• Highly Proficient.  Sophisticated, innovative, comprehensive, and accurate; contains all required products; addresses the enduring questions in an insightful, illuminating, creative manner; demonstrates sensitivity, maturity, and respect for cultural elements.
• Capable.  Systematic, skilled, and accurate; contains all required products; addresses the enduring questions in a thoughtful, considered, and mature manner and demonstrates a thorough understanding of the concepts.
• Adequate.  Adequate and clear; contains all required products; acceptable treatment of the enduring questions but without a thorough understanding of the concepts; lacks perspective and sensitivity.
• Limited.  Developed, but incomplete; unreflective; contains inaccuracies and misconceptions; limited success in addressing the enduring questions; limited understanding of the concepts.
• Inadequate.  Naïve and superficial; incomplete; contains inaccurate material; simplistic, uncritical attempt to address the enduring questions; poor understanding of the concepts; immature treatment of cultural elements.