Dragonfly Pond

We have been dealing with a whole variety of environmental issues in the Dragonfly Watershed. The watershed and its main stem received their name from the iconic Dragonfly Pond. Laughing Gullville's population has been growing, creating the need for a new community development. You are on a team of civil engineers and city planners who are competing to win the contract from the Gullville Community Board. How can you balance the interests of different groups of people and preserve wildlife habitat at the same time?
Actual location of the photo is on Random Lake, Wisconsin.

Previous Problem: Urbanization

The Story of Dragonfly Pond

Laughing Gullville has always been a vibrant and growing community, known for its scenic landscapes and bustling industries. However, its popularity has led to an increasing population and a pressing need for urban expansion. The city council has decided to develop a new planned community at Dragonfly Pond, a picturesque area nestled in the Mora Forest.

Dragonfly Pond is a gem of natural beauty, but it is also a place of complex challenges. The Mora Forest is home to two specialist endemic species, the blue spot acorn oak and the blue acorn-eating squirrel. These species, highlighted in the famous "Invasive Squirrel Studies," rely on the forest’s unique ecosystem and must be preserved. To the north of the pond lies a critical wetland that acts as a natural water filter and habitat for diverse wildlife. This wetland is fed by an affluent river originating from the hills, which also passes an abandoned mine leaching acid mine drainage and elevated lead levels into the water. Further upstream are active mines, posing a looming risk of future contamination.

To the south of the pond lies the legacy of LGV’s past. A coal power plant hums steadily, providing energy but contributing air and water pollution. Nearby, a cornfield and animal feedlot have been family-run operations for generations, sustaining the local agricultural economy but also producing runoff that affects water quality in the effluent river flowing out of Dragonfly Pond. This effluent river winds its way through the southern neighborhoods, carrying both the pond’s beauty and its burdens downstream.

The planned community at Dragonfly Pond is envisioned as a blend of residential neighborhoods, commercial spaces, industrial facilities, and agricultural zones. The city council has set ambitious goals to make this community a model of sustainability. They want to create walkable neighborhoods with diverse transportation options, preserve open space and critical environmental areas, and encourage collaboration among stakeholders. Compact building designs will reduce urban sprawl, and smart planning will balance economic growth with ecological integrity.

As a member of a team tasked with presenting this development plan to the LGV community board, you must tackle these challenges head-on. Your mission is to design a detailed map that illustrates how the community can develop sustainably while addressing environmental concerns. You must also explain how federal environmental regulations will guide your decisions and ensure that the community’s growth does not come at the expense of its natural treasures.

"We Built This City on Dragonfly Pond"

You will have several checkpoints along the way to facilitate your ability to complete the final project before the APES exam on May 13.

Step 1: Water Users Debate
Step 2: Build your Community (Map Design)
Step 3: Conservation and the Law
Step 4: Pollution Reduction
Step 5: Proposal Letter
Step 6: FRQ

We Built This City on Dragonfly Pond

Assessment Criteria

Your Dragonfly Pond component of the summative assessment will be assessed using the following benchmarks:

EIN: Interactions between different species and the environment, which will be used to assess all steps
SEP 6: Construct Explanations & Designing Solutions, which will be used to assess steps
SEP 8: Obtaining and Communicating information, which will be used to assess steps

Deadlines

Step 1, Stakeholder groups debate— March 31 and April 2
Step 2, Community plan (map)— April 4
Step 3, Environmental Legislation— April 10
Step 4, Problems and BMPs— April 25
Step 5, Proposal Letter— April 30
Step 6, FRQ— in class on April 30

Step 1— Water Users Debate

Prep Day

Stakeholder Interests

Each group researches additional real-world examples of their water usage, benefits, challenges, and solutions.

Create Position Statements: You have two minutes to make an opening statement that addresses the following three points:

Their primary goals for land and water use
Two arguments supporting their needs
One proposed solution to potential conflicts

Debate Day

Opening Statements (2 minutes per group)

Stakeholder Questions (10 minutes)

Conflict Resolution (25 minutes)
Debate Scenarios

Collaborative Solutions Round (10 minutes)

Closing Statements (1 minute per group)

Step 2— Map Design

You will create one map design in a group of mixed interest groups, which must be designed based on the compromises from the debate. Your group will receive a set of land use patterns, required to use all of them, and then connect the entire community with roads. After you are finished, copies of the map will be made for all group members

But it won't be that simple because there are some set rules to follow.

The wetland and at least some of the forest must be preserved for the endangered plant and animal that are endemic to this land. A coal burning power plant already exists there, but a second needs to be constructed to accommodate a growing population. If the power plant is a thermal generation plant (coal or nuclear), then it plus a factory a sewage treatment plant need to be attached to the water/pond. There is an abandoned mine upstream that is causing acid mine drainage and elevated lead in the river. Because they need lots of water, an original farmland was established near the effluent stream. It consists of a cornfield and an animal feedlot, both of which must remain there in the design. Residential and commercial properties may be built upward and with mixed land uses (ie. shops on the ground floor with housing above) but local ordinances restrict the height of buildings at three floors. Any road or pathway you add takes up one one cell in width due to the impact of the edge effect on fragmenting the original habitat.

Step 3— Conservation & the Law

To construct the planned development, the original habitat needed to be altered. In this step, you will briefly investigate the APES required legislation and explain how your community will be in compliance with the law to reduce environmental impact. Amongst your group members, divide the APES Legislation between yourselves and explain how the laws will be enacted and enforced, to make your planned community in compliance with the law. Step 3 Environmental Legislation

Step 4— Pollution Reduction

For each classification of pollution, outline three distinct problems and pollutants that come from four distinct sources. For each problem, describe a solution to reduce the risk of the problem. Pollution covered in the APES curriculum What will get you a '4' on this step is to include all of the following for each pollutant

Name a pollutant and classify it as a primary (1º) or secondary (2º) pollutant
State its source and classify it as a point or nonpoint source
Describe how the pollutant is produced
Describe a best management practice that would be a sustainable way in reducing the pollutant
Label where the strategy is being implemented on your map.

Example (this exact one may not be duplicated in yours. Number indicates its correlation to the criteria outlined above. You do not need to include the numbers in your descriptions):

Photochemical smog is a secondary pollutant (1) produced from reactions in the presence of light between NOx and VOCs that emitted by combustion by vehicles for transportation and factories for energy (3). Vehicles are a nonpoint source of pollution and factories are a point source of pollution (2). One strategy to reduce the risk of photochemical smog, as can be seen in the map design, is to place the factories downwind from the areas that would have a greater concentration of vehicle traffic. This would reduce the concentration of NOx and VOCs that could react (4). A long term solution would be to require factories and the coal power plant have dry scrubbers to reduce the amount of pollution they emit (4).

Agricultural Pollution

Solve the following problems—

Eutrophication
Overgrazing
Crop damage by pests (use IPM)

Air Pollution

If you plan to use a solar farm or wind farm in replacement of a thermal power plant, then you must use six-times the pattern area to produce enough energy

Land Pollution

The landfill does not operate a recycling facility.

Water Pollution

One solution should target acid mine drainage. The three problems/solutions for this cannot be for eutrophication, since it is already an agricultural one

Step 5— Proposal Letter

Individually, you will write to the Laughing Gullville Community Board from the perspective of your stakeholder role. Your letter is making a pitch to Use the template provided to you. Give specific examples when possible. Go for quality with examples over quantity.

Opening statement – you will define what is meant by sustainability or sustainable community in your introduction. Come up with a "thesis statement" that highlights why/how your map design is an exemplar of your definition, which should relate to the content in the paragraphs that follow

Paragraph 1 – explain how the map design was completed to accommodate all the stakeholder groups' interests

Paragraph 2 – explain how the map design was done to reduce potential environmental problems and apply Smart Growth principles

Paragraph 3 – explain your understanding of why preservering the wetland and the forest benefits the community. Address the services they provide and how you created as few habitat islands as possible

Paragraph 4– make a final persuasive statement to me that points out what I should know that I would otherwise not know by simply looking at the final product. Tell me what you learned This could be sharing something profound that you learned during the project, explaining your decision-making process, etc.

Step 6— FRQ

On the final submission date for all steps to this summative, we will see how your gated community fits in the larger Dragonfly Watershed. You will be provided an FRQ and be timed in answering it. The type of question will be based on the ways we use land (agriculture, meat production, aquaculture, mining, urban development, forestry) and solutions to environmental problems. You will receive these questions the same day as answering them.