Module 3
Humans And Water
How have humans contaminated water? How have fluxes in the hydrologic cycle varied with time? What can humans do to improve water quality?
Learning Objectives
Students will be able to:
- Speculate about the long-term effects of human activities on the water cycle.
- Interpret long-term patterns in local/regional fluxes within the water cycle.
- Execute a research project to include acquisition of data, analysis of data, and interpretation of results.
- Analyze various strategies for lessening human impact on water bodies within their community to select the most appropriate technique(s).
Introduction
Wiki Projects and Activities
For each of these wikis, schools in India were paired with schools in Kentucky, USA. A best effort was made to pair similar schools between the two countries. Students in each school are strongly encouraged to give feedback and ask questions about their paired school’s wiki projects.
Wiki guidelines: First and foremost, be creative and have fun! Wiki projects should be completed by established teams with each team sharing their creation. Here are some suggested formats for the wikis: video (3-5 minutes), pamphlet (front & back, include images), written report (~2 pages, include images), podcast (3-5 minutes), newspaper or magazine article (~1 page, include image), PowerPoint presentation (~5 slides), poster, etc.
Wiki Project 1: How have humans contaminated water?
You should be finishing data collection for your selected water body. Analyze your data and update wiki project 1 from module 2. Consider the following questions: What is the current water quality? What things are affecting it (such as climate, land use, and/or geology)? How does it vary with time? How might it change in the future? Do your data support your hypothesis? Why or why not? What additional data would you collect, if you could?
Create a wiki sharing what you are discovering regarding the water quality of your chosen water body.
Wiki Project Examples
Activity 1: How have fluxes in the hydrologic cycle varied with time?
This activity will help us learn how to organize and analyze data related to fluxes in the hydrologic cycle to consider how and why they vary with time. Please find below two documents, one for India and one for Kentucky. Open the appropriate document (India for students in India and Kentucky for students in Kentucky), follow the directions for the data sets, and answer the corresponding questions.
![](https://www.google.com/images/icons/product/drive-32.png)
![](https://www.google.com/images/icons/product/drive-32.png)
Wiki Project 2: How have fluxes in the hydrologic cycle varied with time?
For this wiki, let's take a closer look at the data generated from Activity 1 for Modules 2 and 3. How do climate and water quality differ between sites? How do the available data sets differ between the sites, and how might that affect your interpretations? Create a wiki sharing sharing your thoughts.”
Wiki Project Examples
Wiki Project 3: What can humans do to improve water quality?
"Make you the world a bit better or more beautiful because you have lived in it." ~Edward Bok
In module 1, you learned about water footprints and consumption; module 2 was focused on water quality parameters, and this module addresses how humans impact water. So, let's pull together the things we've learned and discuss how we can make the world a bit better. Let's start our efforts with the water body that you have chosen to research. Think about the current state of that water body. What are some recommendations that you would make to improve its water quality? If you are looking for ideas, you may wish to check out some of the websites and videos found on the Links page. Please create a wiki sharing detailed strategies that individuals and communities might take (or examples of actions to take) to improve the water quality of the water body that you have been researching. Upload your wiki to the provided Google Drive folder.
Wiki Project Examples
Summary Project: Final research paper and video
The summary project is creating your final research paper and accompanying video. Both of these projects should be completed in established teams. Start by revisiting your research proposal, which was the summary project for module 2. Give ample consideration to the feedback received from the water professionals who judged your proposals. Next, replace the anticipated results section of your research proposal with your final research results and add a conclusion section to discuss your findings. You may wish to include tables, graphs, and statistical analyses. Include some recommendations for changes your community might make, based on what you have found.
![](https://www.google.com/images/icons/product/drive-32.png)
Research Paper Examples
![](https://www.google.com/images/icons/product/drive-32.png)
![](https://www.google.com/images/icons/product/drive-32.png)
Video Examples
![](https://www.google.com/images/icons/product/drive-32.png)
![](https://www.google.com/images/icons/product/drive-32.png)
![](https://www.google.com/images/icons/product/drive-32.png)
![](https://www.google.com/images/icons/product/drive-32.png)
![](https://www.google.com/images/icons/product/drive-32.png)
Optional Formative Assessment
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