Module 2

Students will be able to:

• Define various chemical and physical measurements of water quality.
• Speculate how water quality will vary with changing natural and anthropogenic conditions, both spatially and temporally.
• Plan a water-quality research project and collect pilot data.

A general note: For each of these wikis, schools in India will be paired with schools in Kentucky, USA. A best effort will be 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. Last, a link to a Google Drive folder is provided for each wiki project. Be sure to share your work by posting it to the appropriate Google Drive folder.

Each team has received a water testing kit and conductivity probe. Examine the kit and the probe and determine the water parameters you can test or measure with them. What information can these parameters provide about water quality? To answer this question, it may be helpful to refer back to the video and/or PowerPoint under the introduction for this module. In module 1, you selected a water body to study throughout ALL three modules. For your chosen water body, hypothesize about its current water quality and its potential for variability. In other words, what do you think the current water quality is and why? How do you think this current water quality may change over time (hours, days, months, years, etc.)? Formulate a hypothesis regarding the water quality of your chosen water body considering all the aforementioned questions. Remember, a hypothesis is a statement and not a question. Next, devise a sampling plan to test your hypothesis. It's time for the fun: start collecting your data! Do your data support your hypothesis? Why or why not?

Create a wiki sharing what you are discovering regarding the water quality of your chosen water body. Be sure to identify your water body, state your hypothesis, discuss the data you're collecting and whether or not they support your hypothesis. Lastly, what does all this indicate about your water body? Upload your wiki to the provided Google Drive folder.

"Safety Always, Safety First!"

(1) Precautions should be taken when sampling water that may be contaminated. Wear disposable plastic or rubber gloves, and wash hands thoroughly with soap and/or disinfectant after handling samples. People with open wounds should not handle samples.

(2) Water that is grossly polluted (i.e., raw sewage or industrial effluent) should be avoided.

Note: The data collected as part of this wiki can serve as preliminary data for your research proposal and be incorporated into your final research product. Also, if problems arise with the water body you chose in module 1, you may switch to a different water body at this time. Please be aware that after the completion of this wiki, the selected water body should NOT be changed.

Google Drive Folders

This activity will help us learn how to organize and analyze data related to water quality parameters and consider why they vary. 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.

Google Drive Folders

The summary project is to create your research proposal and it should be completed in established teams. As with the summary project for module 1, this summary project should call upon and pull together concepts that you learned while completing the wiki project within this module. Reflect on the water body you chose to study; in the summary project for module 1 you explained its cultural and scientific significance and discussed its relevance to your community. Let's continue to build your knowledge of your chosen water body by considering the following: What is the current water quality of your chosen water body? Did you use any existing data to describe the quality? If so, where did you find the data? Do the data indicate anything? For example, has the water quality changed over time? How was or is the water in your chosen water body being used? Has this changed over time? Now, let's consider your research: What is your research question? Do you have any pilot data to present from wiki 1 of this module that may help answer your research question? What data need to be collected to answer your question? What methods will you employ to collect your data? What are your anticipated results of your research? In other words, what is the answer to your research question?

Please provide a written report that is approximately 3-5 double-spaced pages, with 1-inch margins, and in a standard 12-point font such as Times New Roman or Arial. The report breakdown by section is: Current State of Water Body, approximately 1-2 double-spaced pages; Research Methods, approximately 1-2 double-spaced pages; and anticipated Results, approximately one double-spaced page. References and images are important, but not included in the page count. Sources should clearly relate to the focus of the research and should include, but are not limited to, scholarly references. The reference section should cite all data obtained from other sources. A consistent citation style should be used in both the text and bibliography. Ideally, the research proposals should be completed by December 12, 2017. This date is especially important for schools with multiple teams, because each teacher may submit only ONE research proposal and time is needed to select that proposal. The final research proposal must be completed and emailed to our project team leader, Carol Hanley, by December 19, 2017.

An important note: The research proposal will be evaluated by and feedback given from water professionals using the rubric provided below. The research proposals will be reviewed on the basis of the all the rubric criteria, except the Conclusion criterion. Consideration will be given to the Results criterion, as the research proposal is based upon anticipated results.

Teachers,

If your students will be parting ways with us at the end of the fall semester and likely not continuing on to the spring semester, then please have them complete these two post-tests, ONE and TWO, after completing all work on the modules. These links will ONLY be available from December 13, 2017 to December 22, 2017. Your students' answers to these post-tests will help us improve our program.

Thank you! ~The Project Team