Predicting and Preventing a "Dry Date" in South Central Texas

BACKGROUND

Target Audience:  Algebra II and Chemistry I students

            The Predicting and Preventing a Central Texas “Dry Date” Project will begin with an introduction to the problem, followed by benchmark lessons on data collection and representation, mathematical relationships and modeling, and water properties and quality.  Students will then use these skills in their Algebra II class as they research past population growth, water consumption and water supply to predict a theoretical “dry date”.  The students will prepare a presentation which will include a good graphical representation of the data, best-fit models of the data, as well as their predictions about the future water supply based on the models they chose.  Meanwhile, in their Chemistry class, students will be learning about the properties of water and water quality.  They will also research possible ways to conserve water in everyday life to ensure its presence in the future.  Each student will complete the project by writing a letter to the community and its leaders summarizing Central Texas population growth, its affects on the water supply, and a theoretical dry date if water consumption per person does not decrease.   They will also have to prepare a presentation sharing their findings and conservation methods. 

            The teachers will be required to give lectures on these topics, so it is important that they have a general knowledge of each of these subjects. Below are the locations of websites that provide information about what researchers have to say about a possible drought and where to find data on population, rainfall, water consumption, water conservation and water standards:

What Researches/Scientists have to say about the possible drought:

http://www.twdb.state.tx.us/rwpg/2006_RWP/RegionL/Volume%20I/06%20-%20Executive%20Summary.pdf

Population Data:

http://www.cpa.state.tx.us/ecodata/popdata/popfiles.html

http://txsdc.utsa.edu/

Rainfall/Water Supply/Consumption Data:

http://www.twdb.state.tx.us/home/index.asp

http://www.twdb.state.tx.us/rwpg/2006_RWP/RegionL/Volume%20I/06%20-%20Executive%20Summary.pdf

Conservation Data: http://edugreen.teri.res.in/EXPLORE/water/conser.htm

http://www.twdb.state.tx.us/assistance/conservation/gdsstudy.asp

Water Standards Data: http://www.epa.gov/safewater/contaminants/index.html

http://www.epa.gov/safewater/standards.html

            Students will be expected to use the internet for research and graphing calculators and excel for mathematical modeling and data analysis.  The Algebra II teacher should be well versed in these technologies before presenting them to the students.  Below are the locations of websites that provide information and guides about using these technologies.

Effectively Searching the Internet:

http://www.brightplanet.com/resources/details/searching.html

Using a TI-83 to plot data and find a best fit line:

http://www.prenhall.com/esm/app/calc_v2/calculator/medialib/Technology/Documents/TI-83/desc_pages/ti83techskills2.html

Using Excel to plot data, find a best fit line and finding the intersection of the best fit lines:

Excel Tutorial: http://www.usd.edu/trio/tut/excel/

Linear Regression and Excel: http://phoenix.phys.clemson.edu/tutorials/excel/regression.html