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This material was developed and reviewed through the GETSI curricular materials development process. This rigorous, structured process includes:

team-based development to ensure materials are appropriate across multiple educational settings.
multiple iterative reviews and feedback cycles through the course of material development with input to the authoring team from both project editors and an external assessment team.
real in-class or field camp/course testing of materials in multiple courses with external review of student assessment data.
multiple reviews to ensure the materials meet the GETSI materials rubric which codifies best practices in curricular development, student assessment and pedagogic techniques.
created or reviewed by content experts for accuracy of the science content.

Final review, editing, and approval by GETSI for this material is still pending.

Instructor Materials: Overview of the Eyes on the Hydrosphere: Tracking Water Resources Module

Module Goals

Students will:

Analyze the major reservoirs of the hydrosphere and the traditional and geodetic means of measuring their relative contributions to a water budget.
Interpret real geodetic and traditional data sets from watersheds with different hydroclimatic regimes and assess short- and long-term trends in water availability for these watersheds.
Use real data to evaluate the societal effects of changing water supply and demand related to both natural and anthropogenic forcings.

Show More info on how Module Goals connect to science literacy principles

Supports Earth Science Big Ideas
ESBI-1—Earth scientists use repeatable observations and testable ideas to understand and explain our planet
ESBI-3—Earth is a complex system of interacting rock, water, air, and life
ESBI-4—Earth is continuously changing
ESBI-5—Earth is the water planet
ESBI-7—Humans depend on Earth for resources
ESBI-9—Humans significantly alter the Earth
Climate Literacy Principles
CLP-2—Climate is regulated by complex interactions among components of the Earth system
CLP—Climate varies over space and time through both natural and man-made processes
CLP—5-Our understanding of the climate system is improved through observations, theoretical studies, and modeling
CLP-6—Human activities are impacting the climate system

Summative Assessment

The Summative Assessment is a selection of questions that could be used during an in-class or take-home exam. Questions are aimed at a range of cognitive levels and designated as level-1 (lower on Bloom's taxonomy) to level-3 (high on Bloom's taxonomy) Learn more about assessing student learning in this module.

Outline

Unit 1Exploring the Reservoirs and Pathways and Methods to Measure the Hydrologic Cycle

In Unit 1, students learn about the reservoirs and transport pathways that make up the hydrosphere, along with an overview of traditional and geodetic methods for measuring water volumes and fluxes. This unit provides an alternative way for students to learn the major components of Earth's water cycle, which includes actively thinking about how we measure the water system. Unit 1 takes ~1.5–2 hours to work well but also works spread over two class periods.

Activity 1.1: Identifying reservoirs and transport pathways in the water cycle
Activity 1.2: Jigsaw activity in which students become "experts" in traditional or geodetic methods for measuring water and then work in groups to analyze data and determine which part of the hydrosphere each method measures best.

Unit 2Monitoring Surface and Groundwater Supply in Central and Western United States

In Unit 2, students learn how the techniques from Unit 1 that are used for water budgeting can be applied to both groundwater (High Plains Aquifer) and surface water (Western Mountain Watershed) systems. In this exercise, they develop their ability to interpret time-series plots that show the impact of drought years and wet years on underground water storage in the High Plains Aquifer and on snowpack and surface runoff in the Western Mountain Watershed.

Activity 2.1: High Plains Aquifer groundwater
Activity 2.2: Western Mountain Watershed surface water

Unit 3What's in YOUR watershed?

In Unit 3, students explore how water managers track water through their local watershed/aquifer system. This unit allows them to apply what they learned in Units 1 and 2 to a region/human system with which they are familiar.

Activity 3.1: Stakeholders in a water budget—a short exercise in which students consider who has power and interest related to water resources
Activity 3.2: What's in YOUR watershed?—more open inquiry activity in which the students investigate water data from their own region of interest to better understand the local water system and societal considerations.

Making the Module Work

To adapt all or part of the module for your classroom you will also want to read through

Instructor Stories which detail how the module was adapted for use at three different institutions, as well as our guide to
Using GETSI Modules for Your Course which outlines how to effectively use GETSI modules

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