How Much Oil Leaked from Deepwater Horizon? part of Integrate:Workshops and Webinars:Systems, Society, Sustainability and the Geosciences:Activities
Stephen Boss, University of Arkansas Main Campus
Students develop an estimate of the total quantity of petroleum discharged from the Deepwater Horizon from 20 April to 15 July 2010 using only two known facts, the diameter of the riser and the flow rate of the oil/gas mixture emanating from the riser.

Exploring sustainability through water cycle connections part of Integrate:Workshops and Webinars:Systems, Society, Sustainability and the Geosciences:Activities
Tim Lutz, West Chester University of Pennsylvania
During this module students use multiple experiences (reading, video, the outdoors, a survey of their water footprints, writing, and lots of discussion) to examine how life today, in comparison to pre-industrial times, makes our connections to water virtually invisible. Students use the class's water footprint results to find out how agricultural and industrial water uses link us to people distant in both place and time. They weigh the consequences of these invisible connections in creating the lost sense of dependence and responsibility that typifies unsustainability. Students study the variability of water footprints within our class to help identify more sustainable personal choices. They consider the activity of a local watershed association to educate and involve people in improving the quality of local streams as a model of how community action can accomplish what individuals cannot.

Analyzing Water Neutrality of U. of Utah Campus part of Integrate:Workshops and Webinars:Systems, Society, Sustainability and the Geosciences:Activities
Steven Burian, University of Utah
Water Neutrality Case Study Activity

'Reporting' on the World Water Forum to understand media coverage and gaps part of Integrate:Workshops and Webinars:Systems, Society, Sustainability and the Geosciences:Activities
Abigail Schade, Davidson College
'Reporting' in-class on the tri-ennial World Water Forum.

Environmentally Sustainable Mining part of Integrate:Workshops and Webinars:Systems, Society, Sustainability and the Geosciences:Activities
Stephen Kissin, Lakehead University
A field trip that illustrates a contrast between environmentally sustainable mining activity and a case of a lack of environmental planning in mining operation and closure.

Capstone Project: Urban Water Portfolio part of Water Science and Society
Students will use the skills and knowledge they have developed throughout the course to develop a water portfolio for the future for a given water-critical city. They will need to estimate the city's water ...

Lesson 3: The Value of a Water Footprint (High School) part of Teach the Earth:Teaching Activities
Kai Olson-Sawyer, GRACE Communications Foundation
Session 1 of this lesson begins with a quick activity to get students thinking about their direct and virtual water use. It introduces a few new ideas for virtual water use that may surprise students, including the ...

Nutrient Loading Module part of Project EDDIE:Teaching Materials:Modules
This module was initially developed by Castendyk, D.N., T. Meixner, and C.A. Gibson. 6 June 2015. Project EDDIE: Nutrient Loading. Project EDDIE Module 7, Version 1. Module development was supported by NSF DEB 1245707.
Estimating nutrient loads is a critical concept for students studying water quality in a variety of environmental settings. Many STEM/Environmental science students will be asked to assess the impacts of a proposed anthropogenic activities on human water resources and/or ecosystems as part of their future careers. This module engages students in exploring factors contributing to the actual loads of nitrogen that are transmitted down streams. Nitrogen is a key water quality contaminant contributing to surface water quality issues in fresh, salt, and estuarine environments. Students will utilize real-time nitrate data from the US Geological Survey to calculate nitrate loads for several locations and investigate the interplay of concentration and discharge that contributes to calculated loads.

Unit 1: Climate Change and Sea Level: Who Are the Stakeholders? part of Understanding Our Changing Climate
Bruce Douglas, Indiana University-Bloomington; Susan Kaspari, Central Washington University
How are rising sea levels already influencing different regions? This unit offers case study examples for a coastal developing country (Bangladesh), a major coastal urban area (southern California), and an island ...

Unit 3: Monitoring groundwater storage with GPS vertical position part of Measuring Water Resources
Bruce Douglas, Indiana University-Bloomington; Eric Small, University of Colorado at Boulder
This unit shows how GPS records of surface elevation can be used to monitor groundwater changes. Students calculate secular trends in the GPS time series and then use the original and detrended records to identify ...

Unit 5.1 - Water Balance of a Tree part of Critical Zone Science
Martha Conklin, University of California-Merced
The assignment is to calculate an annual water balance for a tree using data gathered at the Southern Sierra Critical Zone Observatory. In the framework of experimental design, students will organize around a ...

Lake Mixing Module part of Project EDDIE:Teaching Materials:Modules
This module was initially developed by Carey, C.C., J.L. Klug, and R.L. Fuller. 1 August 2015. Project EDDIE: Dynamics of Lake Mixing. Project EDDIE Module 3, Version 1. cemast.illinoisstate.edu/data-for-students/modules/lake-mixing.shtml. Module development was supported by NSF DEB 1245707.
Stratified lakes exhibit vertical gradients in organisms, nutrients, and oxygen, which have important implications for ecosystem structure and functioning. Mixing disrupts these gradients by redistributing these ...

Unit 2: Water Footprints part of Water, Agriculture, Sustainability
Robert Turner, University of Washington-Bothell Campus
Unit 2 opens a window into water accounting and reveals intensive water use that few people think about. How much water goes into common commodities? Have you considered how much water it takes to support our ...

Unit 1: Exploring Harrier Meadow, an Urban Wetland System part of IGUaNA:Teaching Materials:Evaluating the Health of an Urban Wetland Using Electrical Resistivity
Compiled by Lee Slater, Rutgers University Newark (lslater@newark.rutgers.edu) Download a ZIP file of this Unit
Students will conduct a virtual exploration of Harrier Meadow, a saltmarsh in the New Jersey Meadowlands. They will identify its vulnerability to pollution, its tidal connection to the Hackensack Estuary and the ...

Unit 2: Characterizing groundwater storage with well and GRACE data part of Measuring Water Resources
Bruce Douglas, Indiana University-Bloomington; Eric Small, University of Colorado at Boulder
This unit provides students with experience analyzing traditional (depth to water table measured in a well) and geodetic: GRACE (Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment) data for monitoring changes in groundwater ...

Water Quality Module part of Project EDDIE:Teaching Materials:Modules
This module was initially developed by Castendyk, D. and Gibson, C. 30 June 2015. Project EDDIE: Water Quality. Project EDDIE Module 6, Version 1. cemast.illinoisstate.edu/data-for-students/modules/water-quality.shtml. Module development was supported by NSF DEB 1245707.
Water quality is a critical concept for undergraduate students studying Earth Sciences, Biology, and Environmental Sciences. Many of these students will be asked to assess the impacts of a proposed anthropogenic ...

Unit 1: Exploring the Reservoirs and Pathways and Methods to Measure the Hydrologic Cycle part of Eyes on the Hydrosphere: Tracking Water Resources
Jon Harvey (Fort Lewis College) and Becca Walker (Mt. San Antonio College)
How does water move throughout the Earth system? How do scientists measure the amount of water that moves through these pathways? This unit provides an alternative way for students to learn the major components of ...

Unit 1: Introduction to the hydrologic cycle and stakeholder analysis part of Measuring Water Resources
Bruce Douglas, Indiana University-Bloomington; Eric Small, University of Colorado at Boulder
This unit introduces the hydrological cycle to provide context for the module as a whole. It particularly focuses on those portions of the hydrological cycle that take place on land and that form the basis for ...

Unit 4: Groundwater, GPS, and Water Resources part of Measuring the Earth with GPS
Karen M. Kortz (Community College of Rhode Island) Jessica J. Smay (San Jose City College)
GPS data can measure ground elevation change in response to the changing amount of groundwater in valleys and snow cover in mountains. In this module, students will learn how to read GPS data to interpret how the ...

Unit 2: Geophysical Properties of the Subsurface part of IGUaNA:Teaching Materials:Evaluating the Health of an Urban Wetland Using Electrical Resistivity
Compiled by Lee Slater, Rutgers University Newark (lslater@newark.rutgers.edu) Download a ZIP file of this Unit
Archie (1950) defined the term petrophysics to describe the study of the physics of rocks, particularly with respect to the fluids they contain. Although originally focused on geophysical exploration, petrophysics ...