InTeGrate Modules and Courses >Water Sustainability in Cities > Student Materials > Unit 4: Urban Landscapes and Water Use
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These materials are part of a collection of classroom-tested modules and courses developed by InTeGrate. The materials engage students in understanding the earth system as it intertwines with key societal issues. The collection is freely available and ready to be adapted by undergraduate educators across a range of courses including: general education or majors courses in Earth-focused disciplines such as geoscience or environmental science, social science, engineering, and other sciences, as well as courses for interdisciplinary programs.
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These student materials complement the Water Sustainability in Cities Instructor Materials. If you would like your students to have access to the student materials, we suggest you either point them at the Student Version which omits the framing pages with information designed for faculty (and this box). Or you can download these pages in several formats that you can include in your course website or local Learning Managment System. Learn more about using, modifying, and sharing InTeGrate teaching materials.
Initial Publication Date: July 15, 2016

Unit 4: Urban Landscapes and Water Use

Outdoor watering is one of the largest uses of water in urban areas in more arid climates. In this unit, we will look at water needs for urban outdoor landscaping, and you will get to design a water-efficient urban landscape and compare its water consumption with a turf landscape.

Pre-class Activity

Activity 4.0 - Pre-class: Introduction to ET and landscape water use

Prior to the class session, you need to complete the following required activities :

In-class Activities

Activity 4.2 - In-class: Group Landscape Design Project

Activity 4.2 is a group activity in which your group will compute the water use for a growing season for two different landscape designs to compare the amount of water used. First, you compute the water use for a turf landscape. Then you design a water-efficient landscape and compute the water use of your design. You then compare your water-efficient design with the turf landscape and asses the effectiveness of your design.

Your instructor will let you know which of the following options you will be using in class.

Option 1 - Single-family Residence Backyard Design

Option 2 - Institutional Building at University of Utah (computer required) Resources:
  • To get an idea of what different water use plants might look like for your water-efficient landscape design, you can review the Student Plant Handout (Microsoft Word 2007 (.docx) 2.4MB Sep3 14).

Assessment:

    • Review the rubric (Microsoft Word 2007 (.docx) 21kB Jul4 16) that will be used for assessing your group design.

Activity 4.3 - In-Class: Mind Map

  • At the end of class, you will have time to add new concepts to the group mind map of an urban water system.

Homework

Activity 4.4 - Homework: Discussion Questions

  • Your instructor may assign some discussion questions for homework. These discussion questions are included in the Option 1 student handouts above. The questions reflect back on your group design project. The questions are included here as a separate document if your instructor assigns them separately for homework:
These materials are part of a collection of classroom-tested modules and courses developed by InTeGrate. The materials engage students in understanding the earth system as it intertwines with key societal issues. The collection is freely available and ready to be adapted by undergraduate educators across a range of courses including: general education or majors courses in Earth-focused disciplines such as geoscience or environmental science, social science, engineering, and other sciences, as well as courses for interdisciplinary programs.
Explore the Collection »