Analyzing Water Neutrality of U. of Utah Campus
Initial Publication Date: June 6, 2018
Summary
In this in-class and homework activity students are provided information, data, and a working definition of water neutrality for the University of Utah campus. They are then divided into teams to define the system, quantify the natural and built water budgets as a function of space and time using data provided and outside research, analyze the compiled water budget to identify opportunities for conservation, differential uses, and reuse. The students provide summaries of their progress with in-class reports during the multi-session activity and then compile a final report with their recommendations for achieving water neutrality.
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Learning Goals
Learning Objectives: Describe natural and built water systems, Calculate water budget, Recommend solutions for water conservation and reuse
Skills: data analysis, written and oral communication, critical thinking
Sustainability is addressed with the concept of 'neutrality' - this leads to critical thinking about what it means as well as how to interpret it in practice to achieve sustainability goals. The concepts are extensible beyond the case study used for the activity.
Skills: data analysis, written and oral communication, critical thinking
Sustainability is addressed with the concept of 'neutrality' - this leads to critical thinking about what it means as well as how to interpret it in practice to achieve sustainability goals. The concepts are extensible beyond the case study used for the activity.
Context for Use
This activity is appropriate for an upper level course with students that have had a water or hydrology course as background. A working definition of water neutrality must be provided to the students and some information and data related to the water system being analyzed. The class size could range from 10 to 50 and still enable sufficient discussion or larger if discussion is eliminated.
Description and Teaching Materials
Teaching Notes and Tips
The teacher will need to compile seed data describing the water system of the case study.
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Assessment
The oral progress reports and written final report are graded.