Project WET - Water Education For Teachers
Meeting Room: C113
Pre-meeting Sharing Space
Please introduce yourself here. You can also post files and links to relevant data, tools, or projects that you want to share.
Pre-meeting notes:
Greatings Teammates! My name is Mike ,and I am a professor of education and director for environmental sciences at Colorado College. I have been involved in curriculum and teacher training for over 12 years. I am excited to be working with a team from Project WET! - Mike
Session 1—Meet your team members, Learn about the data, tools, and expertise represented on your team
Team members meet each other and share their experiences and viewpoints on using data in education. Data representatives and software tool specialists introduce one or more datasets and tools and the group explores various aspects of them. If the team's DataSheet is not yet posted, the data representative should attach it.
Session 1 Notes:
- Gerry Background in Science Education, ecology, and environmental science Project WET coordinator (past) Unity College
- Meghan BU Graduate student Focus is GIS and data collection and analysis; interested in k-8 curriculum/teaching – maps and spatial data
- Daniel Classroom teacher for many years Works for water management agency Past WET FL coordinator
- Johanna High school student – intern at TERC
- Korey PASCO rep Concentrated effort to support applied sciences in past few years Tool specialist; handheld devices and MyWorld GIS
- Mike Colorado College Science education Environmental GIS
Suggested ideas/open discussion Take existing WET ideas/activities and move beyond to GIS and more field data (collective); real-time, geospatial – integrated with existing online datasets (eg, watershed series)
Regional simulations – used to create a regional specific datasets, interpreted, case-study (eg, drought followed by storm event)
Real-time within the microshed, interactive within "my backyard."
Develop a template that could serve "my space" Deep aquifer Quality and quantity of well data (USGS) Surface water bodies – stage gauges Meteorological data Long term data in relationship to other data that is critical Prediction with current storm event Collaboration among schools and regions Public could use it (CoCoRAHS - http://www.cocorahs.org/) - USER Friendly
Explored a little of MyWorld (Korey)
Case-study discussion Here is a scenario – an event that has happened or may happen Canned exercise around an interesting question (eg, pick a major flood event, guiding the teacher through how to look at the data and pose interesting questions) – leads to part 2 where students/teacher can build their own case-study – level 3 could be collecting data and interfacing with the larger datasets
WET activities Grave Mistake – activity on civil war grave site – interpret data on monitoring wells – normal culprits – key is connecting ground water data and show the connection with surface
Discover watershed series – plumbing the Colorado, trip down looking at major inputs and outputs - "easy" connection to real-time data – Grand Canyon.
What happens to the baseball field - something with infiltration rates – there is a WET activity that addresses this. This links a couple of WET activities together.
WET Themes Listed in the chapter headings of the Project WET book
"Incredible Journey" (Water cycle journey)
EET AUDIENCE – teacher familiar with WET who desires access to data that can enhance the WET activities
Additional WET activities: Super Bowl Surge Watershed Price is right (economics)
Water cycle as our focus? (Climate Change impact on the Water Cycle) Subtopics Time and temp Ground water change Soil percolation Soil moisture Evaporation rates Air movement Another activity idea... Drop in a Bucket activity – 97-2-1 formula changing to a 97-?-?
Session 2—Review DataSheet and Brainstorm data-use storylines
Review and discuss the DataSheet that was begun by the data representative(s) for your team. Decide which team members will contribute to completing various fields.
Brainstorm a set of possible storylines for valid investigations of the dataset. The goal is to come up with at least one compelling scenario that will give users a reason to work through the technological steps necessary to perform some analysis of the data.
Session 2 Notes:
(We will complete a datasheet when the specific data has been selected)
Ideas for concepts: (Nice to have a GC connection, but not essential. The essential piece is to expand the application of datasets and data collection/presentation tools.)
Where is all the Water? Groundwater Contamination, recharge, and/or connection with surface hydrology Global Circulation and Weather Patterns to a smaller/local scale Where does the 2% go if we lose the ice
Concept of Wetlands – building wetlands for mitigation, loss of wetlands in the boreal (NWI data...). Florida (and Iowa) have lost over 50% of wetlands to agricultural (primarily) activities. What are wetlands being converted to? Land use change question...
Linkages of wetlands for flood mitigation.
Wetlands Story line
Wetlands inventory on shape files (Wetlands Geodatabase) http://www.fws.gov/wetlands/Data/State-Downloads.html
Questions: Why care about wetlands? What type of wetland is predominant in your area? How are wetlands classified? What is in your area today? How has landuse changed wetland coverage? Relationship with precipitation, groundwater, surface water, and their ability to capture, store and release water. (Wetland Metaphor activity in WET)
Query: Number of records vs. coverage (area) [histogram tool]– which is more important, as both have ecological significance. Records, for example, small scattered habitats favor a scattered nesting habitat, edge effect, or the may be ephemeral (seasonal); a homogeneous wetland favors fish spawning, nesting (migration), macroinverts, insects, difference in groundwater recharge and connection.
Could pull in watershed data...
Disappearing wetlands...subtract an area by wetland type and subtract a percentage, what happens?
Urban, suburban, and exurban sprawl and impact on nearby wetland coverage – Bedroom community for Jacksonville, which is to the west. Case study is on the state line and the watershed is shared with Georgia. "Growth to a rural community" driven by subdivision development. Western boundary is Osceola National Forest. Population data, recent growth, land use map analysis, pull up the permits, play the role of landuse planner? Tie into water demand, project over new developments over existing land use development. How much more water will these people use (wells until recently)? Where will to come from? Wetland loss?
Dilemma Derby Land Use activity, scenario set where the student plays a role in the land use planning. Groups of students focusing on biological, economic, and cultural/governance, all bridged by Land Use Change.
Baker County, Mcclenney and Glen St. Mary, about 35-40 miles west of Jacksonville. Problem based issue: Primarily agriculture and forested, but threatened by bedroom community growth.
Curricular story line... Land use planning activity that presents a land use change activity related to bedroom community growth.
Three "glasses" are presented: biological, which examines habitat change, hydrologic change (runoff, pollution, and recharge); economic support and base change from agriculture to water supply; cultural/governance
The goal is for students to come to a consensus on impact and outcomes.
How can we bring in the local study with PASCO probeware?
Session 3—Select the data-use scenario for your educational activity and perform a proof-of-concept check
Use the complementary expertise on the team to check that the task you are envisioning can actually be completed in an educational setting. Identify a target grade level for the activity and choose a working title.
Please limit the scope of the activity to something that can be accomplished by accessing existing data and tools. Discuss and agree upon the content limits of the activity as well: consider that the main goal of these activities is to develop user familiarity with the data and tools.
Session 3 Notes:
Case Study What will users be finding through their data analysis? Develop a valid storyline that provides users with a reason to go through the steps.
Allow or inhibit the development to take place – process about how the final decision came to be that influences the policy...
The learner will understand: - Navigate and use available local data to identify and evaluate the resources in their own community for the purpose of informed decision making - Impact of urban development on habitat - Use data to describe existing land use o The different classifications of wetlands o The value of wetlands in terms of ecology and hydrology o The use of geospatial data to describe local land use o The distribution of water as potential resources, related to the population growth - Federalism in resource use/decisions - Economic market place in the decision of land use o Economic, habitat, resource change o Proximal and regional o
Important to extend to WET activities as a reasonable connection [End of WET book is often a community based, social decision make process]
Framing the setting This will be a case study of __ and ___, two small communities west of Jacksonville, FL (Baker County) where the towns are becoming bedroom communities. At issue is the potential impact on water resources, watershed (runoff), wetlands, and changes in land use from agriculture/forest to exourbal sprawl. Question: Is there a way to manage the incoming development (approved permits) with minimal impact on the hydrologic and biological communities.
The community has the St. Mary's River is a recreational area – and state line with Georgia. The ecotourism is a part of the community economic base.
Data Access and Analysis Procedures Identify the major tasks of the data access and analysis process. (i.e: Download and install software, Request data for a specific time or place, Query the data to find X, etc.)
Research the "given" – what exists as is and what is potentially changed 1. Download MyWorld and the pre-packaged project 2. Map Building skills a. OpenMyWorld and familiarize yourself – see Dave Smith's MyWorld activity (not yet published – How to use MyWorld) 3. Data location and presentation skills a. What is what in MyWorld? 4. Build existing land use map a. Turn it on b. Overlays i. Political boundary ii.
Discover the three permit foot prints and analyze impacts
-
-
- NEW***
-
Analyze the potential impact from a new development, eg a "mall" on wetland. User proposes a site location based on minimal impact to wetlands, runoff risk low (topo analysis), no impact on recharge, close proximity to major road access.
Mitigation of wetland impact: In most states by federal and state guidelines, you have to mitigate. Eg. Fill in 1 acre wetland by restoring 10 acres of wetlands – purchase conservation areas Is there suitable wetland mitigation areas? Are there suitable wetlands available for 1) create new wetlands at 20:1 or 2) purchase at 10:1. This all ties into a budget – what is land selling for in the area?
Baker county – 40K increase in population over the next 10 years (doubling) Create new polygon for proposed development – eg mall Lower 48 wetland inventory map for the 100Km Quad – Lake County Aerial photo for zone 17 Roads in MyWorld possible data layers Rivers and stream from ArcIMS Aquifers Land Cost
Extension – what are the mitigation rules in your area? Here is what you do to look it up...
For each major task, produce an outline of detailed instructions to complete it. Include information that will help users to understand the data and analysis methods and to interpret their results.
Additional information http://www.fws.gov/nwi/
Session 4—Develop your case study storyline and outline the procedures for data access and analysis
Case Study Development
Record ideas, bullet points, or actual text that will become part of the case study to introduce users to the issues and concepts of the activity. Gather links for appropriate images, diagrams, and background text.
Data Access and Analysis Procedures
Record the name(s) and URL(s) of dataset(s) and access/analysis software tool(s) to be used. List the major tasks users will complete then perform a deliberate walk-through of each task to capture the full sequence of procedures. Give special attention to the most difficult or least intuitive steps, and note points in the sequence where additional information will be helpful.
NOTE: Teams can capture notes directly in the wiki pages or choose to work in a Word document. This activity outline guide (Microsoft Word 35kB Feb1 13) will clarify the scope of the activity outline and the minimum information required.
Session 4 Notes:
Wetlands Trends report: http://www.fws.gov/wetlands/Status-and-Trends/index.html
Session 5—Flesh out procedures with "About" sections to build users' knowledge about the data and tools, List several "Going Further" ideas
Fill in any gaps in your activity outline and add sections that will help users utilize the data in different ways or for other investigations. Suggest several ideas for going further to challenge users to use the data and/or tools in other investigations.
Session 5 Notes:
See section 3 notes
Session 6—Finalize your Activity outline and DataSheet, Generate PowerPoint slides for the report out session, Attach all resources to this wiki page
Create a 2- or 3-slide ppt file for the report out session.
- Slide 1: Team name, names of team members, and a brief phrase to describe each individual's contribution
- Slide 2: Working title for your activity, names of dataset(s) and tool(s) utilized
- Slide 3: Your choice of something to illustrate your team's vision of the completed activity
Name your powerpoint file with this exact name: ProjectWETWaterEducationForTeachers.ppt
Attach the file to this page.
Once your file is posted, we'll use this link to access it during the report out session: ProjectWETWaterEducationForTeachers.ppt (PowerPoint 1002kB Feb1 13)
Attach any other documents produced by the team as well as finalized versions of the team's DataSheet and add a reference to them in the text box.
Session 6 Notes:
Add crime statistic data? Students may want to look at crime statistics information for building a new school. Even if the crime is low, it exposes students to investigations in a "planning" setting.
National Wetland Inventory Datasheet (Microsoft Word 98kB Feb1 13)