Grant Proposal

Proposal Summary, Description, Rationale, Potential Impact, Project Goal, Evaluation Plan, Project Calendar, Budget

Project Summary

Total Cost:  $1960.15

East of Dripping Springs, there is a location that has been cited for a proposed neighborhood development.  This will include 175 acres of unidentified commercial development.  This particular parcel of land drains directly into Barton Creek, which drains directly into the Edwards Aquifer.  The developer has described the method in which this neighborhood will be constructed as “conservation development”.  Episodes such as this one have familiarized Central Texans with the terms aquifer and recharge.  News reports and newspaper articles frequently feature the plight of the Edwards Aquifer.  Such a fragile resource requires careful planning and legislation to protect it.  However problematic city growth may be it is necessary as population increases, and cities expand outwards. 

This project is designed to submerge students into investigative roles surrounding not only the planning but development of a neighborhood that lies in the delicate recharge zone of an aquifer.  There are a number of small projects that will be completed along the way, each of which is relevant to the final project, the neighborhood development proposal.  The class aims to give students the chance to experience science as it should be, by getting their hands into it.

The first portion of the class will be the most familiar to students.  It consists of a small number of formal classes, in which students will take notes on subjects that are critical to their understanding of the project material.  These lectures will be followed by the modeling of an aquifer in an aquarium.  This project will give students even more of a conceptual understanding of aquifers and how they work.  Other projects include a water quality testing experiment, aquifer sustainability project, and a debate.  Each project will aid the students in the development of the final project, the proposal.

The class is intended to bring students from their familiar way of learning about science, to the method of learning science by doing it.  Students have the opportunity to work on a project that relates to a problem they are probably already familiar with, preserving the Edwards Aquifer.  

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Description

            The activities in the aquifer unit will put the students in different situations.  The main, encompassing activity involves students constructing a model aquifer.  The construction will take about a week.  Other lessons will have the students doing research  about contaminants that are common in populated areas.  Internet and library resources will be used to find how these contaminants can harm the water and harm human beings.  An addition to this lesson, there will be a lab that will model water usage in urban areas.  The students will use ratio and proportions to see if the water that is used and collected will be enough for the needs of a growing city.  The final activity that is planned is a debate that will test the research the students have been doing.  This will also give them an insight on how they can use their knowledge to try to impact legislation.  Throughout all these activities, background lessons will be introduced to give the students a more concrete understanding of hydrogeology.

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Rationale

The Edwards aquifer is an important resource in central Texas.  The city of San Antonio relies on it as its primary water source.  Austin lies on a large portion of the aquifer’s watershed.  Due to the subsurface geology of Austin, contamination of the aquifer can occur rather easily. 

            In an even larger setting, water is becoming a scarce resource in Texas.  As population grows across the state, cities draw more and more water from the ground to meet demands.  Not only is water quality important, but taking too much water from the ground has its problems as well.  Sink holes in Houston, resource management in San Antonio, and the future of El Paso in the desert are just a few places that are seeing problems that many Texas cities share.

            The goal of this project is to increase students’ knowledge in a broad spectrum of topics.  This includes geology, hydrology, geography, legislation, and city planning.  In the end this project will serve to educate students on important hydrogeologic issues that many citizens will have to tackle in the near future.

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Potential Impact

            The lesson is designed not only for central Texas, but for any part of the country that uses aquifers for water.  In Texas especially, water and its management is becoming a more important issue everyday.  The hope is to have the students become aware of the growing problem of pollution and management.  The students will become informed citizens and will be able to make the best choices when voting on these issues in the future.  Water resource management is largely ignored right now by the state of Texas, but hopefully educated students will bring the issue to the forefront for immediate response.

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Project Goal

This project will attempt to educate students on the complexity of aquifer preservation through studies of all aspects that pertain to it.  This will include the human impact, the effects of the geology of the aquifer, and the part played by legislation at the community, state, and national levels.  Assessments will be in the form of standard quizzes and homework assignments, as well as embedded assessments placed into various projects along the way, such as the aquifer in a tank and debate.  This will help both the teacher and students to realize the progress of the completion of the major goal, the proposal.  With this completion will come the understanding of the delicacy of aquifers, and the need for their protection.

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Evaluation Plan

            When introducing background geology, the standard quizzes will be used to see if they understand the broad concepts and terms.  As we work on projects deadlines will be set up for stages of the project.  Initial deadlines will deal with the research and information they must gather.  Subsequent deadlines will have the student submitting drafts of reports or parts of the report.  From here, the teacher can make suggestions and give them back to the student before the final deadline when the project is due.

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Calendar

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Budget