Guest Speaker, Lower Colorado River Authority

Name: Joe Slapak       

Title of Lesson: Guest Speaker, Lower Colorado River Authority

Length of Lesson:  One 50 minute class period

Description of Class: High School Biology/Environmental Science

Sources for lesson:

Students may want to view www.lcra.org before or after the presentation.

TEKS addressed: 

(2)     Scientific processes. The student uses scientific methods during field and laboratory investigations. The student is expected to:

                        (D)  Communicate valid conclusions.

(3)  Scientific processes. The student uses critical thinking and scientific problem solving to make informed decisions. The student is expected to:

              (C) evaluate the impact of research on scientific thought, society, and the environment;

(5)  Science concepts. The student knows the interrelationships among the resources within the local environmental system. The student is expected to:

(A)  Summarize methods of land use and management;

(B)  Identify source, use, quality, and conservation of water;

(C)  Document the use and conservation of both renewable and non-renewable resources;

(D)  Identify renewable and non-renewable resources that must come from outside an ecosystem such as food, water, lumber, and energy;

(E)  Analyze and evaluate the economic significance and interdependence of components of the environmental system

The Lesson:

   I.       Overview

            For this lesson, an employee of the Lower Colorado River Authority will come to the classroom and give a presentation.  The individual will explain the monitoring systems set up along the Colorado River and its chain of lakes.

   II            Performance or learner outcomes

                 After this presentation, students should understand that LCRA not only monitors the water in the lakes and in the river, but also all tributaries that make up the river’s watershed.  They will understand that the information obtained from the monitoring process is made available to both citizens and to the State of Texas.  The state uses the information to determine the amount of emissions (such as waste water) being dumped into the river system at any given time and place.

                 The presenter will also discuss organizations such as Austin Youth River Watch, an organization of at-risk youth that carry out water quality monitoring along the river near Austin.  They will also discuss citizen organizations at the national level involved in water quality management, such as Project Green and River Watch.  Last, but not least, the presenter will also discuss how the students themselves can become active at the local level.

                 (NOTE: This is a legitimate presentation.  I spoke with the manager of the water quality testing lab for LCRA, and she told me about the presentations that they can give to high school students and the community.)

            After the Presentation

                 Students will be encouraged (for extra class credit) to become active in one of the suggested organizations the presenter talked about. 

                 All students will be required to write a three page paper regarding the role of the LCRA in maintaining water quality in central Texas.  This topic is broad enough that it should allow for a variation in papers.