DRINKING RIVER WATER WEB QUEST

The city of Chemville has a rapidly growing population. Chemville began in the early 1950s with a population of a few hundred people and its population is currently projected to be over 120,000 in the year 2020. Currently Chemville gets drinking water from nearby Crystal Lake which has been protected through legislation to ensure a virtually contamination-free water source.

But with more people on the way, Crystal Lake will be unable to provide enough water to supply the drinking water demands of Chemville. The Town Council has asked for a team of specialists to consider the possibility of using nearby Fox River as an alternate source of drinking water. You will be a part of this team. Future generations of Chemvillites rely on the decisions you will be making!

• Investigative Scientist - Wants to know the science behind the effects observed. Part chemist and part ecologist, this person wants to "know the truth".
• Public Health Doctor - this person is concerned with the purity and safety of using river water as a drinking source. Uses medicine to detect - and cure? - bad water.
• Government Hydrologist - the person who will be implementing the hardware required to purify the Fox River water for drinking. This person will also be concerned with the cost of any new project - will the voters approve a new bond measure to increase the amount of drinking water?
• Environmentalist - this person represents the community and the people. Will the river water be "pure" enough for drinking? Is treated water a safe alternative to the natural waters of Crystal Lake? What repercussions will there be upon the wildlife in the area if water is taken from the Fox River?

Your task is to:

• Read this web page!
• Get a Web Quest Team of between two and four people to tackle the drinking water question
• Practice working with your team by answering the "background knowledge" questions together.
• Each Team member must choose at least one of the four roles listed above. All four roles must be represented in the final report regardless of the team size.
• Complete the tasks relating to your role by exploring Internet links and other information.
• Each team member will create a perspective statement summarizing the key ideas and facts relating to their position.
• Reassemble the team and discuss/debate your perspectives. After a reasonable amount of time you should come to a consensus as a group; if a minority disagrees, a dissension statement must be completed outlining the reasons for the disagreement.
• Complete the remaining portions of the Web Quest (abstract, introductory statement, joint conclusion (with dissension article, if necessary) and list of references.

There are three main phases to this project:

• Phase 1: Gaining Background Knowledge
• Phase 2: Collecting Information
• Phase 3: Working on your Written Report to the Chemville City Council

Use the following web sites and others you might discover to answer these questions:

• What is a Watershed (or Drainage Divide) - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drainage_divide
• EPA Student Center - Water - http://www.epa.gov/students/homework.html#water

Questions:

1. What is agricultural runoff?
2. What does the term ground water mean?
3. What does the term riparian zone mean?
4. Draw a picture of the water cycle with ground water on it. Label all parts.
5. What is a watershed? Explain how it is formed.
6. What is an aquifer and how does it work?
7. When is water considered clean enough to drink?
8. How many gallons of water are used daily by a single person? How many gallons are used by a city of 120,000?
9. What is the definition of polluted water?

Decide, with your group, what role or roles you should pick. Collect information on the question or questions that go with your role. In your research, you will be finding the answers to the following questions. Check the web sites listed after each question.

INVESTIGATIVE SCIENTIST

• U.S.EPA Students for the Environment: http://www.epa.gov/students/
• Drinking Water Contaminants: http://water.epa.gov/drink/contaminants/index.cfm
• Water On Tap: What You Need To Know: https://mhchem.org/221/wq/river/book_waterontap_full.pdf
• The Great Lake Information Network: http://www.glin.net
• The Office of Ground and Drinking Water: http://water.epa.gov/drink/index.cfm

• EPA Kids' Corner: https://www.epa.gov/watershedacademy/kids-corner
• Drinking Water Contaminant Sources: http://water.epa.gov/drink/contaminants/index.cfm

• U.S.EPA Explorers Club: http://www.epa.gov/owow/NPS/kids/

• Groundwater in the Great Lakes Region: http://www.great-lakes.net/envt/water/ground.html
• Protecting Sources of Drinking Water: http://water.epa.gov/infrastructure/watersecurity/index.cfm

Check the directions listed in "The Task", above, for directions on how to create your written report. Remember to include a Dissension Statement if not all the group members agree on the issue.

After having researched and written your report on drinking water, you should have a much clearer idea of the controversy surrounding unpolluted sources of drinking water. Livestock, farming, industry and citizens contribute to contamination of river water, and although chemical methods exist to "clean" the polluted water, problems persist. There are many sides to this argument, and hopefully you have had exposure to many of them.

Grading shall be based on neatness, spelling errors, accuracy of information gathered, quality of list of references, and similar criteria. In addition, each participant shall anonymously complete an evaluation form for each Team member which will affect the final grade. For more information, contact the instructor.