Extensions and Enrichment

1. Have students read a science fiction novel about a time of major drought called Juniper Time by Kate Wilhelm.

2. Have students read two non-fiction books dealing with the substance of this activity: Cadillac Desert by Marc Reisner and Last Oasis by Sandra Postel.

3. Figure 12 presents a 1998 image of the Gila River, just south of the Phoenix metropolitan region. The Akimel O'odham Indians recently won a battle to have water returned to the Gila River. Future NASA imagery can be used to document the changes to the Akimel O'odham and their lands.

To do this, you would have the students:

• find a base map with clearly defined northwest (upper left) and southeast (lower right) coordinates;
• overlay Figure 12 on this base map (or import the image from: http://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/imagewall/LandSat/phoenix.html); and then
• overlap the newer image with the new water supply to the Gila River.
• Students would then qualitatively evaluate changes along the Gila River, due to the newly added water.

4. Drought Scenario for California Mathematics Connection.

Part 7 of the Briefing asks the student to plan how they would use water under rationing during an extreme drought, during which they have only 25 gallons of water per person per day. This extension walks the student through the making of a drought scenario for a person living in a California city. Following this, students will be able to make their own drought scenario. This extension only involves basic pre-algebra math. But it does involve a lot of calculations. So this extension might be used in coordination with a math lesson or as a part of a math lesson. There are 3 parts (A, B, C) to the scenario.

Extension Log

Part A: Water Distribution in California

[Source of Information for Part A: California Department of Water Resources Bulletin 160-98: California Water Plan (1998 update) http://rubicon.water.ca.gov/b16098/estxt/esch3.html]

Part B: Figuring Personal Water Use

"Source: http://wwwdwr.water.ca.gov/dir-CA_Water_Resource/CA_Wtr_Supply-Needs.html

Sources of information for Part B:
http://www.dof.ca.gov/html/fs_data/stat-abs/tables/b4.xls
http://www.ruralhealth.cahwnet.gov/demographics/graphs.htm
http://rubicon.water.ca.gov/b16098/estxt/esch4.html
http://rubicon.water.ca.gov/b160index.html

Part C: Drought Scenario Example

Now, estimate the amount of water available to a city dweller during a future California drought.

Click here to see an example of a drought scenario for the year 2020, where an individual living in a California city has only 25 gallons of water per day.

In this extension, students (individually or in groups) make their own drought scenario. In other words, by changing any of the values in the middle column, the per-person allocation of water will change. Have students use this form to record their allocations.

Have you used this investigation?
How did you extend this investigation? Share your enrichment ideas with other teachers! Email your suggestions to Sarah Bednarz.  

Assessment Strategies