Grace Dodge High School Mr. Minzloff

Introduction

More and more of the people in your neighborhood have been complaining about the taste of the water. People are also complaining that the water is cloudy and has a strange brownish color. This has become such a problem that people want to hire a lawyer and consider starting a lawsuit against New York City. Now they need someone to test the water. As an Environmental Science student you know you are going to be studying water and water pollution and you tell them you might be willing to help. Your neighbors have formed a committee to study the water problem and they have even raised money. They’re willing to pay you to research the problem, but there is one catch, if your research is not thorough and from valid sources you won’t get paid! So your job is to find the answers to some specific questions your neighbors have.

Task

After completing your research you will be required to make a short presentation to the class. The presentation should include at least one visual display. The visual display can be a PowerPoint presentation, graph, chart, poster, collage, etc. that will help you present your findings. You hand in your notes that you use for your presentation and the worksheets that are to be completed as part of the project.

Process

During your presentation you should discuss the following:

1. What is water quality?
2. What are some ways water quality affects our daily lives.
3. Where do residents of the Bronx get their water?
4. What government agencies monitor our water quality.
5. Give some examples of what substances are allowed in our water. Also give information on how much of the substance is allowed.
6. You should also discuss the laws or public policy that are in place to regulate our water quality.

As part of your presentation you should tell the class whether or not you think there is a water quality problem in the Bronx.

If you think there is a water quality problem you should give examples of why you think there is. You should also discuss how the public policy should be changed to ensure good water quality.

Whether you think there is a water quality problem or not you should discuss the laws or public policy on water quality and how effective you think they are. If you don’t think the laws are effective, you should discuss how they should be changed.

Here are the steps you should follow to guide you to completion of the project.

1. Break into Groups of three or four. This is a group project.

2. In class we discussed the PPA (Public Policy Analysis). Go to the Public Policy Analysis web page. This web page talks you through the steps of looking at a problem and the policies that surround it. Read through the steps.

3. Look through the links below under “Resources” to familiarize yourself with the topic. You will be using these resources to answer the questions outlined in the “Tasks” section above.

4. Complete Worksheet 1 to identify the problem

5. Discuss the problem as a group. Think about your options. Write down some notes that you will use during your presentation.

6. Complete Worksheet 2 and work to gather evidence on your problem

7. Discuss the evidence you found on the problem. Again make sure you write down notes that you will use to put together your presentation to the class.

8. Complete Worksheet 3 Worksheet 4 and Worksheet 6 on identifying causes, brainstorming solutions, and selecting the best solution for the problem.

You will be using these worksheets to guide you through the process of gathering information for your presentation. Your grade for this project will include the grade you receive on the worksheets and your presentation.

Remember that during your presentation you must talk about the current public policy that regulates the water quality in the Bronx. You should discuss what the current policy is, and whether or not you think it is effective.

Resources

Listed below are a number of links that will help you find the information you need to complete your presentation.

http://www.organicstyle.com/feature/0,8028,s1-37-0-0-810,00.html

http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/

http://water.usgs.gov/pubs/fs/fs-027-01/index.html

http://learnweb.harvard.edu/ent/gallery/pop4/pop4_lesson1.pdf

http://www.ci.nyc.ny.us/html/dep/html/wsstate.html

http://www.dec.state.ny.us/website/dow/

Also, feel free to use one of the following search engines to find websites related to water quality. You might try the following words in your search: “water quality,” “water quality New York City,” “water quality Bronx,” “drinking water New York City.”

https://www.google.com/

http://www.northernlight.com/

http://www.askjeeves.com/

http://www.altavista.com/

Evaluation

Your grade will be based on how well you do on the worksheets and the quality of your PowerPoint presentation. The presentation will be worth 70% of the grade and the worksheets will be worth 30%. They will be graded on the following rubrics.

Presentation

	UNSATISFACTORY Less than 65	SATISFACTORY 65-79	GOOD 80-90	EXCELLENT 90-100
Organization	Audience cannot understand presentation because there is no sequence of information.	Audience has difficulty following presentation because student jumps around.	Student presents information in logical sequence which audience can follow.	Student presents information in logical, interesting sequence which audience can follow.	____
Content Knowledge	Student does not have grasp of information; student cannot answer questions about subject.	Student is uncomfortable with information and is able to answer only rudimentary questions.	Student is at ease with content, but fails to elaborate.	Student demonstrates full knowledge (more than required)with explanations and elaboration.	____
Visuals	Student used no visuals.	Student occasional used visuals that rarely support text and presentation.	Visuals related to text and presentation.	Student used visuals to reinforce screen text and presentation.	____
Mechanics	Student's presentation had four or more spelling errors and/or grammatical errors.	Presentation had three misspellings and/or grammatical errors.	Presentation has no more than two misspellings and/or grammatical errors.	Presentation has no misspellings or grammatical errors.	____
Delivery	Student mumbles, incorrectly pronounces terms, and speaks too quietly for students in the back of class to hear.	Student incorrectly pronounces terms. Audience members have difficulty hearing presentation.	Student's voice is clear. Student pronounces most words correctly.	Student used a clear voice and correct, precise pronunciation of terms.	____
				Total---->	____

Worksheets

	UNSATISFACTORY Less than 65	SATISFACTORY 65-79	GOOD 80-90	EXCELLENT 90-100
Worksheets	More than half of the worksheets are incomplete.	Most of the worksheets are complete.	All of the worksheets are complete but there is unrelated or missing information.	All of the worksheets are complete and the information is comprehensive and related to the topic.	____
				Total---->	____

STANDARDS:

ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS:

E1C Read and comprehend informational materials.

E2C: Read and comprehend informational materials.

E3B: Participate in group meetings.

SCIENCE:

S5 Scientific Thinking

S5d: Proposes, recognizes, analyzes, considers, and critiques alternative explanations; and distinguishes between fact and opinion.

S5e: Identifies problems; proposes and implements solutions; and evaluates the accuracy, design, and outcomes of investigations.

S6 Scientific Tools and Technologies

S6d: Acquires information from multiple sources.

S7: Scientific Communication

S7a: Represents data and results in multiple ways.

S7b: Argues from evidence.

Conclusion

The quality of the water where we work and live is important to all of us. By completing this project you will have a better understanding about the quality of the water in the Bronx. You will also learn where your water comes from, some of the things that are found in water, and the government agencies that monitor the water. Hopefully, you will become a “water expert” and will be able to help your friends and neighbors understand the issues related to the quality of water in the Bronx.