In this activity, students explore connections between climate change and the cryosphere. In Part A, they learn about how scientists study past climate records using ice cores. In Part B, students examine the role ice melt might play in future sea level rise due to climate change.

Introduction:
Groundwater is key to Texas future and economy. The resource has long been a focus of legislative and economic interest. In the earliest days, the resource was viewed as 'occult and hidden.' That sense of mystery remains even as groundwater becomes more critical to the water resource picture for the state.
Since 1951, the state conducts regional water planning with the involvement of citizen stakeholders. Let's use your science-based knowledge of groundwater flow to see if you can find the right balance for both protecting and planning for groundwater use.
Our Case:
This week we will evaluate a historic court case from June 13, 1904. The case of East versus Texas Central Railroad Company is the Texas Supreme Ruling that provides the foundation for Texas groundwater law -- Rule of Capture.
In the appendix, you will find the following figures to help you determine whether or not Mr. East's well was impacted by the railroad company's pumping:

Platt map showing well locations and possible distances
Schematics of the well dimensions, along with simplified subsurface geology in the area.

In addition, you will be interested in knowing that the Geologic Atlas of Texas shows that the wells were likely completed in the Pawpaw Formation, which is a thick calcareous clay unit in the lower sections and cemented sand in the upper part. Lithologies in the area are reported to yield limited to moderate amounts of water in shallow wells. You can expect that the formation was an unconfined unit and assume that the East well is down-gradient from the Railroad well.
Assignment Part One:

1. Using the information from our last lecture, what do you think a reasonable transmissivity rate might be for the Pawpaw formation?

a. Estimate a transmissvity for a cemented sand unit.
b. Use this value as your first estimate in calculations to calculate the potential drawdown with Jacob's equation. This calculates the drawdown in an nonleaky artesian aquifer, sa, given the observed water table drawdowns.

sa = swt -- (s2st/2m)

c. Calculate swt using a correction equation.

Swt = m-(m2-2msa)1/2

Where m is the initial saturated thickness, which you may estimate at 30 ft.

2. How much water do you estimate that the railroad can extract before the well is impacted? Complete a diagram showing estimated drawdown (ft) on the y-axis and distances from the Railroad well (ft) using different transmissivity values and different distances. What do you discover about the case?
3. With your hydrogeologic analysis, do you believe that the East well was impacted by the railroad well? Can you explain how significant the impact may or may not have been?

Climate Considerations:
Is it possible that climate conditions could have impacted conditions in the well? Visit the Greenleaf website ([greenleaf.unl.edu/downloads/scPDSI.zip]) and access data for Palmer Drought Severity Indices. Looking at this data, complete the next questions.
Assignment Part 2:

4. Looking at the drought severity index maps of Texas from October 1900 to September 1902. What kind of implications might climate conditions have had on the groundwater conditions?
5. If climate conditions worsened, what do you think would happen to the wells?

Reference:
Mace, R.E., Ridgeway, C., and Sharp, J.M., 2004, Groundwater is no longer secret and occult - A historical and hydrogeologic analysis of the East case, 100 Years of Rule of Capture: From East to Groundwater Management, ed. Mullican, W.F. and Schwarz, S., Report 361, Texas Water Development Board, 63-86 pp.
Appendix -- support documents:
Figure 1 shows that Mr. East lived in Denison County, TX. The inset is a plan view map showing the potential locations of the wells in the town.
(in supporting documents)
Figure 2: Schematic of well dimensions and simplified geology.
(In supporting documents)

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This static graph of changes in CO2 concentrations goes back 400,000 years, showing the dramatic spike in recent years.

In addition to instructions for making a model bee out of polymer clay, this site also contains related information about bees: a fact list, factors that threaten them, suggestions on how to help them, a waggle dance diagram and video, and even bee metaphors used in our language. The Climate Kids website is a NASA education resource featuring articles, videos, images and games focused on the science of climate change.

The purpose of this resource is to have students observe their lilac plants and identify the five phenophases (first leaf, full or 95% leafed, first bloom, full bloom and end of bloom) for each lilac plant. During the growing season, students will observe their lilac plants and identify the five phenophases (first leaf, full or 95% leafed, first bloom, full bloom and end of bloom) for each lilac plant.

Students in math and business classes work together in groups to evaluate and compare cost and environmental performance of different clothes washers.

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In these math problems, students will examine the characteristics of water droplets in clouds.

This activity is a lab and field investigation where students gather data on cloud types and identify properties of cloud formation.

This activity is an art project completed at the end of a study of weather and clouds. Using home-made puffy paint, the students paint clouds on a piece of construction paper and write 2-3 facts about each cloud type on a note card that is glued on construction paper next to the appropriate cloud.

In this scenario-based, problem-based learning (PBL) activity, students investigate cloud formation, cloud classification, and the role of clouds in heating and cooling the Earth; how to interpret TRMM (Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission) images and data; and the role clouds play in the Earth’s radiant budget and climate. Students assume the role of weather interns in a state climatology office and assist a frustrated student in a homework assignment. Learning is supported by a cloud in a bottle and an ice-albedo demonstration, a three-day cloud monitoring outdoor activity, and student journal assignments. The hands-on activities require two 2-liter soda bottles, an infrared heat lamp, and two thermometers. The resource includes a teacher's guide, questions and answer key, assessment rubric, glossary, and an appendix with information supporting PBL in the classroom.

Learn about cloud formations over the Sierra Nevada Mountains in this video from Nature.

Students explore the definition of a function by playing an interactive game called "Club Function." The goal of the game is to be in the club! With students each assigned to be either a zebra or a rhinoceros, they group themselves according to the "rules" of the club function. After two minutes, students freeze in their groups, and if they are not correctly following the rules of the club function, then they are not allowed into the "club." Through this activity students come to understand that one x-coordinate can only have one corresponding y-coordinate while y-coordinates can have many x-coordinates that correspond to it.

Students evaluate coal leases to determine their potential for coal mining. Each company, student group, has three leases and an exploration budget. Students design and implement an exploratory drilling program on each lease and collect partial borehole cores. Using the resultant data, each company creates geologic cross-sections for each lease as well as structural contour maps. Based on their geologic models, they recommend, in oral and written reports, on which, if any, of these leases the company should pursue and how the extractable coal seams might be recovered.

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Coalbed methane (CH4) is a natural gas and valuable energy resource that occurs in coal beds. This site, hosted by an energy development corporation, explains the geology and stratigraphy of Wyoming in the context of the formation of coalbed methane and its occurrence in Wyoming. Maps, cross sections, stratigraphic columns and fence diagrams are provided to explain Cretaceous and Tertiary coalbed methane-plays in Wyoming.

The students are given the following:

Read the articles below about erosion along the Lake Erie shoreline and discuss them. What causes the erosion? What can be done to prevent erosion? Should people be allowed to build structures to protect their property from erosion? Should people be allowed to live along the shoreline in high erosion areas?

Students are expected to have completed the coastal erosion module (read text book, view powerpoint lecture and take a quiz) and read articles regarding coastal erosion along the Lake Erie coastline. In the online discussion, students must show that they understand coastal processes, the impact of man made structures on coastal processes, and can apply their values as they discuss what should be done, if anything, to reduce the impact of coastal erosion.
Teaching Tips
Adaptations that allow this activity to be successful in an online environment
This was designed as an online activity. I have also used it in face-to-face courses (students participate in online discussion prior to in-class discussion).
Elements of this activity that are most effective
This gets students thinking about how what they learn in class can be used to solve real problems faced by the local community and/or the world. Although some students propose impractical solutions, they are at least thinking.
Recommendations for other faculty adapting this activity to their own course:
Find local issues and/or global issues that show how geology can be used to solve problems.

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Students are introduced to Spatial Analyst and 3D Analyst, and use these tools to perform a flooding analysis for the Long Beach area of California.

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This interactive resource adapted from the National Park Service describes the different kinds of sediments that make up coastlines, with a focus on the variety in color, size, and sorting.

This interactive resource adapted from the National Park Service describes the many forces that affect shorelines, including tides, weathering, erosion, and deposition.

Most students understand that water quality is an important issue, however many do not understand the complexity associated with the processes involved, the complex nature of estuarine systems, or the fact that management decisions are made based on available data sets that can be difficult at best to interpret. Students will be provided nutrient data in Excel for two Texas estuaries which they will supplement with additional information that they have compiled on these two estuaries during the duration of the course through a GIS database available to the entire class. Furthermore, students will retrieve information from the WWW to learn more about the specific estuaries and the nutrients of interest and their impacts on the environment.

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This worksheet focuses on understanding how waves transport sediment to coastlines and affect sediment transport along beaches. Students are given three cartoon images of different beach geometries and approaching wave fronts: a flat beach with a bay with waves approaching at an angle, headland and embayment with waves approaching straight on, and a flat beach with a man-made groin with waves approaching at an angle. For each scenario, students use the wave fronts to draw particle pathways from the ocean to the shore to show the path sediment would travel given the wave geometries. Students also draw arrows to show the transport direction of sand on the beach. Once all tasks are complete, students answer 5 multiple-choice questions.

This worksheet uses the sketch-understanding program with built-in tutor: CogSketch. Therefore, students, instructors, and/or institution computer labs need to download the program from here: http://www.qrg.northwestern.edu/software/cogsketch/. At any point during the worksheet, students can click the FEEDBACK button and their sketch is compared to the solution image. The built-in tutor identifies any discrepancies and reports pre-written feedback to help the student correct their sketch until they are done with the activity. Once worksheets are emailed to the instructor, worksheets can be batch graded and easily evaluated. This program allows instructors to assign sketching activities that require very little time commitment. Instead, the built-in tutor provides feedback whenever the student requests, without the presence of the instructor. More information on using the program and the activity is in the Instructor's Notes.

We have developed approximately two dozen introductory geoscience worksheets using this program. Each worksheet has a background image and instructions for a sketching task. You can find additional worksheets by searching for "CogSketch" using the search box at the top of this page. We expect to have uploaded all of them by the end of the summer of 2016.

(Note: this resource was added to OER Commons as part of a batch upload of over 2,200 records. If you notice an issue with the quality of the metadata, please let us know by using the 'report' button and we will flag it for consideration.)