Klamoth Water Basis

The Klamoth Water Basin Crisis

In this case study, students examine global water shortage problems in the context of the current Klamath Basin water crisis. Two main perspectives are addressed, agriculture and the environment, along with multiple other perspectives including Native Americans, hydroelectric dams, and the fishing industry. Students learn about and discuss competing interests for water and analyze and critique scientific data, maps, and graphs. 

Important Note: Native Americans are considered sovereign citizens of BOTH their own tribe and the United States. So, negotiating with Native Americans means that they have the same rights and respect due to them (according to the Federal Code), as negotiating with a country like Great Britain or Saudi Arabia.

The Case to Consider

Power point overview

YOUR TASK Come up with a compromise that you feel deals with all the issues in a fair and equitable manner. Detail this viewpoint using a poster, and an accompanying narrative. Your poster must include a pie chart that divides the water available. 

You must deal with:

fresh water shortages
the purpose of a wildlife refuge
Native American rights
fishing rights, including harvest, spawning, and various methods of capture
hydroelectric dams and their purposes
community needs
agricultural irrigation needs


Grading:

Poster: 20 points....10 points comes from visual appeal, 10 points comes from content, including the rationale for your decision and your water distribution pie chart.

Narrative 30 points... This is one page. It must include 7-9 reasons for your decision and who benefits and who loses for EACH decision.

Group size MUST be 2 or 3 people.

Thursday and Friday: Biodiversity and Crop Varieties

Seed Comparison (10 points)

Pick 3 different gardening magazines and choose 3 crops.  For each magazine, list all the varieties of that crop offered.


What commonalities do you notice?  What differences?  Why does this matter?  DOES it matter?  
Explain your rationale in a 2-3 paragraph summary.



Why do places like this exist? (20 points)


http://www.cipotato.org/

http://www.regjeringen.no/en/dep/lmd/campain/svalbard-global-seed-vault.html?id=462220

http://www.seedsavers.org/

http://albc-usa.org/

Draw a poster or create a digital poster that explains biodiversity and uses the mission of one of these organizations to publicize the value of biodiversity.


Garden Planning Biodiversity (20 points)

You have a 10 x 30 foot space (or larger, it is up to you).   Plan a garden that has at least 15 species of plants (list variety), and explain your choices.   Explain what type of soil, temperature, and water each species needs.

You may choose a square foot concept, or a traditional concept.

There are online gardening programs, or you may plan using graph paper.

Tuesday and Wednesday: Response to Climate Change

Use the following websites to formulate your own personal viewpoint on climate change.

photo credit: net_efekt via photopin cc

Day 1:

Powerpoint Case on Climate Change

Personal Reactions by Farmers

Remediation and Change (Actions of the believers)

Politics and Change (Actions of the skeptics)

Climate and Economic Tradeoffs

photo credit: net_efekt via photopin cc 

Day 2:

Now what?  Based on the information from geochemical cycles and the materials above, you now have a more informed decision that you can make about climate change.  Your goal is to take this viewpoint and decide what to do for your county/state/country in terms of economics, policy, and action steps.  Create a 2 page document listing 2 economic issues that you will address, 3 policies or laws that you believe should be created, and a series of 10 personal action steps.  You may do this by yourself or with one partner.  (25 points)

Applications of geochemical cycles

Case Study assessment: Using your understanding of the interdependence of geochemical cycles, complete the following in a hand-written format: Fish as Fertilizer (Part 1, 4 questions; Part 2, 2 questions) Encouraging Algae Growth as a Carbon Sink (Questions 1-5 at the end)

Cycles Connect

Today, you will be focusing on self-guided notes using a shared Google Doc.

Chapter 8:   Sections 3-8

Focus on the Key Concepts found in these sections, and be ready to discuss your understanding of the terms.


Chapter 7:  Sections 1-5

Focus on the relationships detailed in the Carbon, Nitrogen, Oxygen, and Sulfur Cycles as you read this.



**For each section, you should be writing 1-4 sentences, or creating a graphic that lists pertinent information.   I will ask to see these materials tomorrow FOR EACH PERSON.   These must be generated by hand, not copied and pasted.**

Climate Change Simulations

Energyville

Energy Controls

Chapter 12:  Habitable Planet

========================
Sustainability and the Commons
Energy and the Tragedy of the Commons

The Role of Government
State Initiatives
World Strategies
Energy Policy


Using the resources above, your goal is to create a shared Linoit or a video that tells me how America should deal with investment of government dollars, the energy mix it should use, and how it should deal with the Energy Commons effects of CO2, pollution, methane, and heat generation.

Evidence for Climate Change

Carbon Dioxide Trends:  http://www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/ccgg/trends/
Methane Trends:  http://cdiac.ornl.gov/trends/atm_meth/lawdome_meth-graphics.html

Ice Core Trends  http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/warnings/stories/
Extreme weather events:   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_extreme_weather_events
Extreme weather events 2:  http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/climate/severeweather/extremes.html
Ocean Temperature Trends:   http://chartsgraphs.wordpress.com/2009/09/04/global-sea-surface-temperature-trends-1850-2009/

Water Depth Trends:   http://flood.firetree.net/