BSCS Science:
An Inquiry Approach
Level 2
First edition, © 2008 by BSCS
Unit 3 Overview
5415 Mark Dabling Blvd. | Colorado Springs, CO 80919 | 719.531.5550 | www.bscs.org
KH67_INQTE_CH10_p488_540_final.indd · Page 489 · 3/20/07 · 2:19:20 PM
Unit Overview
In unit 3, Moving Matter, students explore how atoms
that make up matter on Earth cycle and move among
Earth’s systems. Sometimes it’s easy to see matter moving,
such as in the water cycle with water flowing in a river
or falling from the sky. At other times, the moving matter
is very large, but difficult to visualize. Examples include
currents in the oceans or even moving tectonic plates.
In this unit, students will consider moving matter in
the water cycle, carbon cycle, ice ages, and plate tectonics.
These all involve earth systems that operate on times scales
from days to millions of years. The main concepts that
apply to many fields are system, scale, and cycles. These are
the concepts to ask your students about repeatedly.
Goals for the Unit
By the end of unit 3, students will understand better
the following major concepts:
• Matter moves around Earth between reservoirs in
geochemical cycles.
• Many kinds of technology help scientists measure
moving matter in Earth’s cycles.
• Geochemical cycles such as water, carbon, ice ages,
and plate tectonics operate over timescales from
days to millions of years.
• Geochemical cycles often involve reactions that
change the chemical form and properties of the
matter.
• Systems on Earth have reservoirs of matter, inputs
and outputs, and fluxes of matter between those
reservoirs.
• Carbon sinks in the geologic past are now valuable
sources of fossil fuels and energy.
• Plate tectonics, mountain building, and erosion have
slowly shaped the surface of Earth; many patterns
of life on continents and in the oceans are linked to
plate tectonics.
Students will see that scientists in all fields study how
matter moves around Earth. They will study matter and
how it moves around Earth.
Names of Chapters
Chapter 10: The Water System
Chapter 11: Carbon on the Move
Chapter 12: Evidence for the Ice Ages
Strategies for the Unit Engage
The major concept in unit 3 is geochemical cycles and
moving matter around Earth. Sometimes that movement,
or cycling, is natural, such as with the water cycle or the
rock cycle. At other times, humans can affect the cycling
of matter, such as with increasing the content of carbon
dioxide in the atmosphere. Students will investigate
examples of these in the unit.
Several skills that students will use in the unit are
introduced in the unit 3 engage activity, Planning for
the Worst in the West. These skills include analysis of
systems, design and problem solving related to natural
resources, scale and change in systems, use and transport
of natural resources, and geography. In the activity,
students will discuss and debate three possible solutions
for delivering more water to Southern California, which
is hypothetically in the grips of a prolonged drought. It’s
a vexing problem, one likely to emerge in the future. This
is a brief activity (no more than 45 minutes) designed
to help students think about analyzing matter in earth
systems.
%.'!'%
Planning for the Worst in the West
Materials
For the teacher
1 color transparency of copymaster 10.14,
Southwest North America
Process and Procedure
/,
1. Have 1 or 2 student volunteers read The Worst of
Water in the West from the Teacher Edition. Write
the 3 water delivery options on the board. This is the
setup for solving the problem.
Use listening strategies for students who are not
reading, such as recording information in their science
notebooks. For example, ask them to write a sentence
stating the “big idea” of the reading. Have them write
their preferred solution with reasons before participating in the group discussion. Be open to
ideas. Have volunteers use the transparency
of copymaster 10.14, Southwest North
/,
America to point out cities and areas in the
reading.
Chapter 13: Time for Change
489
KH67_INQTE_CH10_p488_540_final.indd · Page 490 · 3/19/07 · 9:34:33 AM
2. Show the transparency of the map of southwest
North America. Ask volunteers to outline on the map
options 1, 2, and 3 for routing water to Southern
California.
3. Have students gather in teams of 3. Tell students that
each team will analyze 1 or 2 of the options. The class
goal is to recommend to water planners in Southern
California which water delivery plan is the most
beneficial.
Of course, a “beneficial” plan for Southern California
might not be beneficial for other stakeholders. For
example, digging a pipeline from Portland, Oregon,
to Los Angeles, California, would be a massive
engineering project that would cross private properties
and take away water from streams in the Pacific
Northwest.
4. Have student teams pick 1 or 2 water delivery plans.
Make sure that each delivery plan is analyzed by at
least 1 group. For each plan, a team should be able to
outline the following for the class
a. Advantages of the plan
b. Disadvantages of the plan
c. What else the team needs to know for its evaluation
5. Hold a class discussion about the advantages and
disadvantages of each option. What do most teams
think?
6. Decide as a class what to propose to water planners in
Southern California.
The Worst of Water in the West
It was yet another dry year—the fourth dry year in
a row. The drought in the Southwest was getting much
worse. In the past, natural events like this had come in
cycles. But there was no evidence for a cycle, or for rains
in the future, thus far. The Colorado River had dwindled
to a fraction of its former size. The snowpack in the Sierra
Nevada in California was barely able to quench the thirst
of Central California. There was no extra water to send
to cities in Southern California, such as Los Angeles or
San Diego.
Despite the warnings, planning had been poor. Some
hard-hit cities in the desert of the Southwest would be on
their own to develop relief plans. These cities included
490
Unit 3
Moving Matter
Albuquerque, New Mexico; Tucson and Phoenix,
Arizona; and Las Vegas, Nevada. The federal government
could do little at this scale. Combined with its rapid
growth, Southern California was also in a crisis. From
where else could it get water? There just was not enough
water to go around. Or was there?
Water planners in Southern California had offered
several ideas. Desalination of ocean water was slow,
and real estate was too valuable for the large, expensive
plants. Conservation measures would reduce use, but
could not bring more water to the region. Treating and
recycling human wastewater was not popular. That was a
last resort.
Still, Southern California did have one advantage over
the desert cities. This was its access to the rainy, Pacific
Northwest. Could a deal be worked out? Currently, three
options were on the table for discussion.
1. Transport glacial ice or icebergs from Alaska, either
onboard a ship or by dragging them behind the ship in
the water. Consider the following:
•
•
•
How fast would the ice melt?
How big could the ice be, and what kind of ship
could transport it?
What would the water planners do with the ice once
it arrived at port?
2. Convert oil tankers or train cars to transport water
from the Pacific Northwest (Seattle, Washington, and
Portland, Oregon) to Southern California. Consider
the following:
•
•
What is the best transportation method—train or
boat?
What are the trade-offs in energy and gasoline to
transport this water?
3. Build an aqueduct from Portland, Oregon, to
Southern California. Consider the following:
•
•
•
•
Should the aqueduct be an open canal or a sealed
pipeline?
Should it be aboveground or below ground?
What is the best building material for the aqueduct—metal, concrete, or plastic?
Would the need for water justify the costs of construction and pumping?