Water Conservation & Education Department
502 Municipal Drive
Lubbock, TX 79457
806.775.2586
806.775.3027 fax
Title:
Edible Aquifers
Grade Level:
K12345678
Objectives:
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For the students to understand the difference between groundwater and surface water.
For the students to understand how human activity affects the watershed.
For students to model to components of an aquifer and how it functions.
For students to understand that all models have advantages and limitations.
Materials:
TEKS:
Ogallala Map model
Aquifer depth models
Felt board side view model
Supplies per student
Small plastic clear cup
Ice
Ginger Ale (colored blue)
Scoop of sherbet
Spoonful of chocolate sprinkles
Spoonful of green sprinkles
Spoonful of red sprinkles
Straw
Spoons for dispersing items
7.1A demonstrate safe practices during laboratory and field
investigations
7.3A use models to represent aspects of the natural world
7.3B identify advantages and limitations of models such as size,
properties, and materials
7.8C model the effects of human activity on groundwater and surface
water in a watershed
Completion Time:
40 minutes – 1 hour
Technology:
PowerPoint
Advanced Preparation:
Consumables need to be purchased beforehand. Storage/refrigeration will be needed for the
sherbet and ice. An ice chest can be used in class to hold the ice and keep the sherbet from
melting. The ginger ale will need to be colored blue with food coloring.
Engage
Begin by asking the students where Lubbock gets its water from. Lead
into Lubbock’s sources of water: groundwater-Ogallala Aquifer (Roberts
& Bailey counties) and surface water-Lake Alan Henry. Mention that
Lubbock’s water supply has not always been that way. Lubbock had
water right below the city, but eventually they sucked it basically dry.
Also, water was taken from Lake Meredith, but with drought conditions
the lake is low and Lubbock can no longer use that water. Use this
point out that we must understand our water sources and how we can
keep them (conserve).
Explore
Discuss facts about the Ogallala Aquifer. It is the biggest aquifer in the
world. It covers 225.000 mi2 under the earth’s surface. It covers 8
states: Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, new Mexico, Colorado, Nebraska,
Wyoming, and South Dakota. If it were full it would hold one quadrillion
gallons of water 1,000,000,000,000,000. [Card Activity: kinesthetically
representing one quadrillion] Discuss the number one reason the
water is being depleted so quickly: agriculture. The aquifer is over the
Breadbasket of the World and requires a lot of irrigation. In particular,
the Lubbock area grows a large amount of cotton which requires a
tremendous amount of water. Show models of aquifer depths. Discuss
advantages and limitations of the models. Look at another model [felt
board] and review the vocabulary associated with aquifers. Also
discuss how humans pollute and contaminate the waters.
Explain
Have the students make a model of the aquifer. As they make their
model, they should also sketch the model in their science journals. The
sketch should be labeled with the components and colored
appropriately.
The layers are: (These are the order of how they go into the cup)
1. Cup – represents the impermeable rock (bedrock)
2. Ice – represents the permeable rock layer the water is
trapped in
3. Ginger Ale (blue) – represents the water
4. Sherbet – represents the clay layer found in the soil
5. Chocolate sprinkles – represent the dirt layer closer to the
surface
6. Green sprinkles – represent the grass and yard waste on
the surface
7. Red sprinkles – represent the contamination from
chemicals
8. Straw – represents the pipes that go down the wells
9. Mouth – represents the pump which suctions the water out
Elaborate
Questions for Discussion:
1. What observations/results surprised you?
2. How did results compare among different aquifers?
3. What parts of the activity were most/least like what would
happen in a real aquifer?
4. What happens if all the water is pumped out of an aquifer?
5. Do you think aquifers can experience drought?
6. What do you think might happen if you insert more straws
(pumps) into your aquifer?
7. How long would it take to fill back up?
8. Do you think a contaminated aquifer can be cleaned? How?
9. How can we conserve and protect our groundwater?
Evaluate
Vocabulary Assessment
Ogallala Aquifer Assessment
Research the history of the Ogallala, irrigation techniques, Brazos River
watershed, etc.
Vocabulary
Aquifer (confined) – underground body of water that has impermeable rock both above and below
Aquifer (unconfined) – underground body of water in which water seeps from the ground directly
above the aquifer
Aquitard – layer of impermeable rock above an aquifer that causes it to become contained
Conserve – to protect and preserve a natural resource from wasteful use
Contaminate – oil, gasoline, and chemicals that pollute the water and make it unsafe
Groundwater – supply of fresh water below the Earth’s surface
Impermeable – material that will not allow water to pass through it
Landfill Leachate – water that percolates through trash and garbage and into the soil and
underground water
Playa Lake – round hallows in the ground that fill with water after rains, and help recharge aquifers
Recharge – replenish a water body of water or aquifer
Runoff – waste materials )litter, clippings, animal feces, etc) that are washed away into the water
supply
Sedimentation – process in which layers of dirt, stones, sand form a solid layer at the bottom of a
body of water
Septic Tank – a storage tank for sewage for homes that are not connected to the city sewage system
Surface Water – water that is stored on the Earth’s surface
Water Table – the top of the saturated level of underground water
Well – a machine used to drill into the ground and pump water from the porous rock below
Zone of Aeration – area above an aquifer and water table, where all of the pores are without water
Zone of Saturation – area in an aquifer below the water table, where all of the pores are filled with
water
Websites
Literature
The Groundwater Foundation
www.groundwater.org
USGS Water Science School
www.water.usgs.gov/edu/earthwaquifer.html
Texas Water Development Board
www.twdb.state.tx.us/groundwater/aquifer/major.asp
Ogallala Aquifer
www.waterencyclopedia.com/Oc-Po/Ogallala-Aquifer.html
Our Endangered Planet: Groundwater
By Mary M. Rodgers (1991)
Literature
(con’t)
Watershed Conservation
By Pam Rosenberg (2008)
Water: Why it Matters
By Shona Bagai (2012)
Water Conservation/Think Green
By Saddleback Edu. Pub (2008)
Conserving and Protecting Water: What you Can Do
By Stephen Feinstein (2010)
Card Activity
Graphics
Ogallala Aquifer depths
Irrigation/Cotton
Texas Aquifers
Water Conservation & Education Department
502 Municipal Drive
Lubbock, TX 79457
806.775.2586
806.775.3027 fax
@2014 – M. Waggoner
Link Attachments
Edible Aquifers Vocabulary
1. ______ Impermeable rock
A. process in which layers of dirt, stones, sand form a solid layer
at the bottom of a body of water
2. ______ Zone of Saturation
B. water that is found above ground
3. ______ Sedimentation
C. a storage tank for sewage for homes that are not connected
to the city sewage system
4. ______ Aquifer (confined)
D. waste materials (litter, grass clippings, animal feces, etc.) that
are washed away into the water supply
5. ______ Drilling well
E. rock that does not allow water to flow through
6. ______ Landfill leachate
F. a machine used to drilled into the ground and pump water
from the porous rock below
7. ______ Surface water
G. forms of water that fall from the clouds: rain, snow, sleet,
etc.
8. ______ Playa lake
H. areas of the surface that allow water to penetrate and refill
aquifers
9. ______ Aquitard
I. underground body of water that has impermeable rock both
above and below
10. ______ Aquifer (Unconfined)
J. oil, gasoline, and chemicals that pollute the waters
11. ______ Contamination
K. area in an aquifer below the water table, where all of the
pores are filled with water
12. ______ Zone of Aeration
L. area above an aquifer and water table, where all of the pores
are without water
13. ______ Septic tank
M. typically drilled on personal property to supply water to a
specific home; the depth is near the top of the water table
14. ______ Groundwater
N. water that percolates through trash and garbage and then
into the soil and underground water
15. ______ Runoff
O. water that is found below the ground
16. ______ Water table
P. layer of impermeable rock above an aquifer that causes it to
become contained
17. ______ Recharge zone
Q. underground body of water in which water seeps from the
ground directly above the aquifer
18. ______ Ogallala aquifer
R. round hallows in the ground that fill with water after rains,
and help recharge aquifers
19. ______ Water table well
S. the top of the saturated level of underground water
20. ______ Precipitation
T. the largest aquifer in the world
Edible Aquifers Test
______ 1. How big is the Ogallala aquifer?
A
B
C
D
225,000 mi2 covering 10 states
15 billion mi2 covering 8 states
225,000 mi2 covering 8 states
15 billion mi2 covering 10 states
______ 2. Why is the Ogallala aquifer being depleted so quickly?
A
B
C
D
People are wasting too much water showering, washing, and flushing toilets
Too many people are living in large cities above the aquifer
There is a major drought happening
Agriculture uses a majority of the water for irrigation
______ 3. Why is the aquifer depth lower in the Panhandle of Texas?
A
B
C
D
Irrigating cotton requires a lot of water for the many farms in the area
Amarillo does not share the water with Lubbock
the area is uphill, so less water can make it to the region
the area lost water do to a large earthquake many years ago
______ 4. The Ogallala aquifer can hold how many gallons of water?
A
B
C
D
1,000,000,000,000,000 gallons
1,000,000,000,000 gallons
1,000,000,000,000,000,000 gallons
1,000,000 gallons
______ 5. Which city does the Ogallala NOT supply water to?
A
B
C
D
Idalou
Lubbock
Amarillo
San Antonio
______ 6. Which is a natural recharging zone?
A
B
C
D
playa
pool
well
tank
______ 7. Water pumped from the Roberts and Bailey County well fields travels to Lubbock?
A by truck uphill
B piped uphill
C piped downhill
D by truck downhill
8. In the box below, draw and color what the zone of saturation would look like in an aquifer.
9. How can a cow, truck, and factory contaminate the groundwater?
10. Why should we conserve our surface and ground waters?
Texas Major Aquifers
Texas Minor Aquifers
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