Build a Model Aquifer Activity Source: Source: Geoscientists Without Borders®, Society of Exploration Geophysicists Foundation. https://seg.org/gwb Adapted with permission. The United Nations includes clean water and sanitation in its sustainable development goals. Many places face severe water shortages. The Geoscientists Without Borders® (GWB) program supports teams to collaborate with communities to solve problems, including water shortages. GWB scientists use geophysical techniques to find underground layers of sediments or rock that contain enough water to be drilled for water wells. [Read More]

Groundwater on the Move Activity Source: Adapted with permission by Bureau of Land Management. Water that accumulates beneath the surface of the Earth is called groundwater. Contrary to popular belief, groundwater does not form underground “rivers,” but is actually found in the small spaces and cracks between rocks and other material such as sand and gravel. Groundwater supplies about 38 percent of the water used for agriculture in the United States. [Read More]

Karst Topography Model Activity Source: National Park Service (www.nps.gov/geology) and Forest Service (www.fs.fed.us/geology/resources). Adapted with permission.from the U.S. Geological Survey Open-file Report 97-536-A Karst Topography Computer animations and paper model, 1997 Did you know that a quarter of the world’s population gets drinking water from karst aquifers? Karst is the type of landscape that forms by dissolution of carbonate rocks (limestone, dolomite) or other highly soluble rocks such as evaporates (gypsum and rock salt). [Read More]

Land and People: Finding a Balance Activity Source: Adapted with permission by U.S. Geological Survey This environmental study project allows a group of students to consider real environmental dilemmas concerning water use and provide solutions to these dilemmas. The student packet (see Materials below) gives students most of the information they’ll need to answer the Focus Question, information such as maps, data, background, a reading about the region, and a description of the “Interested Parties,” or the various interest groups that have a stake in the outcome of the Focus Question. [Read More]