Follow-up Activity 30

1. Which water sample tasted best to you and why?

2. Would you spend the extra money on bottled spring water, after your taste-test experience? Why or why not?

3. Some people might disagree with your decision for Analysis Question 2. What reasons do you think they would give for their opinion?

Activity 31

Title: Willow Grove’s Troubled Waters

Read the introduction of pg. C-7

Problem: How would you react if you lived in Willow Grove and your drinking water supply were threatened by contamination?

Hypothesis/Initial Thoughts:

What do you know about your drinking water?

• Where does drinking water come from?

• How might it become contaminated?

– Contamination refers to any substances picked up by water. Water pollution from human activities can cause undesirable and/or harmful contaminants to enter the water.

Surface Water and Ground Water

Reading Activity:

• You will read about some drinking water concerns in the fictional town of Willow Grove.

• Put yourself in the place of people who live in this town and think about what you would like to learn.

• Read the first paragraph and fill out the first two columns in the KWL table (What do I know? and What do I Want to Know?)

BEFORE the activity AFTER the activityWhat I know about Willow Grove

What I want to know about Willow Grove

What I learned about Willow Grove

Data/Observation:

KWL: Willow Grove’s Water Quality

After you read the 1st paragraph, fill in the first 2 columns

Continue reading, then fill in the last column on your KWL table

BEFORE the activity AFTER the activity

What I know about Willow Grove What I want to know about Willow Grove

What I learned about Willow Grove

• Willow Grove used to be mostly farms and woods

• As the town grew, housing, schools, factories, and businesses covered much of the land.

• Carla heard her teacher say that she was worried about water pollution from Willow Grove and the nearby city of Metroville.

• Why is the teacher worried about water pollution?

• What types of factories and businesses are there in Willow Grove?

• Did the factories or businesses pollute the water

• If the factories did pollute, what type of pollution was it? How could it be cleaned up?

• Carla’s tap water came from Willow Grove Water District

• The water company tested the water to make sure it met federal standards.

• The water company got its water from the Fenton River and Willow Lake.

• The river flowed west from the hills through Willow Grove.

• The factories upriver near Metroville treated their wastewater to reduce pollution.

• Willow Lake once supplied water for Willow Grove industries but now many of the plants are closed.

• The city water district cleaned up the lake 30 years ago.

• There is a park and walking path along part of the lake.

• The Acme Metals Company in the city west of Willow Grove recently expanded.

• The Acme Metals Company used lots of water and returned the wastewater to the Fenton River, 30 miles up the river from Willow grove.

• The Acme Metals company used modern techniques to ensure safe and clean water.

• Carla noticed a funny smell in one part of Willow Lake.

• Carla’s dog got sick after she took him to the lake.

• Carla’s family was drinking bottled water.

Activity 32

Title: Mapping Death

Read the introduction on pg. C-11

Problem: How can you use data to make hypothesis about the reason for cholera deaths in London in 1849?

Hypothesis/Initial Thoughts:

• What are some examples of epidemics you may have heard of in the news?

– An epidemic is when many people in a community or population are infected with a disease at the same time.

– About 150 years ago, the city of London, England, experienced an epidemic which killed thousands of people. This epidemic was cholera.

• Cholera has been a health problem in India and the Far East since 400 B.C.

• It wasn’t known in other parts of the world before 1800

• After 1819 the disease quickly throughout the world as transportation, trade and colonial conquests expanded

• British soldiers returning from India in 1831 brought the disease with them to Great Britain, starting an epidemic that caused 21,000 deaths

• How could you test your hypothesis to find out how diseases like cholera spread?– Make observations– Record data– Look for patterns

• Read about London’s 1849 epidemic and the description of the disease on page C-12– You will be playing the role of public health

officials in 19th century London

Anne Kelly, 156 Broad St., E5

Patrick Kelly, 156 Broad St., E5

When you finish plotting your points, do analysis 1-4 with your group

Follow-up

• What hypothesis did you come up with for the cause of the disease?– What patterns did you notice

• Location?• Age?• Gender?• Background?

– It must be something all these people share

Dr. Snow’s Hypothesis

• Dr. Snow reasoned that the cause of the disease was drinking water from the water near water pump A, right in the center of the cluster of deaths.

• Indoor plumbing didn’t exist. Snow realized that people of all social classes, ages, occupations, and gender would likely use the water source closest to them.

• Victims outside the cluster may have been drinking that water while visiting

• Is the evidence from the mapping enough to prove how the disease is spread?

• What kind of evidence would you look for if you were Dr. Snow?– Medical records– Information about daily lives of people who

died (diet, etc.)– An analysis of the source of water for each

pump station

Cholera today

• Cholera is a water- and food-born disease caused by a bacterium Vibrio cholerae, and is often associated with water contaminated with human waste

• In 2010, a cholera epidemic hit Haiti as the community was trying to recover from a devastating earthquake

• http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/health/jan-june11/haiti_01-14.html