Bay Area Environments Spring Assignment | Buy Assignments Online

GEOG 301: Bay Area Environments Spring 2019
Introduction
Water Footprint Lab
Due April. 22nd by 3:00 PM
We all use water every day, both directly and indirectly. Direct uses of water are most common in the home or workplace; such as, drinking, bathing, laundry, etc. Indirect uses of water, or virtual uses, are related to dietary and consumer habits; such as, how much and what type of meat a person eats. A common misconception of most Americans is that direct uses of water account for the majority of their personal water footprint, when in fact 50% of an average Americans water footprint is secondary use (diets).
A personal water footprint is defined as the amount of fresh water utilized in the production or supply of the goods and services used by a particular person. In this assignment you will use an online water footprint calculator to quantify your own personal water footprint. You will then be able to compare your water footprint to national averages. Then you will reflect on how personal decisions impact the larger society and environment, and the ethical issues this raises.
Activity Summary
Fresh water availability nationally, and globally, is a major concern today and will be so for the foreseeable future. In order to fully comprehend this issue, do some background research on the idea of a water footprint and fresh water availability, both in the United States and at least one developing country. Make sure to research the amount of water consumed, or polluted, by different activities in order to understand where communities have the most impact on water usage, and how communities try to manage these impacts. Use information from reliable sources; such as, EPA, USGS, or reputable newspapers. A minimum for three sources are required.
Before you complete the water footprint calculator, keep track of your food intake and water use habits for at least one day and extrapolate them where necessary in order to complete the calculator with accurate data. Keep notes about how you calculated these data, and describe in the Methods section of your paper.
Water Footprint Calculator
After you’ve kept track of your food intake and water use habits for one day, visit the following GRACE Communications Foundation website to complete the water footprint calculator: (http://www.watercalculator.org)
GEOG 301: Bay Area Environments Spring 2019
Click the blue “START” button to begin. You will begin by answering questions about direct water use (bathing, washing, gardening), then you’ll move on to indirect (virtual) water use. Indirect water use includes your diet, your purchases, and your energy use. The calculator will ask you which state you live in. I encourage you to do the calculator more than once and choose a state other than California the second time and see the differences. Why do you think your water use will change based on which state you select? Be as accurate and honest as possible when completing each question in the calculator. Make sure to read all the information on the bottom of each page. These tips will give you information that can be useful in the Discussion section of your paper. Once you complete all the questions and you get your water footprint total, scroll down the page and explore the results. Click on the “Tips” next to each category to get ideas about water conservation. NOTE: If the “Tips” link doesn’t do anything, right click (PC) or two finger click (Mac) and “Open Link in New Tab”
Deliverable
You will need to submit via TurnItIn on iLearn a paper that contains the following sections in this order, each with a clear heading:
Introduction
An introduction helps the reader understand what your report is addressing and why it’s important. Address the motivation for the report, including information from your background research on the issue of fresh water availability in the United States and globally. Be sure to cite your sources when you use information from each. Also include background information about your own personal living situation and habits. Briefly describe your household, diet, energy use, and consumer habits.
Methods
Briefly explain your use of the water footprint calculator and how you determined the input data, including any assumptions you made (e.g. not knowing if you have low flow toilets). It is fine to use bullet points in this section if it makes the report easier to read.
Discussion
This is where you discuss the results of the water footprint calculator and compare your results to national averages. Explain what the results mean to you
GEOG 301: Bay Area Environments Spring 2019
and how they relate to the bigger issue of fresh water availability. Address which categories of your water footprint were a surprise to you and discuss what you learned by doing this activity. There are numerous simple ways to reduce your water footprint and you need to discuss what changes you are willing to make and how much these changes will reduce your water consumption. You can play around with the calculator is see which changes would make the biggest difference. And finally, articulate your thoughts on your water consumption compared to national averages and at least one other specific developing country. Do you think your water footprint is sustainable, why or why not?
References
This is where you list all sources you used. There should be a minimum of three reliable sources (besides the water footprint website, which you should also list). Be sure you use in-text citations to these sources as their information comes up in your paper. Proper citation is NOT just providing a website URL. If you are unsure of proper citation formatting, ask Google or watch the following SFSU Library tutorial. Remember, I don’t care which specific format you use, e.g. APA, MLA, Chicago, etc., just be consistent.
Rubric
I. Introduction (2 Points)
• Addresses the topic & it’s importance (1 pt)
• Motivation (water availability in US & globally) (1 pt)
II. Methods (5 Points)
• Water footprint calculator explanation (2 pts)
• Detail input data, including assumptions of data (3 pts)
III. Discussion (5 Points)
• Results of water footprint calculator (1 pt)
• Discuss personal results & what results mean personally (1 pt)
• Discuss what you learned from activity (1 pt)
• Detail steps to reduce water footprint (1 pt)
• Articulate thoughts on water consumption (personally, nationally, and globally) (1 pt)
IV. References (5 Points)
• Minimum of three references (3 pts)
• Proper citation format (2 pts)
V. Mechanics (3 Points)
• Original work (1 pt)
• Spelling, grammar & punctuation (1 pt)
• Proper formatting (1 pt)
Total Points Available: 20