(Evaluation rubric: This essay should produce evidence that the student is aware of his/her surroundings. They should demonstrate an awareness of timing of precipitation events during the year, temperature extremes, and other pertinent climatic data. The essay should make connections between the general and theoretical (Thornthwaite's budget) and the specific (the students locality.) The student should be able to locate appropriate information to back up their analysis, and they should be able to communicate their interpreted water budget in clear language.)
 

 2. Design a scientific experiment to illustrate the principles of the Thornthwaite water budget in the classroom. Use an aquarium or other convenient water container, a fan, a heat lamp, and a thermometer. Design and run several experiments to determine what controls evapotranspiration. Discuss your results.

(Evaluation rubric:  This project is purposefully stated in vague terms. Students should by this point in their development be able to design an experiment. They should know about variables, controls, the scientific method, recording and charting data and so on. They should be evaluated on the basis of their experimental design, as well as the results. Unlike a canned experiment, this one should engender ownership. At a minimum, they should determine that wind speed and duration, and heat (the fan and the heat lamp) control the rate of evapotranspiration. Their results and discussion should mention that evapotranspiration can be increased with increased temperature and increased wind speed. The students should be able to relate their results to the "real world." Particularly clever students could also come up with the less obvious factors, air density, relative humidity and so on. The should also be able to discuss the consequences of high evapotranspiration to local crops, gardens, lawns, people, and animals)

3. Write an essay outlining your communities relationship to water. Do you have too much? Not enough? Is a blessing? A curse? Interview a city or county engineer or planning official and get their perspective. If you can do so without being obtrusive, find out what flood insurance is available and what it costs in your community.

(Evaluation rubric: This essay activity is designed to bring home to the student the reality of water and the hydrosphere in our daily lives. They should discover that water can be both a blessing and a curse, that we cannot live without it, and sometimes it is difficult to live with it. This is particularly effective in areas of water shortage. Students should be able to obtain the necessary data on their own, and assemble a well-written, professional report. Some of the data should come from the Internet, other data from local sources, and some from books.)

4. Write an essay discussing the concept of "oceanic deserts." Use terrestrial deserts as your analogy, drawing on information from phytoplankton concentrations.

(Evaluation rubric: This essay activity is designed to encourage students to think about old concepts in new ways. Deserts are familiar, at least in concept, to most students. This essay asks them to think about deserts with a different definition that is normal - life based rather than precipitation and temperature based. Students should be able to obtain the necessary data on their own, and assemble a well-written, professional report. Some of the data should come from the Internet, other data from local sources, and some from books.)