Activity Overview
Students solve a real-world problem involving water consumption. They determine if an aquifer can be used as a water source for a new town with a population of 5,000 people.
Before the Activity
See the attached PDF file for detailed instructions for this activity
Print pages 63 - 68 from the attached PDF file for your class
Review the four steps of problem solving with the students
During the Activity
Distribute the pages to the class.
Follow the activity procedures:
Read the problem and understand the facts about the aquifer and water consumption
Find the number of people in the new town each year, the amount of water consumed, median discharge of the aquifer, and the percentage of the median discharge the town will use
Make a chart of this information
Decide if the aquifer will support the town
Write an explanation for the decision taken
Rounding with the Fix keys
Use the calculator to solve problems involving rounding of numbers
After the Activity
Students examine the various solutions presented.
Review student results
As a class, discuss questions that appeared to be more challenging
Re-teach concepts as necessary