• solve algebraic equations
• measure pH
• perform titrations
• understand the social implications of human actions
• develop scientific solutions to environmental issues
• present scientific research to peers

Handout 1 helps determine the necessary water quality and how to lower the acidity. To learn about pH and how to measure it, use the GLOBE pH protocol. To learn about alkalinity and how to measure it, use the GLOBE alkalinity protocol.

Introduction Motivation

1. Have students watch the following video introducing them to Acid Mine Drainag: http://www.greentreks.org/allprograms/videos/acidmindrainage.asp They will need Real Player to view this which can be downloaded for free at: http://www.real.com. You can request a copy of the video to be sent to you by contacting: Earth Conservancy, 101 S. Main St. Ashley, PA, 18706 Ph: 570/823-3445 email: earthcon@intergrafix.net. I suggest this be assigned as homework that can be completed at home or in the library prior to this lesson.
2. Print off the following poster for each team of students to review on AMD: http://craddock_t.tripod.com/image39.jpg
3. Inform the class that they will become environmental engineers for the next few days. The goal of the project will be for each team to come up with the best solution possible for their unique problem. Tell students: Our engineering firm has been approached by a mining company to help them with an environmental problem. Several of their mines are spilling out water that isn't good for the environment and they want to fix the problem, but they also don't want to go broke. They have heard of several mines in southern West Virginia who have successfully created fish hatcheries in the water from their mines, so the hope is to pay for the water treatment by raising and selling rainbow trout. The first step is to see if our water is good for trout.
    

1. Background: Have the students view the video on AMD: http://www.greentreks.org/allprograms/videos/acidmindrainage.asp as well as the poster http://craddock_t.tripod.com/image39.jpg for homework.
2. Establishing roles: Divide the class into teams of three students and let them know that one person will be responsible for each of the 3 components of this unit, but they must all work together to obtain correct answers to the problem and to receive full credit. Hand out a set of facts for each team's mine and vary the initial pH, temperature, and dissolved oxygen for their water outflow.
3. Measuring the sample: Provide each team with the table on water quality requirements of trout: Handout 1 and water samples from an AMD site that you collected or you can make up using lemon juice, coffee, vinegar, or cola. The students should measure the pH and the alkalinity of their samples using the appropriate GLOBE protocols: GLOBE pH protocol and GLOBE alkalinity protocol.  If you don't have access to the equipment to do the measurements or wish to adjust the difficulty of this component, you can provide the teams with some typical values for their streams rather than having them measure the samples. Either way, you MUST provide each team with a flow rate in gallons/minute somewhere between 10 and 500.
4. Doing the Math: With their measured or given values, the students must first calculate the molar concentration of their water. This is detailed in handout 1. The second step is to determine the number of tons of chemicals required to treat the water supply based on the initial acidity and flow rate.  The goal is to see who can treat their water for the least amount of money, which will vary by flow rate, acidity, and cost of materials.
5. Each team should make a brief presentation to the class on their stream's properties, the treatment method they chose, the cost of that treatment per gallon of water (for the contest), and the total cost for one year (assuming the flow rate is the yearly average).