Permian Sea Shrimp WebQuest

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Ocean Cave Breaking News.....

Council Appoints Permian Sea Industry Committee

Diana Carpenter, http://carpenterclasses.tripod.com

Overview

Trapped in a shallow, yet vast basin under the West Texas desert are the salty waters of ancient Permian Sea. These waters were once part of the great Permian Ocean thriving during the late Paleozoic and early Mesozoic periods. Today, industrial use of the water has opened the doors for potential economic growth and income sustainability. A committee will be appointed by the fictitious Permian Sea Council to determine the best economic use of the Permian Sea salt water.

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· Content areas: Secondary Biology

· Interdisciplinary connections: Secondary Chemistry, Secondary Marketing and Economics

· Lesson Objectives: see Teacher Info. Page

· This WebQuest is an inquiry-oriented activity in which most or all of the information used by learners is drawn from the Web. It is designed to use learners' time well, to focus on using information rather than looking for it, and to support learners' thinking at the levels of analysis, synthesis and evaluation (from http://webquest.sdsu.edu/overview.htm). Teams may wish to use computer software to create a presentation of their findings. An extension of this WebQuest is a lab investigation that involves the use of graphing calculator and probe ware devices; however the WebQuest can be conducted without the extension activity.

Introduction

Ever wondered how the ancient seas looked? Click and take a sneak peak of an artist’s depiction of how the ancient Permian Ocean may have looked. Today, a vast reservoir of salt water lies underneath the West Texas desert in a basin called the Permian Sea. Remnants of the ancient sea still exists from about 25 feet deep to approximately 200 feet underground and extends from eastern New Mexico to western Texas. Some recent business ventures have already tapped into the ancient resources and are creating economically sustainable businesses like shrimp farms (Read about the Permian Sea Shrimp Company). The Permian Sea Council has researched other possible economic alternatives to utilizing the valuable water resources. The Council has decided to appoint a committee of specialists to determine the best economic industrial use of the salt water for their community. This was a topic of serious debate for the council and which has already caused a split among the members. The Council voted on 6 (six) possible industries to consider that might prove to be economically sustainable ventures.

1. Desalination plant

2. Shrimp farm

3. Salt farm

4. Salt Springs Resort

5. Gourmet Sea Salt and Sea Salt & Spa Products

6. Saltwater Taffy Factory

Quest(ions) and the Task

Did you already make a choice on one of the industries? Do you wonder whether there is really a large enough salt deposit from the Permian Sea for some of your business considerations? What evidence or research did you use to make a choice? Do you think that building a major industry on an already weakened ecosystem (due to years of drought) might have potential negative impacts on the environment? Are there environmental concerns due to waste materials that might be generated by the industry? How might the protected Pecos River Pupfish be affected by the industry? Do you think the local economy can sustain the industry, considering the operating costs?

Though you might have a good guess of your ideal industry, you’re probably not ready form an opinion without doing a little more research. Hopefully your teacher has already assigned your role in the committee. Click on your role to find more guiding information. After conducting your research, use your expertise judgment and offer your professional opinion to the committee as to the best industrial use of the Permian Sea salt water.

The Biologist

The Economist

The Ecologist

The Geologist

G/T & Honors Technology Extension: Calculator-Based Laboratory Analysis of Permian Sea Saltwater

· Obtain seawater sample (Artesian or brackish water will also work) or make your own using a sea water mix obtained from any aquarium / fish supply

· Each team will conduct one separate water test, then pool together their results for each teams’ final report

· Test for 1) pH & temperature 2) chlorides (indicator of salinity) 3) conductivity (test for total dissolved solids) 4) and dissolved oxygen

· Consider obtaining a refractometer to measure the refractive index of the water in terms of percentage and parts per thousands

· Include a water analysis report in each teams’ final report

· See Teacher Info for helpful links

Process

Since you each have opposing views it may be difficult for you to work together, but you may find some commonality in your research to compare ideas based on the factual information that you have collected.

Once you have investigated the background material necessary to make an informed decision about the best business use of the Permian Sea saltwater, it will be time to come together as a group. Make sure you understand your role in this decision making process when you must reach a group decision or consensus.

Your team must decide on ONE OF THE SIX INDUSTRIES PRE-SELECTED BY THE PERMIAN SEA COUNCIL.

Create a multimedia presentation (consider MS PowerPoint) that illustrates your FINAL decision and reasons for your choice.

Resources

Resources will need to complete your task(s) include:

Computer with Internet access

Additional technology resources:

MS PowerPoint

MS Publisher

MS Word

Color Printer

Lab extension equipment:

Vernier Sensors with Vernier LabPro or Texas Instruments CBL2

Evaluation

Persuasive Paper Rubric Click Here Group Project Rubric Click Here

Conclusion

Now that you’ve completed the task, let’s reflect on some further analyses. Consider how your role could have been interpreted in a different light.

Did you side with another role? What if you interpreted you role differently, how might the outcome have changed?
Were you flexible enough to compromise with the group or did you pressure the group to side with you?
Was this a smooth team effort? What were the obstacles that your team overcame in order to reach a decision?
Was there another role that you would have liked to be?
If you compromised your decision for the group, what industry did you think was the most important? Why?
Rate the Council’s six industries in order from most relevant to least relevant.
Was there an industry that really wasn’t relevant to the Permian Sea?
Would you have selected an alternative industry? If yes, describe

Adapted from a template provided for teachers at http://www.spa3.k12.sc.us/WebQuests.html

West Texas Sunset
picture by Dena Carpenter

“West Texas Sunrise”

Limestone mesas formed from ancient coral reef

Picture by Dena Carpenter