As a requirement of GO 571, students are expected to prepare a term project in which hydrogeologic concepts discussed in class are assimilated in a presentation on a hydrogeologic system of local or regional interest. The focal point for this project will be a local or regional aquifer. Each student will select an aquifer to report on from the variety of aquifer types that exist in North America, and will provide background on that aquifer to the rest of the class as a web page presentation. A detailed description of the hydrologic, physical, and chemical aspects of the system will be provided in the context of the aquifer's relationship to various elements of the hydrologic cycle discussed in class. The array of aquifer types that will be presented will allow students from all over North America to share their unique knowledge about the hydrogeologic systems in their region with the rest of the class. So that no two students select the same aquifer, some may chose to write about an aquifer that is of work- or thesis-related interest.

Before selecting an aquifer for this project, students are encouraged to review chapter 8 in the textbook. This chapter provides an overview of the various aquifer types that exist in the U.S. and will help you determine what sort of aquifer may exist in your area. It will be helpful to know something about the geologic character of your aquifer before you begin collecting information. After reviewing chapter 8, students are encouraged to visit the USGS Ground-water atlas for the U.S.. The ground-water atlas lists the major aquifer systems in the U.S. and will provide some perspective on how your aquifer relates to other aquifers in North America. This publication may provide a few references that will help you get your literature search started. Each student should submit a short description of the aquifer he or she will write about to the instructor before April 7.

Because GO 571 is an online course, class presentations will be made in electronic format via web pages. The final web-based products will be linked to the course homepage for all students to review the week before the final exam. Detailed instructions on preparation of web pages and a few good downloadable guidebooks on HTML coding are available at http://academic.emporia.edu/aberjame/web_page.htm. For an idea of what your final presentation should look like, see: http://www.emporia.edu/earthsci/student/present.htm for examples of past student webpages.

All presentations should include the following information:

• Description of the hydrologic and geologic properties of the aquifer:

- Geologic description of aquifer medium (i.e. rock or sediment type, heterogeneity, porosity, permeability, fractures, etc.)
- Hydrologic properties of the aquifer (confined or unconfined? leaky? artesian?). This section should also include information on aquifer thickness, K, S, T, specific yield and any other relevant aquifer properties discussed in class)
- Natural chemical character of ground-water in the aquifer (we will cover this in few weeks)
- Relationship to the unsaturated zone (more on this next week)

• Description of the aquifer as a water resource :

- What is the aquifer used for (domestic supply? agriculture? industry?)? How

many people rely on water from this aquifer?)
- Is this water supply threatened? If so, how and why? How is the use of this resource managed or allocated?

• Description of potential or actual ground-water contamination

- Is the aquifer contaminated? If not, do regional (agricultural), local spills, injections, or other contamination sources threaten this aquifer?
- What federal, state, or local government agencies are responsible for protection or clean-up of contaminated ground-water.

A variety of references may be used in this report that might include:

• Textbooks


• Federal (USGS, EPA, USDA, FEMA, etc,) or state government agency (KDHE, KWO. etc.)
  reports or online publications. (it may be useful to revisit some of the web pages listed in Homework
  assignment #1 as you search for publications on your aquifer).
• Articles published in professional journals (visit your instructor's webpage for links to a few of the most
  important journals in hydrogeology )

  **Each reference must be properly cited. Inclusion of data or publications that are available online is encouraged. Hyperlinks to these must be presented in your webpage.

  **Be careful when selecting publications or web sites to reference. Papers published in peer-reviewed journals or by government agencies that have been made available online (or as downloadable documents) are excellent resources; online notes form internet-based courses and information obtained from personal web pages that may result from a google search are rarely peer-reviewed and are generally NOT considered credible.

  **Beware of plagiarism. For clarification of what it is and what is not considered acceptable writing practice, visit http://academic.emporia.edu/aberjame/plagiarism.htm\and http://www.soita.esu.k12.oh.us/Resources/teacher/curriculum/plagiarism.htm