Preview - Nitrates And Water Quality (Part 2: Analyzing & Visualizing Data)

Visualizing Nitrate Level Data across All Water Collection Sites in Iowa

Step 1: Open the attached file (IowaWaterQualityByLocation.txt) in Codap (https://codap.concord.org/).

  • Go to https://codap.concord.org/. Click the orange “Try It Now” button.

  • Create a new document by clicking on the menu button in the top left corner.

 

  • Click the menu button, and select Import. Import the text file attachment you previously downloaded (IowaWaterQualityByLocation.txt).

Step 2: Add the percentages that your classmates have calculated for each water collection site.

  • Expand the window and the width of the “Location” column, so that your table looks like this and then add the data. 

Step 3: Visualize the data on a map

  • In the bar at the top of the screen, click “Map.” A map with each water collection site represented as a red dot should pop up. You can click on each site on the map to see which site it corresponds to in your data table.

  • Drag the “%” column header from the data table to your map. The darker points on the map should correspond with higher percentages of unhealthy nitrate levels.

codap2.png

  • Click on your map, and then click on the paintbrush icon. Change the stroke color to something that will stand out on your map, and feel free to adjust the point size.

  • Feel free to zoom in and out on your map as necessary. In a zoomed in view, more rivers appear on the map.

Questions

Please answer the questions below.

Upload the screenshot of your map. (Make sure to include all water collection sites!)

Upload files that are less than 5MB in size.
File Delete

Looking at your map, which major cities seem to be more at risk of drinking water from nitrate-polluted water sources? (Major cities in Iowa include Sioux City, Des Moines, Mason City, Waterloo, Cedar Rapids, Dubuque, and Davenport.) Do any other small- or mid-sized cities in Iowa also seem to be at risk?

Can you draw any useful conclusions by looking at your map? What additional information would be helpful?

 

Notes

These notes will appear on every page in this lesson so feel free to put anything here you'd like to keep track of.