Middle school collection; specific grade not stated.
Archived standards are preserved as originally published and may differ from current standards.
Compelling question
How much water is pumped through a pivot irrigation system in one crop season?
Standards & practices
South Dakota Common Core State Standards for Mathematics:
Standard 1: Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them.
Standard 2: Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others.
Standard 4: Model with mathematics.
Standard 6: Attend to precision
Standard 7: Look for and make use of structure.
Standard 8: Look for and express regularity in repeated reasoning.
Staging the question
What volume of water is pumped in one day through a 130 acre crop sprinkler water system?
Supporting inquiries
Supporting question 1
What is the irrigation system water
volume per minute for a typical high-
pressure irrigation well? (900 gal/min)
Formative performance task
Research pivot irrigation systems to
find water usage on different crops and
on different soil types.
Featured sources
Nebraska department of agriculture
Supporting question 2
How much water is pumped each
hour of the day?
Formative performance task
Convert gallons/min to gallons/hour.
(900 gallon/min X 60 min/hour)
=54,000 gallons/hour
Featured sources
“To Combat Scarcity, Increase Water-
Use Efficiency in Agriculture”
Worldwatch Institute, March 1, 2013,
By Sophie Wenzlau
Supporting question 3
How much water is pumped in a 24-
hour day?
Formative performance task
Convert gallons/hour to gallons/day
(54,000gallons/hour X 24 hours/day)
=1,296,000 gallons/day
Featured sources
Not specified in the archived lesson.
Summative performance task · Argument
80% of the fresh water withdrawn from rivers and groundwater is used for food and
agricultural products. Agricultural sprinkler irrigation systems use 4 times as much
water per day as drip systems. According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization
(FOA) 60% of the water diverted or pumped for irrigation is wasted via runoff into
waterways or evapotranspiration.
Extension
Contact state extension agents for more information on improving irrigation system
water usage efficiency.
Taking informed action
Investigate drip irrigation systems for gardens and trees and present to class.
Elder sources included in this lesson
No specific Elder video could be matched to the archived lesson’s source references.
Original text & supporting materials
The complete archived text is retained here, including details that may extend beyond the inquiry blueprint.
Read the full archived lesson text
Math: Calculating pivot irrigation water usage
“Lesson Title” | OSEU 1: Lands & Environment
Compelling
Question
How much water is pumped through a pivot irrigation system in one crop season?
Standards and
Practices
South Dakota Common Core State Standards for Mathematics:
Standard 1: Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them.
Standard 2: Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others.
Standard 4: Model with mathematics.
Standard 6: Attend to precision
Standard 7: Look for and make use of structure.
Standard 8: Look for and express regularity in repeated reasoning.
Staging the
Question
What volume of water is pumped in one day through a 130 acre crop sprinkler water system?
Supporting Question 1
Supporting Question 2
Supporting Question 3
What is the irrigation system water
volume per minute for a typical high-
pressure irrigation well? (900 gal/min)
How much water is pumped each
hour of the day?
How much water is pumped in a 24-
hour day?
Formative Performance Task
Formative Performance Task
Formative Performance Task
Research pivot irrigation systems to
find water usage on different crops and
on different soil types.
Convert gallons/min to gallons/hour.
(900 gallon/min X 60 min/hour)
=54,000 gallons/hour
Convert gallons/hour to gallons/day
(54,000gallons/hour X 24 hours/day)
=1,296,000 gallons/day
Featured Sources
Featured Sources
Featured Sources
Nebraska department of agriculture
“To Combat Scarcity, Increase Water-
Use Efficiency in Agriculture”
Worldwatch Institute, March 1, 2013,
By Sophie Wenzlau
Summative
Performance
Task
Argument
80% of the fresh water withdrawn from rivers and groundwater is used for food and
agricultural products. Agricultural sprinkler irrigation systems use 4 times as much
water per day as drip systems. According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization
(FOA) 60% of the water diverted or pumped for irrigation is wasted via runoff into
waterways or evapotranspiration.
Extension
Contact state extension agents for more information on improving irrigation system
water usage efficiency.
Taking Informed
Action
Investigate drip irrigation systems for gardens and trees and present to class.