STEM- Willunga Vineyards Water Source, School partner- Willunga Basin Water

Willunga Vineyards Water source

It is 2016, and due to climate change and overuse of groundwater reserves, the Willunga/McLaren Vale grape growing region
is experiencing years of uncertainty. Vineyards in this area, including the Willunga High School vineyard, use a lot of water,
and using mains water is becoming increasingly expensive, making it non-viable to grow grapes. Many growers instead use
groundwater, but levels in the underground aquifer are decreasing yearly, whilst salinity is increasing. If climate change
results in less rainfall the underground system will become increasingly unusable. There is a third option however, that has
become available in the last couple years, but lack of testing means that we dont know if using it is a good idea.
The Christies Beach Waste Water Recycling plant, recycles household waste water into usable agricultural water which can
be purchased from the Willunga Basin Water (WBW) company. WBW currently supplies many growers, and is looking at
expanding its supply to more growers, and increase its ability to store and sell more water than it currently does. At the
present it costs less than mains water, but there are concerns about the levels of nutrients, and salinity in the water. High
levels of salinity and nutrients can have detrimental effects on the vines, the soil, and the environment around it. This in turn
affects the quality and amount of grapes produced by the vines. The amount of grapes produced, and to what quality will
determine how much money will be made or lost from a vineyard.
Your task is to weigh up all the factors and concerns, for and against, and come up with an answer to the following question:

Should Willunga High School use recycled wastewater to water its vineyard?
In groups you will choose one of the following characters and produce a case looking into one aspect of the above question.
Within your groups each person needs to lead one of the various disciplines of STEM. Someone will be in charge of the
mathematical component of your investigation. Someone else will lead the engineering, and figuring out how to actually set
up experiments. Someone else the technology, someone else the Science and experiment design. Each role will overlap

STEM- Willunga Vineyards Water Source, School partner- Willunga Basin Water

CHARACTERS
Agronomist- how do plants grow? effect of water on plants and soil and quality of grapes
Business Manager- costing of the project, managing budget, profit and loss
Irrigation Specialist- best use, installation of irrigation, improvements on current system
Environmental Scientist- balancing overall effects on region. Willunga effects vs. Waste water at Christies beach effects
Sustainability Consultant- future planning, will the vineyard work into the future, keeping in mind climate change and
economics.
Other- ?
For your character you will need to: 1. Investigate and Identify- look at the problem from the perspective of your
character
2. Experiment- design an experiment to conduct and carry it out
3. Summarise- pull your investigation and experiment together
4. Present- to a group
5. Document- Keep a work log as you go

ROLES See slideshow: https://goo.gl/v8uAml

Science
Technology
Engineering

STEM- Willunga Vineyards Water Source, School partner- Willunga Basin Water

Mathematics

STEM- Willunga Vineyards Water Source, School partner- Willunga Basin Water

CHARACTERS (Expanded)
Agronomist- Plant scientists focussed on increasing the quality and quantity of crops (vines & $ value). Agronomists plan and conduct experiments to
improve yields/quality. Can encompass plant genetics, physiology, weather and soil science. Can it be used on olives? Can it be used for cattle.
Experiment- growing plants with different water qualities
Costings/Business manager- how much is the cost difference. Talking to Ellie (WBW), financial. How much water will we need? How big is the area? How
many vines? How many drips? How many rows (km of pipes). Can it be used on oval? How much water is used on oval already?
Experiment: Financial modelling coming up with a bottom line taking into account various economic factors.
Input: rainfall data, temperature data, costs,
Irrigation specialist: how is the system actually going to work- which drippers and pipe. Analysis of system- do we have to change anything? (pipe
pressure, automatic timers, pressure regulator) what is water pressure? How much water is to be supplied?
Experiment- Test dripper system, setup experiment in lab.
Environmental Scientist 1- overall effect on environment. Water going on grapevines compared to out to sea, keeping in mind effects of treatment
process on environment (electricity/CO2 emissions)
Experiment: Arduino
Sustainability consultant- Future projections. Climate change- are grapes suitable? Economic change
Experiment: financial model, climate model. Plant experiment- effect of less water on plants. Effect of heat on plants.
Make a prediction of future climate patterns, and how that affects sustainability of the industry, cost of water.

ASSESSMENT

You will be assessed by completing work log, milestone meetings and culminating in a showcase where your findings will be
on display to professionals outside the school, the principal and teachers, and fellow students. You will be assessed on your
ability to communicate your findings
1. Work log
2. Showcase
3. Peer review- your teammates will give you a grade

STEM- Willunga Vineyards Water Source, School partner- Willunga Basin Water
Year 9 Achievement Standards:
Students design questions that can be investigated using a range of inquiry skills. They design methods that include the control and
accurate measurement of variables and systematic collection of data and describe how they considered ethics and safety. They analyse
trends in data, identify relationships between variables and reveal inconsistencies in results. They analyse their methods and the quality
of their data, and explain specific actions to improve the quality of their evidence. They evaluate others methods and explanations from
a scientific perspective and use appropriate language and representations when communicating their findings and ideas to specific
audiences.
E

Did not produce

clear or logical
presentation with
appropriate use of
scientific
terminology

Attempted to
produce
presentation with
appropriate use of
scientific
terminology

Attempted to
produce logical
presentation with
appropriate use of
scientific
terminology

Produced logically
sequenced
presentation with
appropriate use of
scientific
terminology

Produced clear and

logically sequenced
presentation with
appropriate use of
scientific
terminology

Did not plan or

conduct safe
practical work or
did not participate
in the practical.

Planned and
conducted some
practical work with
minimum level of
planning.

Planned and
conducted practical
in a safe and
logical manner.
Demonstrated
effective teamwork.

Planned and
conducted a
practical in a safe
and logical manner.
Demonstrated very
effective team
work.

Planned and
conducted practical
in a very safe and
logical manner.
Demonstrated high
level of team work
and leadership.

Science Inquiry Skills

The Presentation
Communicate scientific
ideas and information for a
particular purpose
(ACSIS174)
Science Inquiry Skills
The Investigation
Plan, select and use
appropriate investigation
methods, including field
work and laboratory
experimentation, to collect

STEM- Willunga Vineyards Water Source, School partner- Willunga Basin Water
reliable data (ACSIS165)
Science Inquiry Skills
The Peer Review
Critically analyse the
validity of information in
primary and secondary
sources and evaluate the
approaches used to solve
problems (ACSIS172)

Did not analyse

information or
evaluate
approaches used to
solve problems.

Partially analysed
information and
evaluated
approaches used to
solve problems.

Analysed
information and
evaluated
approaches used to
solve problems.

Effectively
analysed
information and
evaluated
approaches used to
solve problems.

Comprehensively
analysed
information and
evaluated
approaches used to
solve problems .