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Rising Austin lake levels become life-saving lesson for students

At Lake Travis Elementary School, teachers have been fielding questions from their students as lake levels continue to rise. So, teachers turned their curiosity into a life-saving lesson.

AUSTIN — Watching Lake Travis rise to the fifth highest level in history is scary for many people, but it's even scarier for kids who live with the lake in their backyard.

At Lake Travis Elementary school, teachers have been receiving several flood questions from their students, so they turned that into a life-saving lesson.

This is a place where math meets the real world.

"I want you to tell me the difference of the lake level between today and seven days ago,” said Idalia Gannon, a fifth grade dual language teacher at Lake Travis Elementary School. "What does that tell me? Why is that important for our community?"

For Lake Travis Elementary students, rising water isn't just about numbers. Their classmates, their families and their friends all live near the water.

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"I'm worried about people who are going to lose their houses where are they going to go," said 10-year-old Jocelyn Ramirez.

“I could tell that they were nervous,” said Gannon.

So when they started asking questions, their teachers decided to find answers by using LCRA lake data and math -- the same "real-world" problem solving that factors into flood gate operation decisions.

"It helps me understand because that way they know how high the water is and they know when to open the floodgates and when to not open the floodgates," said Ramirez.

"If that didn't happen we would all be in serious trouble,” said 10-year-old Cesar Hernandez.

Lessons come in all forms. For many families, this week, has been about more than numbers. It's about lives.

"I want them to make a connection with what we're doing in school. It's not just in the classroom, it's day-to-day life that we need to apply. In this situation it's safety issues,” said Gannon.

"You need to know about this because if you live in a place like this you could evacuate," said 9-year-old Michael.

Real world lessons on why math matters in a community surrounded by water.

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