Lesson 2 Lab Experiment (s)

Buried in Dirt - How Fibers Reach Your Home

This is the lab experiment for Lesson 2. Please conduct this experiment under direct supervision of an adult including a parent or teacher.

The experiment consists of two parts:

1. Lookup of property records
2. Measurement of Right-of-Way for your home property

Lookup of home property records
Under adult supervision, visit the web site for the governing authority for your home/property. If you live in multi-tenant facilities, you may want to ask permission to research the property of someone else you know such as a relative. Generally these searches are free and do not interfere with anyone's privacy. Depending on the size of your town, the records will likely either be in the city/town records or if not they may be found in county records. Have a parent review your Property Tax bill to verify the appropriate governing authority. You may even be able to google "property description for 123 main street, anytown, TX" using your home info for the query.

Once you have obtained a drawing for the property under investigation, review all measurements to determine:

     1. Total Right-of-Way (ROW) for roadways onlong the property
     2. Right-of-Way along all property boundaries (along the sides and rear of proprty that do not adjoin roadways).
     3. Centerline (C/L) ROW

Measurement of Right-of-Way for your home property
Use a tape measure to determine the ROW edge closest to the home or building, by measuring from the edge of the roadway (only perform when no traffic present, do not extend any body part of measuring device into roadway; stay back from roadway). Mark the back edge of the ROW with a rock or other removable marker that does not pierce the ground. You may want to use a string to mark the entire length of the property. Take a picture of the marked ROW and present to teacher for extra credit if appropriate. Explain your findings to your parents or a friend, advising why this information is important to property owners.

Don't forget you can order a sample fiber from a real telephone cable for use in some experiments by clicking the ORDER FIBER button on the top right of the Home page. Prices from $1.00 per fiber. Great way to earn extra credits in your next Technical Presentation, Science Fair or Merit Badge!