Mathematical modeling, a focus of the Common Core State Standards for School Mathematics (CCSSI 2010) and one of the Standards for Mathematical Practice, is generally considered to be the process of exploring a real-world situation and making sense of it using mathematics (Lesh and Zawojewski 2007). Teachers need to create opportunities for students to use mathematics to make sense of real-world situations. Fracking is shorthand for hydraulic fracturing, a method of extracting natural gas from the earth. This is a current hot-button issue for the community in which the author lives and teaches. High levels of shale have recently been identified in the rural, high-poverty area, and oil and gas companies have begun offering landowners large sums of money to allow drilling on their land. In the following sections, the author will describe the challenges faced during a lesson that allowed her students to model a real-world situation using rich mathematics. This community-focused lesson that allows students to explore and model their findings with mathematics can also produce students who are aware of the environment.