Dawson, Fairfax County/U.S.A. is a hypothetical community developed by the authors as a teaching aid for undergraduate and graduate courses in environmental engineering, providing a context for problem solving and role playing. It was contrived to provide students opportunities to: (1) identify important community relationships, (2) appreciate the needs and problems of others, (3) observe their role as a future professional, (4) know where to find needed data for problem solving, (5) realize the complexity of a community environment, and (6) select reasonable solutions to environmental problems. The environmental problems encountered involve social, political, economic, and technical aspects; specifically those dealing with government, law enforcement, health protection, socio-economic and ethnic statistics, welfare, planning, zoning, building, housing, fire protection, civil defense, civic-business-religious organizations, education, recreation, public works, utilities, transportation, commerce, industry, climate, geography, wastewater treatment plants, incinerators, and selected industries causing waste pollution. Numerous charts/diagrams, maps, and statistical data enhance the narrative material which students will find relevant and in need of immediate application. (BL)