In this science activity, students investigate the water cycle by testing the …
In this science activity, students investigate the water cycle by testing the water evaporated from leaves (transpiration) in a field experience. Students use elements of this information to track the water cycle through it's various stages.
In this activity students collect snow in a cup, predict how much …
In this activity students collect snow in a cup, predict how much water will be in the cup when the snow melts. Students are exposed to evaporation as the water "disappears" over time and try to stop this from happening.
This activity is used in my groundwater flow modeling class (GEOS-724), a …
This activity is used in my groundwater flow modeling class (GEOS-724), a class for upper-level undergraduates and graduate students. In advance, the students receive an introduction to MATLAB and basic programming constructs, and background on the use of finite difference discretizations for solving partial differential equations.
The problem being solved here is a (relatively) simple steady-state, linear groundwater flow problem. The code presents different numerical methods for solving a seminal groundwater flow problem - the Toth problem (as solved by J. Toth http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/JZ068i016p04795/abstract). The solution to the Toth problem shows that if the water table is a muted expression of surficial topography, then groundwater organizes itself into groundwater flow "cells" of varying expanse.
This problem - which is familiar to most groundwater modelers - provides a baseline for discussing differences in solution methods for numerical models. In this script, different solution styles tested include: 1) A "direct" matrix inversion method which is exact but somewhat memory intensive; 2) An iterative but relatively inefficient "point Jacobi" method; and 3) A more efficient Gauss-Seidel iterative method.
After running this script, students are asked to explore aspects of the solutions and comment on their benefits and drawbacks. For example: -Which solution method appears to be the most accurate, based on the problem statement (for instance the students should check that streamlines do not intersect no-flow boundaries) -Which solution requires the least / most memory to compute? -Which solution is the fastest to compute? -Which solution obtains the most reasonable mass balance? -How do the solutions perform if the discretization is increased or other parameters are varied (such as iteration "convergence" parameters)?
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Students will examine the complex issues that result from human use of …
Students will examine the complex issues that result from human use of ecologically sensitive areas. The students will investigate these issues from the point of view of their major/career path.
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The Los Angeles and the Future of Mono Lake WebQuest leads students …
The Los Angeles and the Future of Mono Lake WebQuest leads students in a guided exploration of Mono Lake's extreme environment and asks them to consider the preservation of this environment in relation to the needs of humans.
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Students will explore wetland hydrology and biology and decide whether or not …
Students will explore wetland hydrology and biology and decide whether or not to restore a wetland or retain dams and drainage systems.
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This assignment offers students several problems that help them understand the basic …
This assignment offers students several problems that help them understand the basic of mixing models and their use in understanding the controls on water quality in the environment. The purpose of the assignment is to help students integrate across the various topics in environmental chemistry in the context of flow and transport. Students will hopefully learn how reactive and non-reactive tracers can be used in conjunction to fully understand a chemical system.
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The students will use activities to understand atomic mass and isotopes and …
The students will use activities to understand atomic mass and isotopes and stable isotopic fractionation in the hydrologic system.
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1) What are some of the biological effects of dam removal (good …
1) What are some of the biological effects of dam removal (good and bad)?
2) What are some of the more pressing/compelling reasons to remove a dam? Explain.
3) The Stanley and Doyle (2003) article states that, "dam removal cannot be avoided." Hypothetically, let's say you are placed on a committee to oversee the removal of the Aswan High Dam, since Doyle et al. (2003) states that, "the functional lifespan of most dams is approximately 60-120 years." What scientific studies would you conduct before/during/after dam removal? Why?
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Through multi-trial experiments, students are able to see and measure something that …
Through multi-trial experiments, students are able to see and measure something that is otherwise invisible to them seeing plants breathe. Student groups are given two small plants of native species and materials to enclose them after watering with colored water. After being enclosed for 5, 10 and 15 minutes, teams collect and measure the condensed water from the plants' "breathing," and then calculate the rates at which the plants breathe. A plant's breath is known as transpiration, which is the flow of water from the ground where it is taken up by roots (plant uptake) and then lost through the leaves. Students plot volume/time data for three different native plant species, determine and compare their transpiration rates to see which had the highest reaction rate and consider how a plant's unique characteristics (leaf surface area, transpiration rate) might figure into engineers' designs for neighborhood stormwater management plans.
This laboratory exercise examines the linkages between ground and surface water hydrology …
This laboratory exercise examines the linkages between ground and surface water hydrology and landscape evolution in the Interior Low Plateaus Region of Kentucky. The exercise focuses upon the origin of Mammoth Cave.
In this introductory lab, students are introduced to the different components that …
In this introductory lab, students are introduced to the different components that make up the cryosphere and watch a NASA animation showing an example of how global land and sea ice coverage can change over the course of a single year. In the second part of the lab, students learn about some of the ways that changes in the cryosphere are already impacting human life.
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Using data on the world's water distribution, students calculate the percentage of …
Using data on the world's water distribution, students calculate the percentage of water that is available to humans and examine graphics that illustrate the distribution. Students develop a sense of where the world's water is located and how it moves through the Earth system.
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Students build a physical model to explore watershed features, then use Google …
Students build a physical model to explore watershed features, then use Google Earth software to tie the model to a real place. By exploring several layers of map-based images and data, students develop an appreciation of the complexity of a watershed and river system in the context of a both a local and national scale.
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In this activity students develop a practical understanding of the causes and …
In this activity students develop a practical understanding of the causes and symptoms of drought. They read background articles and prepare a physical model to illustrate the role that soil moisture plays in preventing or promoting drought. Students use Google Earth to examine precipitation and streamflow data and use them to predict locations that are experiencing drought. They check their predictions by comparing them to a drought monitor map. In the final section, students examine and interpret the current map of the Palmer Drought Severity Index.
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In Lab 5, students learned about some of the global circulation processes …
In Lab 5, students learned about some of the global circulation processes that transport both matter and energy around the planet. In Lab 6A they get a much more specific picture of the Earth system at the global scale as they investigate data collected by NASA satellites. The data is displayed in image form in the NEO (NASA Earth Observations) data visualization tool. How do the four interconnected spheres show up at the global scale in these data representations? Is it possible, from studying this data, to infer some of the same interconnections at the global scale that were identified at the local study site? What can students infer from studying changes across the seasons? In Lab 6B students play a game that focuses their attention on the global water cycle, but at the particle scale: what might happen to this molecule of water that falls onto the ground, or into a stream? Next they step back to the macroscopic scale as they diagram the ways in which water moves through the four interconnected spheres of the Earth system.
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America's most famous drought resulted in an environmental disaster called the Dust …
America's most famous drought resulted in an environmental disaster called the Dust Bowl. From 1931 to 1939, a five-state region of the Great Plains received little rain and experienced horrendous dust storms that stripped the land of its topsoil. The event went on to shape the demographics of the American West as thousands of people migrated out of the plains and on to western states. In this activity, students will watch a PBS video and/or interact with the video's companion website. They will also examine maps and animations that show the distribution of drought patterns over the past 300 years; these maps were reconstructed from environmental records. Finally, students will examine the amount of time different areas spend in drought.
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When populations live in areas where natural resources are scarce, conserving them …
When populations live in areas where natural resources are scarce, conserving them becomes critical for survival. The case study presented in this lesson introduces students to a real drought that has been developing in the Colorado River basin for many years. The Colorado River is the major source of water for people in the driest part of the United States. More than 30 million people in 7 states depend on this river as the primary source of their water. In this lesson, students discover how changes in climate over the Colorado watershed are reducing the amount of fresh water available in the river. They also see how the population of the region that uses this water has grown, resulting in increasing demands on a dwindling resource.
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In this lab, students apply the concepts of earlier lessons to their …
In this lab, students apply the concepts of earlier lessons to their own community. They begin by exploring economic, environmental, and social impacts of drought. Students then prepare for and stage a mock community meeting to draw up plans to face an upcoming drought.
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In this activity students explore how to reduce vulnerability to drought risk …
In this activity students explore how to reduce vulnerability to drought risk through mitigation strategies. Students investigate one or more of four technology-based mitigation strategies by reading articles or viewing short podcasts and completing hands-on activities. Students make a presentation or poster to communicate their findings to the class.
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