Students graph existing water quality data using MS Excel, and use the graphs to discuss the changes in discharge, sediment load, and dissolved load along the length of the river and over time. This exercise prepares students to analyze and discuss their own data later in the semester.

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Environmental and earth science students seldom have an opportunity to apply what they learn in class to the solution of real-world problems. With NSF support we have developed the prototype Plume Busters software, in which students take on the role of an environmental consultant. Following a pipeline spill, the environmental consultant is hired by the pipeline owner to locate the resulting plume created by the spill and remediate the contaminated aquifer at minimum monetary and time cost. The contamination must be removed from the aquifer before it reaches the river and eventually a downstream public water supply. The software consists of an interactive Java application and accompanying HTML linked pages. The application simulates movement of a plume from a pipeline break through a shallow alluvial aquifer towards the river. The accompanying web pages establish the simulated contamination scenario and provide students with background material on ground-water flow and transport principles. To make the role-play more realistic, the student must consider cost and time when making decisions about siting observation wells and wells for the pump-and-treat remediation system.

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Create hydrograph and explore changes in physical parameters on form of hydrograph. Set up is easy: water is sprinkled into a model watershed (sand in pop bottle) and allowed to dribble onto cheap digital scale. Students record weight of water over time, convert to volume, and then create hydrograph. More complicated pop-bottle watersheds can model effect of urbanization, antecedent moisture, changes in precipitation, changes in "soil" porosity/permeability, etc. SEE TEACHING MATERIALS AND TIPS FOR DETAILS!

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The students are exposed to a brief (approx. 5 minute) introduction/presentation on aquifers and groundwater including their geographical context, structure, and vocabulary.

The students receive everyday materials with different properties: Styrofoam block, scrubbing pad, etc, and a dropper bottle filled with water. They are not initially told what to do, but instead asked what they are going to do. The idea is to use the dropper bottle to put water on the objects and notice if the water passes through or not? They are also encouraged to notice any physical features that may be responsible for these behaviors. Students typically won't talk to each other at first and won't know what to do. Asking them guided questions usually encourages conversation between the students. They can also be asked what other everyday objects could be used for this exercise.

After they have explore everyday objects, they are introduced to a handsample of granite and a sandstone. Although they have not been exposed to rocks in lab, they can usually identify the granite right away, and the sandstone when about the size of the grains. They then will discuss the physical properties of the rocks and hypothesize what is more porous and permeable. They test this with the water dropper.

Finally, as a class, we discuss that something that is porous and permeable like a sandstone makes a good aquifer, and where good aquifers are located.

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Three different types of sediments will be taken and the porosity and water flow rate for each type will be determined. From this activity, students will understand concepts of porosity and water flow through soil material.

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In order to give Introductory Geology (Physical Geology) undergraduate non-majors students experience and confidence in using basic algebra to calculate very simple stream flow properties, we use a prework assignment prior to the Rivers and Streams Lab. Prework is a worksheet assigned 2 weeks in advance, which asks students to calculate velocity and discharge as well as unit conversions and calculations of stream load. The questions are put into the context of activities they completed earlier in the semester during visits to the stream (on campus) so questions are relevant to their previous experiences. The prework timeframe gives students the opportunity to seek extra help from their instructor prior to the lab period in which they will make additional measurements, similar calcualations and interpretations of their data.

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Students experience the steps of the engineering design process as they design solutions for a real-world problem that could affect their health. After a quick review of the treatment processes that municipal water goes through before it comes from the tap, they learn about the still-present measurable contamination of drinking water due to anthropogenic (human-made) chemicals. Substances such as prescription medication, pesticides and hormones are detected in the drinking water supplies of American and European metropolitan cities. Using chlorine as a proxy for estrogen and other drugs found in water, student groups design and test prototype devices that remove the contamination as efficiently and effectively as possible. They use plastic tubing and assorted materials such as activated carbon, cotton balls, felt and cloth to create filters with the capability to regulate water flow to optimize the cleaning effect. They use water quality test strips to assess their success and redesign for improvement. They conclude by writing comprehensive summary design reports.

Students design and build their own model levees. Acting as engineers for their city, teams create sturdy barriers to prevent water from flooding a city in the event of a hurricane.

Students in groups of two create a 4-minute educational video, brochure, and poster on an aspect of soil erosion, soil conservation, and/or watershed health for agricultural regions within the midwestern states. This is a half term project and the materials are presented in a forum towards the end of the semester. The project is aimed to help students learn to pitch science to a wide audience and provide practice (indirectly) applying scientific principles to conservation efforts.

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Students run a pump test and interpret the results as drawdown curves and hydraulic conductivity measurements.

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In week one of the exercise students determine stream discharge by doing some tedious, but simple hand calculations using data sets provided by the instructor. The following week is designed to be more hands-on. Here, they collect their own field data and create a spreadsheet to perform the calculations more efficiently and accurately. By collecting the data themselves, students gain a more thorough understanding of how stream discharge is both measured and computed; they also learn how the results can be used to determine groundwater baseflow. The fact they do hand calculations prior to creating the spreadsheet helps build their math skills and reduces the "black-box" effect that often develops when using software for data analysis. Students also gain valuable experience creating spreadsheets and learn how this tool can be used to perform repetitive computations more efficiently and with less error. Finally, this exercise asks students to consider the accuracy of their replicate field measurements through a series of questions related to their standard deviation and percent error calculations.

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The four exercises give students an opportunity to use their knowledge of graphs, algebra, and maps to solve simple geological problems.

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In this lesson, students will examine the amount of annual and seasonal rainfall in four cities to compare decimals to the hundredths place. Students will add and round digits to the thousandths place. Students will utilize technology by navigating to a specific United States climate website to get relatively current and accurate data. This unit was created as part of the ALEX Interdisciplinary Resource Development Summit.

In this hands-on inquiry-based activity, students face an engineering challenge based on real-world applications. They are tasked with developing a tool they can use to measure the amount of rain that falls each day. This is more of a mini unit than a stand alone activity.

In this service learning project, students, teachers and community members will work together to design and construct a rainwater harvesting system for their school campus.

Research RWH design basics and local conditions
Explore how RWH could be used on your campus and develop a basic design.
Present findings and action plan to community partners, school administration and student body.
Enact the action plan to construct a RWH system on your campus and raise community awareness for water conservation

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The wastewater treatment plant in Hamilton, Ontario is unable to keep up with demand during heavy rainstorms. Combined sewage and stormwater lines in the oldest parts of the city trigger outflow of screened sewage directly into the harbour several times each year, after heavy rains. The harbour itself has been the focus of a remediation effort for several decades. Addressing both industrial legacy pollution and the municipal sewage problem is considered to be key to achieving the harbour's "delisting" as an area of concern in the Great Lake watershed.
This project requires students to help Hamilton residents reduce the pressure on the wastewater treatment plant by reducing the amount of water in the sewage system, the amount of water in the stormwater system or by ensuring that the water is relatively free of chemicals pollution. Some pharmaceuticals have been linked to a feminizing effect on the native fish in the harbour (Purdy, 2009). Students develop realistic strategies for residents to adopt and present their findings to a community partner, the Bay Area Restoration Council, involved with the remediation effort.
Students arrange themselves into groups of three or four during a regular lecture. Any students not present at that lecture will be assigned to a group by the instructor. The groups are then charged with writing and signing a contract detailing the responsibilities and consequences of the work. For example, groups may decide how many meetings may be missed and what happens if a member misses too many meetings. Typically, the most stringent consequence is that a member is removed from the group and must complete the assignment, on time, independently. There was one case of this last year.

The groups then sign up to conduct research into one of four different theme areas: grey water, stormwater, water waste in bathrooms and domestic chemicals. They then develop a strategy for an average household to reduce pressure on the wastewater treatment plant in one of these areas. The strategy must be economically feasible for most residents in the city. The groups meet with myself or a teaching assistant at least once during the project to talk about their plan.
The physical posters and electronic versions are all due on the same day and are then displayed in two separate "poster days." Students are given participation marks for giving feedback on notepads hung at each poster. Community partners form a panel of guest judges and talk to the students about their work, ask questions etc. The teaching assistants and I also visit each poster and ask questions. The guest judges award prizes to the best poster in each category (independent of any marks).
Last year, the best ten posters (judged by the guests and the instructors) were also invited to present their posters at the annual general meeting of the community partner. Members of the public circulated among the posters and talked to students about their work. Members of the press were also present. This annual meeting took place after the semester had ended. The plan for the next version of this project is to send the electronic files out to community partners so they can display them on their web pages or print them out and display them in offices, schools or other public places.

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This project is an opportunity for students to realize the impacts of their lifestyles on the environment. They choose one of the following options to keep track of:

A. Energy consumption (transportation, industrial, or residential hot water),
B. water consumption
C. food consumption
D.Waste production

Then the student records the appropriate personal information from that category for a seven day continuous period. Their submission of 2-3 pages must include their raw data, a summary of their raw data, and a conclusion of what they have learned from the project. Honesty and creativity in presentation are encouraged strongly, even if the data reflects a "non-green" lifestyle. Students are graded equally on length, grammar, relevancy, voice, and content.

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This is a large-scale participatory activity used to prompt students to review what they have learned and to think actively and cooperatively about the connections between the systems we have discussed prior to the activity. It produces a large, visual product students can reflect on.

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In this visualization, users click to drop a raindrop anywhere in the contiguous United States and watch where it ends up. The visualization teaches users about the relationship between precipitation and freshwater in the US.

This is an in-class activity where students learn about the interconnectedness of land use, water quality, and water resource management. Students are assigned a river front parcel of land to develop, unaware that each parcel is connected to someone else's parcel. Each team presents their development choices to the class and learns that all of the river sections are contiguous, leading to discussions about the effects of development and downstream water quality issues.

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