Observations on Darcy's Law part of Activities
Students measure flow rates through the Darcy columns made of water bottles filled with different types and amount of porous material. They observe how all of the parameters in Darcy's law affect the flow ...

Groundwater-Surface Water Interactions part of Activities
This activity has three exercises: measuring groundwater flow and velocity, measuring vertical gradients in piezometers, and sampling a well field. These field exercises are meant to give students better ...

Aquifer Elasticity and Specific Storage part of Activities
The goal of this experiment is to measure the specific storage Ss of a balloon, which simulates aquifer elasticity. The experiment is designed to give observational meaning to the variable, increment of fluid ...

Quantifying Groundwater Baseflow and Improving Math Skills through a Stream-Discharge Exercise part of Activities
A two-part exercise is presented where students quantify stream discharge and use the data to determine groundwater baseflow. They first use tedious hand calculations to compute discharge; then develop their own ...

Improve Student Learning Through Tiered Exams part of Activities
Tiered exams encourage learning. They consist of an initial traditional exam, followed by a second open-book, open-note exam during which peer-teaching is encouraged.

Pathogenic Microorganisms in Water part of Activities
This activity introduces students to sampling and testing for microorganisms in different water sources. It also tests iodine tablets to kill coliform bacteria which interest many students. The activity utilizes ...

Save Crooked Creek! Remediation of a Service Station Site with a Leaking UST part of Activities
The student group (3 to 4 persons) is given information regarding a leaking UST at a gasoline station in western Pennsylvania; a page detailing the history of the problem and a small sketch map if the site. They ...

A Simple Approach to Improve Student Writing part of Activities
I demonstrate a simple approach to help students think and write scientifically/critically. The approach uses the journalistic questions of who, what, where, when, how, and why.

Melting Glaciers, Gravels and Groundwater part of Activities
A spectacular gravel quarry five miles west of Schenectady New York along the Mohawk River is an ideal place to discuss deglaciation history and the development of the ancestral Mohawk Delta building into former ...

Using A Quarry Pump Test to Determine Aquifer Properties, Calculate Water Budgets, and Assess Good Field Practices part of Activities
The exercise provides an opportunity to discuss pump test methods and perform a "worst-case" mass balance of the water pumped by including rainfall as an input.