Water Bucket lab activity
Summary
Online lab activity to explore the generic structure of a leaky water tank. Time delay and equilibrium are introduced.
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Context
Audience
I use this for my first lab activity in introductory Meteorology since many systems in nature fit the generic structure of the leaky water tank.
Skills and concepts that students must have mastered
I assume that they have been exposed to graphs but we also review the basics of X-Y graphs in the introduction to the lab.
How the activity is situated in the course
Stand alone first lab activity to introduce the ideas of time delay and equilibrium to my students.
Goals
Content/concepts goals for this activity
Introduce students to the idea of stocks and flows, equilibrium, and time delays.
Higher order thinking skills goals for this activity
At the end of this activity students are asked to transfer their newly obtained knowledge of the water tank inflow outflow structure to a home heating example.
Other skills goals for this activity
Simple calculations and short answers
Description of the activity/assignment
This is an online JAVA based activity. Students become familiar with the basic structure of a water tank with constant inflow and an outflow proportional to the volume of water in the tank. Students are asked to use the online model to explore several aspects of this simple system. Equilibrium and time delay are the two key points of this activity.
Determining whether students have met the goals
An online pdf file of the activity is available and answers to the questions are evaluated. Students are give immediate feedback and are asked to correct errors before leaving the lab.
More information about assessment tools and techniques.Teaching materials and tips
- Water Bucket Activity Description/Assignment (Microsoft Word 88kB Mar26 10)
Other Materials
Supporting references/URLs
The complete activity is referenced at this link.