Assignment
Initial Publication Date: June 6, 2013
Summary
First assignment of the course
Context
Audience
Lower level course on Hydrogeology. I have freshmen through seniors majoring in Geology, Environmental Science and Civil and Environmental Engineering (it is a science elective for the latter group).
Skills and concepts that students must have mastered
This is the first assignment of the course, therefore just a reading of the first chapter. In addition, I do sample problems (like the ones assigned in the homework) in class, that are different from the solved example problems in the book. I also cover basic research skills, and finding of sources, etc. and point them to places in the University library and elsewhere on the web that they can go to for more information. Students are expected to attend these class sessions and participate in any relevant discussion.
How the activity is situated in the course
Set of questions covering qualitative, research, and quantitative aspects.
Goals
Content/concepts goals for this activity
Hydrologic cycle, water budget, precipitation calculation methods
Higher order thinking skills goals for this activity
Data analysis, research and calculations.
Other skills goals for this activity
Locating peer reviewed journals and state and federal organizations that are important in hydrogeolocial evaluations.
Description and Teaching Materials
Teaching Notes and Tips
Problems are from Fetter. I work similar problems in class, so the students should be able to solve the ones assigned for homework without any big issues. As part of chapter 1, we also go over the important organizations where they may be able to access important hydrogeological data and other relevant content. There is also a small module on how to do research, how to use online and print sources, etc.
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Assessment
Based on quality of responses and thought process in calculations. The points in parentheses indicate the maximum points they can score per question. I usually assign about 10 homework sets of about 20 points each, so that the total homework grade is worth 200 points or 20% of their grade.