Using Excel for Aquifer Test
Summary
Entry level undergraduate students who use commercial software packages for aquifer test often feel frustrated and distant from real field test. This session introduces a method of aquifer test using Excel spreadsheet. Students are generally more interested in creating interactive tools to process aquifer test data to help them better understand aquifer response to pumping.
Context
Audience
Undergraduate required course in hydrogeology
Skills and concepts that students must have mastered
Familiar with college level calculus and algebra, basic operations of excel and methodology of aquifer test
How the activity is situated in the course
Part of a sequence of exercises to help students understand single and multiple aquifer tests.
Goals
Content/concepts goals for this activity
Aquifer Test, Well Hydraulics, and Field Methods in Hydrogeology
Higher order thinking skills goals for this activity
Developing interactive tools to facilitate critical thinking
Other skills goals for this activity
Create simple mathematical models in Excel, work in groups, and to learn how to formulate complex mathematical equations in Excel.
Description of the activity/assignment
This exercise is part of a sequence of exercises to help students understand single and multiple aquifer tests. In class, students will receive data from pumping tests at University of Minnesota's hydrogeology field site. Instead of using commercial software, students will create interactive modeling tools to facilitate curve matching and to collaborate on understanding aquifer tests at different scales using different methods. The approaches used in this exercise can be extended to develop models to compare single and multiple aquifer tests using different approaches.
Determining whether students have met the goals
Peer review of individual work on creating interactive tools. Work as a group to write a collaborative report to evaluate aquifer tests at different scales using different methods.
More information about assessment tools and techniques.Teaching materials and tips
- Activity Description/Assignment (Acrobat (PDF) 344kB Jul19 05)
- Solution Set (Excel 2MB Jul19 05)
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Other Materials
- Distribution of monitoring wells at University of Minnesota's hydrogeology field site (Excel 27kB Jul19 05)