Undergraduate introductory course in geoscience

Students should be introduced to flood recurrence and topographic maps before this activity.

We have used this activity as a homework assignment after the topic is introduced in lecture and reading, but it could also be used in class, in lab, or as group work.

Flood recurrence intervals and what is predictable about the impact of flooding on human structures

Scaling: Understanding the temporal and spatial scales of flooding

Working with topographic maps

This worksheet focuses on flood recurrence and determining the affected area of a 100-year flood. Students are given a chart with annual peak discharge and flood recurrence interval values for a river in Wisconsin. Students use this chart to determine the stream elevation that would occur for a 100-year flood along this river. Using that information, students trace the boundary of this flood onto a topo map of the regional around the river and determine which houses the flood would affect. Finally, students complete 4 multiple-choice questions on worksheet concepts. This activity walks students through the process of evaluating flood risk, while in turn helping students become more familiar with using charts and topo maps.

This worksheet uses the sketch-understanding program with built-in tutor: CogSketch. Therefore, students, instructors, and/or institution computer labs need to download the program from here: http://www.qrg.northwestern.edu/software/cogsketch/. At any point during the worksheet, students can click the FEEDBACK button and their sketch is compared to the solution image. The built-in tutor identifies any discrepancies and reports pre-written feedback to help the student correct their sketch until they are done with the activity. Once worksheets are emailed to the instructor, worksheets can be batch graded and easily evaluated. This program allows instructors to assign sketching activities that require very little time commitment. Instead, the built-in tutor provides feedback whenever the student requests, without the presence of the instructor. More information on using the program and the activity is in the Instructor's Notes.

We have developed approximately two dozen introductory geoscience worksheets using this program. Each worksheet has a background image and instructions for a sketching task. You can find additional worksheets by searching for "CogSketch" using the search box at the top of this page. We expect to have uploaded all of them by the end of the summer of 2016.

CogSketch has a gradebook feature that allows instructors to batch grade worksheets using the defined rubric in the worksheet. Once graded, instructors can also open all the sketches and evaluate student work. Instructions are given in the Instructor's Notes.

Download CogSketch: http://www.qrg.northwestern.edu/software/cogsketch/