Teaching Activities

Watershed area and discharge relationships part of Hydrogeology:Hydrogeology, Soils, Geochemistry 2013:Activities
Steven Petsch, University of Massachusetts-Amherst
Students use USGS WaterData website to find data on area, average annual discharge and response to high-precip events in small watersheds in southern New England. Data for the class are compiled to generate graphs ...

Grade Level: College Upper (15-16), College Lower (13-14)
Online Readiness: Online Ready
Resource Type: Activities: Activities:Problem Set, Classroom Activity
Subject: Geoscience:Hydrology:Ground Water:Water and society, policy, and management, Geoscience:Hydrology:Ground Water, Environmental Science:Land Use and Planning, Geoscience:Hydrology:Ground Water:Water cycle/groundwater-surface water interface, Environmental Science
Activity Review: Peer Reviewed as Exemplary

Two streams, two stories... How Humans Alter Floods and Streams part of Quantitative Skills:Activity Collection
Eric Baer, Highline Community College
An activity/lab where students determine the changes in 100-year flood determinations for 2 streams over time.

Grade Level: College Lower (13-14):College Introductory
Resource Type: Activities: Activities:Lab Activity, Classroom Activity, Datasets and Tools:Datasets with Teaching Activities
Subject: Geoscience:Hydrology:Ground Water:Water cycle/groundwater-surface water interface, Geoscience:Hydrology:Surface Water, Environmental Science:Water Quality and Quantity:Surface Water , Environmental Science:Natural Hazards:Floods/Fluvial Processes, Environmental Science:Land Use and Planning
Activity Review: Peer Reviewed as Exemplary

Induced Infiltration Animation: Woburn Wells G & H and the Aberjona River part of Hydrogeology:Activities
Scott Bair, Ohio State University-Main Campus
Induced infiltration of surface water into an unconfined aquifer by municipal wells is a common occurrence and an increasingly important regulatory issue across the U.S. The role of the Aberjona River in providing ...

Grade Level: College Lower (13-14):College Introductory
Resource Type: Activities: Activities:Writing Assignment, Classroom Activity
Subject: Geoscience:Hydrology:Ground Water:Water supply/water resource evaluation, Contaminant hydrology, Groundwater modeling, Groundwater flow, Water cycle/groundwater-surface water interface
Activity Review: Passed Peer Review

Evaluation of watershed land-use changes and hydrologic impacts part of Hydrogeology:Activities
Tim Eaton, CUNY Queens College
The USDA-NRCS TR55 method for calculating runoff discharge is used to compare the results of land-use change in a watershed. These data are then compared to a Darcy's Law estimate of groundwater discharge to a ...

Grade Level: College Lower (13-14), Graduate/Professional, College Upper (15-16)
Resource Type: Activities: Activities:Lab Activity, Classroom Activity
Subject: Environmental Science:Land Use and Planning, Water Quality and Quantity:Groundwater , Geoscience:Hydrology:Ground Water:Water cycle/groundwater-surface water interface, Groundwater flow
Activity Review: Passed Peer Review

Measuring Distance and Area in Satellite Images part of Earth Exploration Toolbook:Measuring Distance and Area in Satellite Images
LuAnn Dahlman, NOAA
DATA: MODIS Imagery. TOOL: ImageJ. SUMMARY: Examine images of the Aral Sea from 1973 through 2003. Use image analysis software to measure changes in the width and area of the freshwater lake over time.

Grade Level: High School (9-12), College Lower (13-14)
Resource Type: Activities: Audio/Visual:Images/Illustrations, Computer Applications, Activities:Classroom Activity, Datasets and Tools:Datasets, Datasets with Teaching Activities, Tools
Subject: Environmental Science:Ecosystems:Biogeochemical cycling, Geography:Geospatial, Geoscience:Hydrology:Surface Water, Ground Water:Water cycle/groundwater-surface water interface, Geoscience:Geology
Activity Review: Passed Peer Review

Using GLOBE Data to Study the Earth System part of Earth Exploration Toolbook:Using GLOBE Data to Study Earths System
Nick Haddad, TERC; Tamara Ledley, Bentley University, 175 Forest Street, Waltham, MA 20452 Past: Harvard Advanced Leadership Initiative, 2017; TERC, 1997-2017
DATA: Student-collected environmental data TOOL: GLOBE Online Graphing Tool SUMMARY: explore, graph, and compare data from the GLOBE (Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment) Program.

Grade Level: High School (9-12), College Lower (13-14)
Resource Type: Activities: Activities:Classroom Activity, Datasets and Tools:Datasets with Tools, Computer Applications, Datasets and Tools:Datasets with Teaching Activities
Subject: Geoscience:Hydrology:Ground Water:Water cycle/groundwater-surface water interface, Geoscience:Atmospheric Science, Geography:Geospatial, Environmental Science:Ecosystems:Biogeochemical cycling
Activity Review: Passed Peer Review, Peer Reviewed as Exemplary

Pop Bottle Hydrograph part of Introductory Courses:Activities
Katherine Scharer, Appalachian State University
Create hydrograph and explore changes in physical parameters on form of hydrograph. Set up is easy: water is sprinkled into a model watershed (sand in pop bottle) and allowed to dribble onto cheap digital scale. ...

Grade Level: College Lower (13-14):College Introductory
Resource Type: Activities: Activities, Classroom Activity
Subject: Geoscience:Hydrology:Ground Water:Water cycle/groundwater-surface water interface, Geoscience:Hydrology:Surface Water
Activity Review: Passed Peer Review

Western water law project part of Hydrogeology:Activities
Todd Rayne, Hamilton College
This activity allows students to use role-playing to learn about the connection between surface water and ground water.

Grade Level: College Lower (13-14)
Resource Type: Activities: Activities:Classroom Activity, Writing Assignment
Subject: Geoscience:Hydrology:Ground Water:Water cycle/groundwater-surface water interface, Environmental Science:Water Quality and Quantity:Surface Water , Geoscience:Hydrology:Surface Water:Water Management and Policy, Environmental Science:Water Quality and Quantity:Groundwater , Geoscience:Hydrology:Ground Water:Water and society, policy, and management, Environmental Science:Policy:State Policy, Geoscience:Hydrology:Ground Water:Geology of groundwater occurrence
Activity Review: Passed Peer Review

Creating a Water Table Map for Newark Road Prairie part of Hydrogeology:Activities
Sue Swanson, Beloit College
This field exercise emphasizes visualization of the water table over construction of a water table map. Students develop a water table map from scratch, including installing shallow monitoring wells, surveying ...

Grade Level: College Lower (13-14), College Upper (15-16)
Resource Type: Activities: Activities:Classroom Activity, Field Activity:Field laboratories, Activities:Lab Activity
Subject: Geoscience:Hydrology:Ground Water:Groundwater flow, Field methods in hydrogeology, Water cycle/groundwater-surface water interface
Activity Review: Passed Peer Review

Investigating the Precipitation-Streamflow Relationship part of Earth Exploration Toolbook:Investigating the Precipitation-Streamflow Relationship
Nick Haddad, TERC
DATA: Streamflow data, Precipitation data. TOOL: Spreadsheet application. SUMMARY: Produce a graph to compare data from the United States Geological Survey (USGS) and the National Climatic Data Center (NCDC).

Grade Level: High School (9-12), College Lower (13-14)
Online Readiness: Online Ready
Resource Type: Activities: Activities:Classroom Activity, Computer Applications, Datasets and Tools:Datasets, Datasets with Teaching Activities, Tools
Subject: Environmental Science:Ecosystems:Biogeochemical cycling, Geoscience:Atmospheric Science:Meteorology:Clouds and precipitation, Geoscience:Hydrology:Surface Water, Ground Water:Water cycle/groundwater-surface water interface, Environmental Science:Water Quality and Quantity:Surface Water