How Much Water Falls Here? Objective: Students will calculate the volume of water that falls onto an area of the school parking lot. Location: Indoors/Outdoors Time Needed: 90 minutes (can be divided into two class sessions) Subjects: Science, Math Alignment to NC Essential Standards for Science: 8.E.1 Een.2.3. EEn.2.4 Background: When it rains, where does the water go? Some of it is absorbed by the soil and plants, some is evaporated back into the air and some runs off the land. When it rains in areas with lots of impervious surface (parking lots, roofs, roads), water runs off to storm drains and drainage ditches, often at a fast rate because it is not absorbed into the ground. Urbanization and other development often adversely affect stream health by increasing the volume of surface runoff entering a local waterway. Urban stormwater runoff may contain sediment, debris, oil, gasoline, and heavy metals (nonpoint source pollution) that it has picked up after traveling over impervious surfaces. When potential pollutants are transported quickly from the land to a waterway, this can cause a phenomenon called “shock loading.” Shock loading is the overloading of water with nutrients, sediment, oil, etc, over a very short period of time giving the organisms little time to adapt to the changes in their environment. Shock loading can result in fish kills or algal blooms depending upon the type of pollutants in the runoff. For example, suspended materials in the runoff can also absorb and store heat that increases the water temperature. Materials: Yardstick Trundel wheel (optional) Writing materials Local rainfall data Tape measure Clipboards (optional) Graph paper Calculators Rulers Long piece of twine (meter and intervals) Preparation: Check online to find out the average annual rainfall for your area.
How Much Water Falls Here? Objective: Students will calculate the volume of water that falls onto an area of the school parking lot. Location: Indoors/Outdoors Time Needed: 90 minutes (can be divided into two class sessions) Subjects: Science, Math Alignment to NC Essential Standards for Science: 8.E.1 Een.2.3. EEn.2.4 Background: When it rains, where does the water go? Some of it is absorbed by the soil and plants, some is evaporated back into the air and some runs off the land. When it rains in areas with lots of impervious surface (parking lots, roofs, roads), water runs off to storm drains and drainage ditches, often at a fast rate because it is not absorbed into the ground. Urbanization and other development often adversely affect stream health by increasing the volume of surface runoff entering a local waterway. Urban stormwater runoff may contain sediment, debris, oil, gasoline, and heavy metals (nonpoint source pollution) that it has picked up after traveling over impervious surfaces. When potential pollutants are transported quickly from the land to a waterway, this can cause a phenomenon called “shock loading.” Shock loading is the overloading of water with nutrients, sediment, oil, etc, over a very short period of time giving the organisms little time to adapt to the changes in their environment. Shock loading can result in fish kills or algal blooms depending upon the type of pollutants in the runoff. For example, suspended materials in the runoff can also absorb and store heat that increases the water temperature. Materials: Yardstick Trundel wheel (optional) Writing materials Local rainfall data Tape measure Clipboards (optional) Graph paper Calculators Rulers Long piece of twine (meter and intervals) Preparation: Check online to find out the average annual rainfall for your area.
Flow-and-cross-section-lessons-1.docx