Curriculum
Curricular units are currently being pilot tested and refined.
To request the latest version of the Comp Hydro unit at each of the following sites, please contact:
Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies
The Flooding in Baltimore unit exposes students to the causes and consequences of flooding in urban areas.
Baltimore students explore local flooding events through videos and first hand accounts and then proceed through a series of hands on explorations
in precipitation, runoff, infiltration and transpiration.
Students use physical, mathematical and computer models to simulate flooding events and discuss ways flooding can be reduced in the Baltimore region.
The unit culminates in students modifying land cover, infiltration and other watershed features and water pathways and processes in a computer simulation
to reduce the impacts of flooding from a real storm event in a local watershed.
Bess Caplancaplanb@caryinstitute.org
Colorado State University
The Colorado curriculum focuses on groundwater and surface water in watersheds.
Students learn where water is found on Earth, explore the local Cache La Poudre River Watershed, investigate impacts of storing river water in reservoirs,
and discover water use in Colorado and the region.
Physical games, labs, online simulations, and computer modeling activities are embedded throughout the water unit.
Amanda MorrisonAmanda.J.Morrison@colostate.edu
University of Arizona
The Arizona curriculum materials focus on groundwater.
Students learn how water moves underground, how to interpret maps and cross-sections, and principles related to modeling groundwater flow
by exploring models of the 1,4 dioxane contamination and clean-up related to the Tucson Airport Remediation Project.
Full CurriculumEstablishing The ProblemModule 1: ContaminationModule 2: Shape of the Water TableModule 3: Groundwater FlowAddressing the ProblemKristin Gunckelkgunckel@email.arizona.edu
University of Montana
In the Montana unit, students
(1) are introduced to the real-world problem of arsenic and selenium contamination of groundwater associated with the East Helena Superfund Site,
(2) engage in groundwater system training, and
(3) work in teams to develop remediation plans to address the contamination in East Helena.
During the unit, students work with multiple connecting models and representations including
physical models, conceptual models, maps, cross-sections, and computational models to build
the capacity to develop scientific explanations and predictions related to groundwater flow and contamination.
The
Montana Comp Hydro Unit may be accessed via Google Drive.
Beth Covittbeth.covitt@umontana.edu