Lesson 1 – Urban, Schoolyard and Home Hydrology
Background for Teachers: Water Cycle and Pathways
What is hydrology and why is it important?
Hydrology Basics:
Hydrology is the area of science that deals with the study of the waters of the earth and its
atmosphere (SWEAP glossary). Water is everywhere, making up over 70% of our bodies, and is
an invaluable natural resource for plants, animals, and people. Water is strong enough to change
the surface of the Earth through erosion, and its absence is powerful enough to kill a person in
three to four days.
The Hydrologic Cycle:
The Hydrologic Cycle, or water cycle, is a series of processes by which water passes
from the atmosphere to the Earth and back to the atmosphere. The hydrologic cycle includes the
following components:
• Precipitation: Water falling to the Earth from the atmosphere in the form of rain,
snow, sleet, or hail.
• Surface Runoff: Water that hits the Earth and then moves along the top of the land
surface, often carrying materials (soil, etc.) with it.
• Infiltration/Percolation: Water moving into the soil under the force of gravity. Once
in the soil, the water may be taken up by living things, or it may move horizontally
along flow paths within the soil under the force of gravity along slopes. Otherwise,
the water moves straight down via gravity, eventually reaching the groundwater.
• Evaporation: Water changing from a liquid to a gaseous state (water vapor). This
requires a source of energy – usually, the sun – and results in cooling of the
evaporative surface. Water vapor subsequently rises from oceans, rivers, lakes, soils,
and vegetation into the atmosphere.
• Transpiration: Evaporation from moist surfaces of plants. Most transpiration takes
place in the moist inner parts of leaves at the same time CO2 is being absorbed and O2
is being released during photosynthesis. The gasses are exchanged through pores –
called stomata – in one or both surface of leaves, and sometimes stems.
• Condensation: Conversion of gaseous water (water vapor) to a liquid (droplets) or
solid (crystals) state. This takes place when warm, moist air is cooled, either by the
air itself cooling or when it comes in contact with cool surfaces. Tiny water droplets
or ice crystals then coalesce to form the visible drops or flakes we see in clouds.
All water in the world is part of the hydrologic cycle – a bottle of water you just bought at the
supermarket, a drop of morning dew glistening on a spider web, a rushing river, or a snowball
you are about to throw at your brother. People don’t make new water to sell, they simply take
water from one place, such as a river or lake, clean it (we hope), and put it in a fancy bottle. The
total amount of water in the system does not change. Annual water loss from the surface of the
earth is equal to the total annual precipitation.
Schoolyard Hydro-Ecology Teachers’ Handbook - Baltimore Ecosystem Study
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Lesson 1 - page 1
THE HYDROLOGIC CYCLE
(http://www.ec.gc.ca/water/en/nature/prop/e_cycle.htm)
Baltimore’s Hydrologic Cycle: The Natural to the Constructed
(Information taken from http://www.baltimorecity.gov/government/dpw )
Baltimore was founded in 1729, and the first try at establishing a public water supply was in
1787 by the Baltimore Insurance company. Baltimore incorporated into a city in the year 1797.
At that time people still got their drinking water from streams, ponds, springs, and wells. People
were required to have buckets in their homes to fight fires. After the city was official, it began to
build pumps in public places. The Baltimore Water Company was founded in 1804, which built
a reservoir at the southeast corner of Calvert and Centre streets to hold water from the Jones
Falls. The Jones Falls Waterworks was built in 1807. Other reservoirs were built later at higher
levels, and a pipeline was constructed for distribution. The city of Baltimore bought the water
company in 1854 for $1, 350,000, and created the city’s water department
From 1858-862, the city constructed pipelines and water mains, and made improvements to the
Jones Falls water supply – constructing Lake Roland Dam and the Reservoir, the Jones falls
Conduit, Lake Hampden, and Mount Royal Reservoir. Druid Hill Reservoir was built in 1873 to
meet the growing need for water supply in the city. A permanent supply from Gunpowder Falls
was also completed in 1881. Lake Montebello was also constructed during this time, with a
filtration station working by 1915. The filtration system was deemed necessary because of
public health concerns, and a need to chlorinate the water. The lake was connected to Lake
Clifton by conduit, as well as to Loch Raven Reservoir, which was built during the same time
period.
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Between 1915 and 1950 the Loch Raven Dam, a second filtration plant at Lake Montebello,
Prettyboy Dam, and the Gunpowder-Montebello Tunnel, and the Patapsco-Montebello Tunnel
were all completed. The Department of Public Works was created in 1925, which took
ownership of water distribution in the city. In 1956, the Ashburton Filtration Plant (Druid Park
Drive), Liberty Dam, and Reservoir were completed in order to meet the growing need for water
in Baltimore City. The Deer Creek Pumping Station was built in 1966, which allows the city to
draw water from the Susquehanna River. In 1979 the Bureau of Water and Wastewater was
established, which now controls the water in the city.
Baltimore's Water Supply Today
Source: http://www.ce.jhu.edu/mdcive/
The Baltimore City Bureau of Water and Wastewater supplies drinking water to over 1.6 million
people. The water comes from two sources, the Gunpowder Falls and the north branch of the
Patapsco River. Three concrete gravity dams, the Liberty on the Patapsco and the Prettyboy and
Loch Raven on the Gunpowder Falls, create reservoirs. Water is brought through a 12-foot
tunnel to the Montebello Filtration plant from the Loch Raven Reservoir. If the water level
drops, the valves are opened at the Prettyboy Dam, and the water follows the course of the falls
to refill Loch Raven. A 10-foot tunnel brings the water at the Liberty reservoir to the Ashburton
Filtration plant. Both tunnels were constructed through solid rock. In the city's two filtration
plants, the water is filtered, disinfected, and fluoridated. Everyday 480 million gallons of water
are treated and distributed to the city through 3000 miles of water mains.
Facts and Figures
Directions
Ashburton: in operation since 1956
Montebello: in operation since 1915,
Loch Raven Dam: built 1912 crest: 420 feet above sea
level
Prettyboy Dam: built 1936; crest: 520 feet above sea level
•
•
•
•
Prettyboy: On the I-83 take exit 31 and head west.
Liberty: From the Baltimore Beltway take exit 18 on
MD 26. It will cross over the reservoir.
Montebello: From the Beltway take Perry Pkwy. (exit
30) south, The plant will be on both sides of the road
just before 33rd. St.
Loch Raven: From the Beltway take exit 28. Follow
Provicence Rd. to Loch Raven Drive.
Liberty Dam: built 1956 crest: 420 feet above sea level
Implications of Modifying the Hydrologic Cycle
When all of these changes were made to the area around Baltimore and the Urban system
we know as Baltimore City was created, the hydrologic cycle in the area had to change…
When people decide to make a change to any part of the earth’s system, such as building a new
freeway or bulldozing a field, the rest of the system is affected. The reasons for these
modifications to the hydrologic cycle in Baltimore had 3 main purposes: minimizing health
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hazards from water-borne diseases, supplying safe drinking water to the people in the area, and
minimizing hazards from floods. Let’s explore, for a moment, the specific impacts that
developing a city can have on the Hydrologic cycle, and also some of it’s consequences.
Implications for the Hydrologic Cycle: as a city develops, the amount of pervious surfaces &
impervious (surfaces that water can easily soak into such as grass and unpacked soil) decreases
as the amount of impervious surfaces such as asphalt and concrete increase. Looking around you
in Baltimore, there are very few areas of pervious surfaces – even many people’s backyards are
covered in asphalt. This causes the following effects on the hydrologic cyle:
• Decrease in infiltration and percolation: since most impervious surfaces are not penetrable
by water, less water enters the shallow and deep subsurface areas of the ground. This leads
to a reduction in infiltration and percolation in the soil
• Decrease in throughflow: Since there is less water in shallow subsurface layers, there is a
reduction in the soil moisture and throughflow in the area.
• Decrease in groundwater recharge: there is less water that percolates to deeper subsurface
layers, which leads to a decrease in sub-surface water resources (unless you have a lot of
leaking pipes in the city, which might actually contribute to the level of water in the subsurface areas).
• Decrease in detention storage:
• Because impervious surfaces are smoother, water moves at higher velocities over the
land, can pick up more debris with it (contributing to pollution in the form of runoff)
and also can cause more erosion when it passes over surfaces that are not asphalt at
higher velocities.
• When construction occurs in the city, asphalt areas are generally designed so that they
do not form ponds of water on them (who wants to step in a 3 foot deep puddle in a
parking lot?) and instead of being held at the surface, this water is directed to gutters
and storm drains that deliver the water to underground storm sewers pipes.
• Decrease in interception storage: because there is less vegetation, most water that hits the
land either evaporates from impervious surfaces, or runs off the surface of the land.
• Increase in the amount of storm runoff
• Increase in stream flooding: since water enters streams at faster rate via storm sewers than
it did when it flowed over the surface of the land, the streams are more likely to flash-flood
and cause greater damage to the surrounding area than if they were left in their more
undeveloped state.
• Decrease in base flow: If the pipes are not leaking too much in the city, there will be less
sub-surface water, which means that less water in the city flows to streams as throughflow or
groundwater flow.
Summary: because of how we have changed the surface of the Baltimore area, we have to pay
more attention to the way water moves in our city in order to keep the environment in balance
and make sure that our actions do not have too many adverse impacts on our surroundings. As
individuals in the Baltimore area we need to look to projects that remediate some of the effects
of putting down these huge expanses of impervious surfaces in the city, and try to bring more
balance back to the environment.
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References:
Baltimore Department of Public Works
http://www.baltimorecity.gov/government/dpw/wwwfacts.html
Environment Canada
http://www.ec.gc.ca/water/en/nature/prop/e_cycle.htm
Maryland Civil Engineering Structures
http://www.ce.jhu.edu/mdcive/
Parks and People Foundation
www.parksandpeople.org
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Lesson 1 – Urban, Schoolyard and Home Hydrology
Teacher’s Lesson Plan: Water Cycles and Pathways
Objectives: Students will learn to describe the natural water cycle and urban water
pathways in order to explain the intersections of the natural and created pathways of water
in Baltimore.
Content Standard(s): Please see the “Background” section of the handbook and pick out
standards that are appropriate for your grade level.
Read Aloud: The history of Baltimore’s water supply (attached)
Context of Lesson: Students need to learn about how water moves where they live – both
naturally and through constructed pathways.
Vocabulary:
1. Hydrology: The scientific study of the waters of the earth and its atmosphere
2. precipitation: Process by which water falls to Earth from the atmosphere in the
form of rain, snow, sleet, or hail.
3. surface runoff: Process by which precipitation and snowmelt moves along the
Earth’s surface and drains or flows off the land.
4. transpiration: Process by which plants release water vapor into the atmosphere,
most via structures of their leaves called stomata.
5. evaporation: Process by which water changes from a liquid to a gaseous state as it is
heated by the sun and other energy sources; water vapor subsequently rises from
oceans, rivers, lakes, soils, and vegetation into the atmosphere.
6. condensation: Process by which water vapor in the atmosphere cools and turns into
liquid water or ice; water droplets or ice crystals coalesce to form clouds.
7. infiltration/percolation: Process by which water moves into the soil and travels
downward, some reaching groundwater reservoirs.
Warm Up: How many gallons of water fall if 1 inch of rain falls on 1 acre of land?
Answer: 1 inch of rain falling on 1 acre of land is about 27,154 gallons of water.
Background information: see “Teacher’s Background”
Materials:
1. Human water use tally sheets for the class
2. Graphing Rainfall Data worksheets (1 per student or small group)
3. Materials for the Watershed lab (garbage bag one)
4. Journals
5. Chalkboard, whiteboard, or felt board for discussions
6. paper for KWL charts and notes
Activities:
1. Students take 5 minutes to complete the warm up, and the teacher reviews the
objectives for the day with them. Discuss possible answers to the warm up, and
have that lead into a discussion of watersheds.
2. Discuss what a watershed is, and do the Watershed lab using garbage bags and food
coloring to give students a greater understanding of exactly what a watershed looks
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like and how it works.
3. Introduce the textbook concept of the “natural” hydrologic cycle, and discuss key
vocabulary terms above. For younger grades you may need to simplify some of the
terms/definitions.
4. Students create a KWL (know, want to know, learned) chart about how they think
water gets to their house .
5. Diagram the pathways of water: First the “Natural” hydrologic cycle, and then the
“created” or engineered pathway as modified by human activity. Make sure to
discuss how these two pathways intersect, and where. All students should create a
diagram during this activity as you create it as a group on the board. Use of a Felt
Board or post-its could be particularly helpful with this activity as you can move
pieces around without erasing.
6. Read aloud: Baltimore’s water history from teacher background.
7. Students finalize their KWL chart by filling in what they learned.
8. Graphing Rainfall Data (see attached)
9. Journal activity: what are some problems that might happen if the urban water
pathways break down?
A – have students respond to the journal prompt
B - share journal entries aloud
C – make sure that students understand that pipe leaks can
contribute to groundwater, and surface or storm water can
overload sanitary water systems.
10. Wrap Up: Discuss the objective for the day and see if you met it as a class, discuss
possible activities for future lessons (what students want to know more about).
11. Assign homework and discuss human water use tally concept
Homework: Human Water Use Tally
(discuss results in class in two days. Instead of using “Saturday” as the worksheet says, you
may pick a day where all of the students will be focused on water. It could even be a school
day, so long as they are focused on the activity all day long.
Extensions:
1. Field Trip to sewage treatment plant and a reservoir
2. Alternate Field Trip: Prepare slides of a sewage treatment plant and one (or more)
of the reservoirs around Baltimore and incorporate them into a PowerPoint
Presentation to show to students (or put on paper and pass around)
3. Alternate Field Trip 2: Use “The Story of Baltimore’s Water Supply” (obtained from
the department of public works bureau of water and waste water) and photocopy
the pictures you feel are most relevant to the focus of your students, and either
put them into a PowerPoint presentation to discuss, or else on paper to pass around
and write about.
4. Storm Drain Stenciling (SLURPP)
5. Brochure (SLURPP)
Resources:
1. The Story of Baltimore’s Water Supply – City of Baltimore Department of Public
Works, Bureau of Water and Waste Water, November 1981.
2. See references in “Teacher’s Background”
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Lesson 1 – Urban, Schoolyard and Home Hydrology
Student Lesson: The Water Cycle
Name:______________________________________ Date:______________
Directions: Fill in the blanks on the diagram above with the names of
the processes described below.
• Storage - the process in which water pools in large bodies (like
oceans, seas and lakes), in the soil, in groundwater, or in living
things.
• Condensation - the process in which water vapor (a gas) in the air
turns into liquid water. Condensing water forms clouds in the sky.
Water drops that form on the outside of a glass of icy water are
condensed water. (Hint: this term appears twice in the diagram.)
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• Evaporation - the process by which liquid water becomes water
vapor (a gas). Water evaporates from the surfaces of oceans,
rivers, ponds, wetlands, puddles and lakes, from the surface of
the land, and from melting snow fields.
• Precipitation - the process by which water (in the form of rain,
snow, sleet, or hail) falls from clouds in the sky.
• Surface Runoff - water that flows over the surface of the land
from rain or snowmelt, eventually reaching surface streams,
rivers, canals, lakes, ponds, wetlands or the ocean.
• Subsurface Runoff - water that flows in the soil, either along
impervious layers, or in underground streams, drains, or sewers.
• Transpiration - the process in which some water within plants
evaporates into the atmosphere. Water is first absorbed by the
plant's roots, then later exits by evaporating through pores in
the plant.
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Lesson 1 – Urban, Schoolyard and Home Hydrology
Student Lesson: Graphing Rainfall Data
Below is a table of the amount of water received when an inch of rain falls on a
city, and the area of each city (http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu//earthrain.html)
Amount of water received when an inch of rain occurs
City
Atlanta, GA
Baltimore, MD
Chicago, IL
Cincinnati, OH
Denver, CO
Detroit, MI
Honolulu, HI
Houston, TX
Jacksonville, FL
Louisville, KY
Milwaukee, WI
New Orleans, LA
New York, NY
Philadelphia, PA
Salt Lake City, UT
Seattle, WA
Washington, DC
Area (square miles)
131.7
80.8
227.1
78.0
153.5
138.8
85.7
579.4
757.7
62.1
96.1
180.6
303.3
135.1
109.1
83.9
61.4
Amount of water (millions of
gallons)
2,289
1,404
3,947
1,356
2,666
2,412
1,489
10,069
13,168
1,079
1,670
3,139
5,271
2,348
1,906
1,458
1,067
On a separate sheet of paper, make a line graph of the amount of rainfall vs. the
area of a city. Please put the amount of rainfall on the y-axis, and the area of the
city on the x-axis. Make sure your graph includes all required components (Title,
axis, labels, spacing, increments).
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Lesson 1 – Urban, Schoolyard and Home Hydrology
Demonstration Activity: Water in a Watershed
Overview
Students watch a simple demonstration and learn about watersheds, runoff, and pollution.
Concepts
•
•
•
•
A watershed (or drainage basin) is the area of land that contributes water to a stream or pond
The flow of runoff and sewage in a watershed is directed by ridges—the high points that separate
adjacent watersheds
Everyone lives in a watershed
Land use activities in a watershed can affect water quality and quantity
Materials
•
•
•
•
•
•
Shallow basin or tub
Several sheets of newspaper
White plastic garbage bag
Spray bottle or atomizer
Food coloring
One piece of paper towel
Procedure
Create a simple watershed model by crumpling up several pieces of newspaper and placing them in the
bottom of the basin. Cover the newspaper with plastic: this is the land surface. The uneven distribution of
the paper should create a raised relief map with hills and valleys. Ask students what will happen to rain
falling on the land surface. Where will it go? Where will it end up? Spray water on the plastic to test their
predictions. (The water will be easier to observe if you add a little food coloring.) The water will flow from
high points to low points in rivulets that represent streams and rivers and will collect in pools that represent
lakes or the ocean. Explain that the area draining into each stream, river, or lake is called a watershed.
Notice that every location on the plastic is part of a watershed.
Use a tiny piece of paper towel soaked in food coloring to represent a source of contamination like motor oil
or lawn fertilizer or a leaky septic system. (Make sure you use a different color of food coloring this time.)
Ask students to predict what will happen to the contamination when it rains. Place the dyed piece of paper
towel on the plastic watershed model and spray to make it rain. Watch as the “pollutant” flows into a
stream and then into a nearby lake or ocean. Also notice that only one “watershed” is polluted unless the
pollutant is on a divide.
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Lesson 1 – Urban, Schoolyard and Home Hydrology
Student Lesson: Personal Water Use
HOW MUCH WATER DO YOU & YOUR FAMILY USE?
Students have been recruited to be water detectives! We want you to
help us find out how much water families in your community are using.
You are going to collect and record information on how much water you
use at home this weekend on SATURDAY! (If you forget to do the
survey on Saturday, then please do it on Sunday!)
Here’s your job:
• Please don’t change anything you normally do
• Use the form on the other side of this page to record
your water use for Saturday (count things away from
the home too, like washing your hands or flushing the
toilet)
• For personal tasks, like brushing your teeth, or taking
a shower we want you to count only your own activities
• For things like washing dishes or doing laundry, please
get your family to help you. We want to know about
your household’s dishwashing and laundry on Saturday
(if your family does laundry at a relative’s house or a
Laundromat please count that too!)
• Bring the form in on Monday.
Lesson 1 – Urban, Schoolyard and Home Hydrology
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Student Worksheet: My Water Use Tally
My Name: Water Detective___________________________
Day of Survey_________________________
Example:
Activity
Number of Times
Total Number of Times
Wash Hands
Take a Bath
1111
1
4
1
ACTIVITY
Bathroom:
Washing Hands
Number of Times
Total Number of Times
Brushing Teeth
Flushing Toilet
Showering:
Fill in how many
minutes you
spend in the
shower
______minutes
Taking a bath
Kitchen/Laundry
Washing dishes
by hand
Washing dishes
by dishwasher
Doing a load of
laundry
Drinking Water
Drinking a full
glass of water
Lesson 1 – Urban, Schoolyard and Home Hydrology
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Student Worksheet: Water Use Calculation Sheet
ACTIVITY
Total
#
Times
Water
Use Each
Time
Bathroom:
Washing Hands
1 gallon
Brushing Teeth
1 gallon
Flushing Toilet
3 gallons
Showering:
Fill in how many
minutes you
spend in the
shower
______minutes
Taking a bath
2 gallons
each
minute
Kitchen/Laundry
Washing dishes
by hand
Washing dishes
by dishwasher
Doing a load of
laundry
Drinking Water
Drinking a full
glass of water
Total Use
(Column 1
x
column 2)
(hint: use
# of
minutes)
50 gallons
5 gallons
20 gallons
10 gallons
.06 gallon
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Lesson 1 – Urban, Schoolyard and Home Hydrology
Student Activity: Bonus Water Use Problem
Part 1:
Your mom is really excited about the work your class has been doing to
learn about ways to save water. She wants to know whether or not she
will be using less water taking a bath or a shower.
• What do you need to know about her shower before you can work
on solving this problem?
___________________________________________________
Part 2:
Use your answer from part 1 (above) about how long your mom’s
showers take, advise your mom whether she will use less water taking a
bath or a shower. Remember to use your “Water Use Calculation
Sheet” to help you answer this question
• How much water will your mom use for her bath?
• How much water will your mom use for her shower?
• To save water, should your mom take a shower or a bath?
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Lesson 1 – Urban, Schoolyard and Home Hydrology
Student Handout: Water Conservation Tips! - reading
• Turn off the water when it’s not in use!
o Don’t leave it running when you:
Brush your teeth
Soap up your hands
Shampoo your hair
• Keep your showers short!
o Next time, buy a shower head that uses less water
• When you take a bath, keep the water level low!
• Always wait until you have a full load to wash your clothes or run
the dishwasher
• When you wash dishes by hand, fill the sink or a container with
water for rinsing. Don’t leave the water running!
• Keep a bottle of cold drinking water in the refrigerator instead
of letting the sink water run until it’s cool each time you want a
drink!
• Always shut off the faucet when you are finished using water!
• Check for faucet leaks and help get them fixed!
• If you have water running waiting for it to get either hot or cold,
slip a bucket under the tap. Use the water to water your lawn or
plants!
• Use a broom, not a hose, to clean your porch, front walk, or
sidewalk!
• Water your lawn in the early morning or evening when water will
not evaporate as quickly!
• Be sure to water the grass and flowers, not the sidewalk or
street!
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Lesson 1 – Urban, Schoolyard and Home Hydrology
Student Lesson: Storm Drain Internet Research Activity
Name: ___________________________
Date:_______________
Storm Drain Research Internet Activity
This activity is designed to help you learn about some devices that have been
designed to help reduce the amount of pollution entering our waterways
through storm drains, and to give you a chance to design your own. As you
work through this activity, think about what you have already learned about
storm water runoff, the storm drain network, and how pollution enters this
system. The pages you will visit are designed for professionals in the field
of low impact development, so try not to get caught up in the technicalities.
Use the pictures on the websites and the attached vocabulary list to help
you understand how each device works. Be creative with your own invention,
you might just stumble onto something revolutionary! Good luck!!
Part I:
1. Open up your web browser (ex: Internet Explorer) and type in the
address “www.interstateproducts.com.” Click on storm water
management products. Under the heading “catch basin protection,” click
on ultra-curb guard.
2. Read about the ultra-curb guard and look at the pictures, clicking on them
for enlarged images. Vocabulary question: Is this device an insert or an
exert? (use the attached vocabulary sheet!)
3. Using words and/or pictures, explain what this device does and how it
works.
4. On the attached chart, fill in the information for row #1 (Ultra-curb
guard). Remember to use your vocabulary sheet if you get stuck!
5. Now click on drain guard under the green box at the top of the page.
Read about the ultra-drain guard and look at the pictures, clicking on
them for enlarged images. Pay special attention to the hand drawn
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pictures of the device at the bottom of the page. Vocabulary question:
One of the drain guard models has a non-leaching oil absorbent pillow.
What does this mean?
6. Using words and/or pictures, explain what this device does and how it
works.
7. On the attached chart, fill in the information for row #2 (Ultra-drain
guard).
8. Now type the address “www.bestmp.com” into your browser. A picture of
“The SNOUT” should come up. Click on “How the SNOUT oil-waterdebris separator works.” Study the diagram. Vocabulary question:
Would you describe this device as a retrofit? Why?
9. Describe how the SNOUT works using words and/or pictures.
10. On the attached chart, fill in the information for row #3 (The
SNOUT).
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11. Now type
“www.freshcreek.com/products/prod_specs.php?prodID=floating” into
your browser. Study the information on the floating netting trash trap.
Click on the drawing to enlarge. Vocabulary question: Does this device
catch primarily non-point source or point-source pollutants?
12.
Using words and/or pictures, describe how this device works.
13.
On the attached chart, fill in the information for row #4.
14. Now that you have completed the chart for some devices already in
place, think about what you would like the features of your invention to
be. Fill out row #5 with this information, and use this to brainstorm
about what your device will look like. If you have more than one idea, fill
out another row beneath row #5.
Schoolyard Hydro-Ecology Teachers’ Handbook - Baltimore Ecosystem Study
Draft 2 – July 19, 2005
Lesson 1 - page 19
Part II:
Now that you are an expert on storm drains, it’s time to design your
own pollution catchment device. You now have at your access tons of
information from your storm drain vocabulary sheet, your internet research,
and your in-class activities with your Living Classrooms Foundation teachers.
So put on your thinking caps and let’s go!
Using your research worksheets and creative ideas, design your own device
for preventing pollution from entering our waterways via storm drains. In
addition to a drawing, or “blueprint”, of your device, you should write a twoparagraph article. The first paragraph should include specific information
about your invention. How does it work? Where is it installed (infall or
outfall)? On what types of land use would it be most effective (residential,
schoolyards, businesses, construction sites)? What materials are required to
build it? The second paragraph should include the benefits of your design,
as well as concerns about potential problems. What are the costs to build
it? What are the costs to maintain it? Does it catch a wide range of
pollutants (sediment, litter, oil, vegetation) or does it target just a few?
Use these questions to guide your writing, but be sure to include any
additional information that helps the reader understand why your design is
desirable. Remember this is your device, so think hard and be creative.
Good luck!
School Leadership in Urban Runoff Reduction Project
Schoolyard Hydro-Ecology Teachers’ Handbook - Baltimore Ecosystem Study
Draft 2 – July 19, 2005
Lesson 1 - page 20
Lesson 1 – Urban, Schoolyard and Home Hydrology
Student Handout: Storm Drain Vocabulary
Use this vocabulary list to help you understand the storm water
management devices you will be looking at on the web to complete this
activity.
BMP or Best Management Practice- activities or structural
improvements that help reduce the quantity and improve the quality of
storm water runoff
Boom- a floating device used to contain oil or floating debris on a body
of water
Catch Basin- an entryway to the storm drain system, usually located at
street corners and the bottoms of hills
Catchment Device- a device installed at some location in the storm
drain network designed to trap litter, sediment, and/or oil before it
enters the watershed.
Contaminant- a substance that adds impurities
Debris- carelessly discarded refuse; litter
Erosion- the group of natural processes, including weathering,
dissolution, abrasion, corrosion, and transportation by which material is
worn away from the earth’s surface
Exert- when referring to an infall catchment device, a screen or grate
placed on top of a storm drain catch basin to prevent litter and
vegetation from being washed into the storm drain by storm water
Schoolyard Hydro-Ecology Teachers’ Handbook - Baltimore Ecosystem Study
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Lesson 1 - page 21
Infall- a place where water enters the storm drain network, including
curb inlet storm drains and flat grate storm drains
Insert- when referring to an infall catchment device, a device placed
inside a storm drain catch basin to prevent litter, vegetation, oil, and
sediment from entering the watershed.
Leach- to dissolve or pull out a substance by passing liquid through a
permeable solid (you make coffee by allowing hot water to leach flavor
out of coffee grounds)
Low impact development- the practice of using techniques in building
and construction that minimize the effect that development will have
on the quality of the surrounding environment.
Non-Point Source (NPS) Pollutants- Pollutants from many diffuse
sources. Rainfall or snowmelt moving over and through the ground
causes NPS pollution. As the runoff moves, it picks up and carries away
natural and human-made pollutants, finally depositing them into lakes,
rivers, wetlands, coastal waters, and even our underground sources of
drinking water.
Outfall- a place where a pipe carrying storm water from storm drains
empties into a stream.
Point Source Pollutant: Pollutants from a single, identifiable source
such as a factory, refinery, or place of business.
Retrofit- to fit into or onto equipment already in existence or service
Storm Water Management- practices developed in an attempt to
reduce the negative impacts of storm water on stream and watershed
health
Schoolyard Hydro-Ecology Teachers’ Handbook - Baltimore Ecosystem Study
Draft 2 – July 19, 2005
Lesson 1 - page 22
Sump- A pit or tank that catches liquid runoff for drainage or disposal
Watershed- The whole region or extent of land which contributes to
the supply of a river, lake, or other body of water.
Additional Resources
If you’re stuck or would just like more information, try consulting
these websites:
• www.ulct.org/apwa/Glossary.htm: an extended glossary of storm
water vocabulary.
• www.forester.net/sw_glossary.html: another glossary.
• www.dnr.state.md.us/bay/tribstrat/nps_pollution.html: a good
source of info on non-point source pollution and easy ways citizens
can reduce their contribution to storm water runoff pollution.
OR
Type combinations of any of the following words into a search engine
(google.com, ask.com) to generate a list of web pages on the topic:
• stormwater, runoff, management, pollution, stormdrain,
catchment
School Leadership in Urban Runoff Reduction Project
Schoolyard Hydro-Ecology Teachers’ Handbook - Baltimore Ecosystem Study
Draft 2 – July 19, 2005
Lesson 1 - page 23
Lesson 1 – Urban, Schoolyard and Home Hydrology
Student Lesson: Creating Your Storm Drain Stenciling
Brochure
A brochure is an inexpensive yet effective tool people use to dispense information. They
can be used to advertise, educate, persuade, or inform. Brochures are usually made of pieces of
paper folded twice in order to organize the space into different sections. You will be making a
brochure informing your community of our upcoming storm drain stenciling project and educating
them about how runoff pollution reaches the Chesapeake Bay through storm drains. That is a lot to
cover on a small piece of paper, so we will go step by step through the information that should be
included in each section. Once you complete this worksheet, write the information, IN YOUR OWN
WORDS, onto the attached brochure template. Add any drawings or diagrams that you think will
make your brochure more powerful and helpful.
Your brochure, like most brochures, will look like this:
Let’s go through the pages as they are numbered above one at a time and think about what should
be included on each. Certain information will need to be on everyone’s brochure. This information is
already printed on the appropriate pages for you.
Page 1: Title Page
When creating the title of the brochure, be clear and succinct (not too wordy). You want to get
your readers attention without making them read a long sentence. Reread the first paragraph on
this page.
What is the topic of this brochure? ________________________________
You might want your title to be straight forward, or you might want it to be catchy. Don’t be afraid
to be creative! Once you come up with your title, write it onto page 1 either above or below the
box. Use the space inside the box to draw a picture that you think will help make the subject of
the brochure more clear to the reader.
Page 2: Introduction
This is probably the first page the reader will look at when he or she opens the brochure up. That
makes this an ideal place for you to introduce the purpose of the brochure and outline any
background information they will need to know in order to understand the rest of the brochure. If
you can answer the following questions, you are well on your way to writing a good introduction.
What is the purpose of this brochure? (hint: there are two, look for them in the first paragraph on
this page)
Schoolyard Hydro-Ecology Teachers’ Handbook - Baltimore Ecosystem Study
Draft 2 – July 19, 2005
Lesson 1 - page 24
_________________________________________________________
Who is your audience? _______________________
This brochure is about something that we will be doing in your community to help fix a problem.
What is the problem we are trying to fix? Be specific.
______________________________________________________________
Why should the reader care?
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
After you have answered these questions, use your answers and any other ideas you want to include
to write an organized paragraph that will serve as your introduction. Copy it into the brochure on
page 2, adding any graphics you see fit.
Page 3: The Specifics
So far we’ve told the reader that there is a problem that we feel needs to be addressed, now let’s
tell them what is going to be done about it. This page should give details about the main idea of the
brochure. Use the following questions to help you think of information that should be included
here.
What are we doing to help correct the problem we talked about in the introduction?
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
How will this help?
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
When will we be doing it? ________________________________________
Where will we be doing it? _______________________________________
How can the reader get involved?
______________________________________________________________
What other information should the public know?
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
Once you’ve assembled this information, write it onto page 3. It doesn’t need to be in paragraph
form, but make sure it is organized so that it is easy to understand and you like how it looks!
Page 4: Facts
Schoolyard Hydro-Ecology Teachers’ Handbook - Baltimore Ecosystem Study
Draft 2 – July 19, 2005
Lesson 1 - page 25
Hopefully your audience will be interested by this point and will want to know more information.
Use this page to list any facts that might answer further questions the reader may have or
convince them of the importance of this project. Think about what you have learned from the
activities you have done with the Living Classrooms Foundation teachers (the runoff model, the
water cycle, the history mystery), and what facts about the topic struck you as interesting or made
you want to learn more. Use the space below to brainstorm and create a list of facts you might
want to include. If your having trouble, use the questions on the next page to help you. The
answers to any of those questions would make great facts to include in your brochure. Choose your
three favorites (or more!) and write these facts on page 4 of your brochure.
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
Page 5: Partners
Whether you know it or not, there are a lot of organizations involved in bringing this project to your
school. This page lists them in case the reader is interested in finding out more about related
projects. It’s like the credits after a movie! These organizations include: the Living Classrooms
Foundation, Baltimore City Public Schools, the Parks and People Foundation, the National
Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the Department of Recreation and Parks,
and the City of Baltimore. Look them up to find out what these organizations are all about!
Just the facts, ma’am: Use this list of questions to help you come up with facts to be
included on page 4 of your brochure.
How does the type of things we put on our land (roads, buildings, gardens, etc.) affect the quality
and quantity of our runoff?
What is a watershed?
Schoolyard Hydro-Ecology Teachers’ Handbook - Baltimore Ecosystem Study
Draft 2 – July 19, 2005
Lesson 1 - page 26
Do you have to live right next door to the Bay to have and affect on its health? Explain.
How has Baltimore’s landscape changed throughout history? How does this affect the runoff
coming from the city?
What is the biggest source of pollution to the Chesapeake Bay?
Does water go to the same place after it flows into storm drains as it does after it flows down your
sink drain?
School Leadership in Urban Runoff Reduction Project
Schoolyard Hydro-Ecology Teachers’ Handbook - Baltimore Ecosystem Study
Draft 2 – July 19, 2005
Lesson 1 - page 27