SILVER
LEVEL
Resource pack
Hydrology
Water solutions in a changing climate
IN PARTNERSHIP
IN PARTNERSHIP
WITH WITH
Contents
8
14
How to run CREST using these
activities
3
Background
4
Instructions for teachers
5
Feeding the future
6-7
Imaginative irrigation
8-9
Parched plants
10-11
Drought mitigation
12-13
Rain gauges
14-15
Evaporation experiments
16-17
Flood management
18-19
Permeable pavements
20-21
Flash floods
22-23
Top tips for completing a Silver
project
20
2
24
How to run CREST using these
activities
Preparation
Ready to get going with CREST? Enter your student(s) Award by signing up for a CREST Account
here: crestawards.org/sign-in
Create a new Silver Award project with the name(s) of the student(s) and the title of their project. If you
don’t have all the details, you can fill these in later.
Run the project
We have some super handy profile forms for your students to use when running a CREST Award. You can
download these when you create your CREST account by following the link above. Encourage your students to use
the workbook or profile to plan and carry out their project, keeping a record of all their amazing progress. Make
sure you consider safety and risks!
Reflection
Once your students have completed their CREST project, don’t let that be the end of their learning. They should
now fill in any remaining sections of their profile form. This is a chance for them to reflect on all the interesting
things they’ve learnt and the invaluable skills they have used.
Enter your project for a CREST Silver Award
Hard work deserves a reward! Celebrate and certify your student’s achievements by entering their project for
a CREST Silver Award. Simply:
Log in to your CREST account at crestawards.org/sign-in
Select the project and upload a profile form per student and other project evidence, to be assessed by our trained
assessors online. Check the participating students have met each of the criteria. Finally, complete the delivery and
payment details to order your snazzy certificates. Congratulations on completing CREST Silver!
What next?
The scientific discovery doesn’t need to end here. Students can have a go at the next level up – CREST Gold.
Don’t keep all the fun to yourselves, encourage others to take part in CREST projects and share the wonder of
science. For free ideas on how to get started, see crestawards.org.​
Entering your project without a teacher or facilitator? No problem! You can enter your work yourself by
following this link: crestawards.org/sign-in
Looking for some support?
Find a mentor by contacting your local STEM Ambassador hub:
https://www.stem.org.uk/stem-ambassadors/local-stem-ambassador-hubs
3
Background
UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (UKCEH)
The UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology is an independent, not-forprofit research institute, carrying out excellent environmental science
across water, land and air.
The UKCEH has a long history of investigating, monitoring and
modelling environmental change. Its focus is on mitigating and
building resilience to climate change, preventing and reducing
pollution, and creating sustainable ecosystems.
The UKCEH’s research extends from molecular biology to global
climate modelling. It carries out fieldwork across the world, and its
work helps to underpin environmental policies, commercial
innovation and conservation action all around the world.
The UKCEH, the British Geological Survey and the National Centre for
Atmospheric Science are working jointly on a project funded by the
Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) named Hydro-JULES. Its
aim is to deliver an open-source, three-dimensional model of the
terrestrial water cycle to provide next generation land-surface and
hydrological predictions.
The science and societal issues addressed by Hydro-JULES are the
basis for the development of these CREST resources.
Humans depend on nature. Humans are changing
nature.
Water constantly cycles across our Earth. As our planet's atmosphere
warms due to greenhouse gases, climate change is affecting, and will
continue to affect, the distribution of water across the world.
Some areas are projected to get wetter, others will become much
drier. Rainfall impacts soil saturation and can cause rises in streams
and rivers. Lack of rain stresses vegetation and water reserves.
Climate change is not just a future problem; it’s already affecting
global patterns of drought and flooding. The frequency and magnitude
of floods and droughts are increasing, and will continue to increase.
This has a wide-ranging impact, from local weather to where crops
can grow.
Droughts can be disruptive and dangerous for agriculture, water
supplies, fisheries, infrastructure, and public health. Flood risk to
people, buildings and businesses is predicted to rise in coming years,
with a significant impact on global health, safety and the economy.
Climate change and land degradation threaten our ability to produce
sufficient and nutritious food supplies for a growing global population.
The combination of climate change with a growing population, landuse change and economic development will create greater pressure
on water resources in future. These are complex and intertwined
issues, and it is vital that we identify environmentally-sustainable
solutions that meet the increasing, and often competing, demands of
users in different sectors, including public water supply, agriculture
and food, commerce and industry, and energy.
4
Instructions for teachers
The topic
Health and safety
The topics of climate change, drought and flooding are great
for getting your students thinking about the future.
Students should be encouraged to make their own risk
assessment before they carry out any activity, including
surveys. They can use the CLEAPSS student safety sheets to
What do they imagine the world will look like in 10, 20 or 50 help them at science.cleapss.org.uk/Resources/Studentyears’ time? What challenges will we face in managing
Safety-Sheets.
climate change, protecting against flooding and continuing to
produce food through droughts?
They should write out their project plan, identifying
the risks involved in each stage and the control measures and
This pack contains project ideas to suit a range of interests,
precautions they will take.
enabling students to investigate a range of issues around
climate change, drought and flooding in a real-life context,
In all circumstances this must be checked by a competent
and to explore innovative ideas and solutions for the future.
person.
Students using specialised equipment should be supervised
at all times. Students may want to set up unorthodox
experiments and you may need to seek specialist advice.
Contact CLEAPSS directly at cleapss.org.uk for advice if you
are unsure. Teachers in Scotland should refer to SSERC
at www.sserc.org.uk.
Project outcomes
Your students could design and make a new product, carry
out a practical investigation, do a research project or create
a communication campaign for their target audience.
Encourage them to consider the impact of their project on
people’s lives now and in the future.
Students should record their work in a final project report or
presentation.
•
Unless stated, no external links have been checked
by CLEAPSS.
•
Safety checked but not trialled by CLEAPSS.
Supporting students to complete their project
Each project should involve approximately 30 hours of
student work from start to finish. The project should be led
by the students. As a teacher or mentor your role is to:
•
Act as a sounding board for students’ ideas and nurture
the students’ work.
•
Check your students’ project plans before they begin the
next stage.
•
Help students see mistakes and setbacks as an
opportunity for positive learning and lateral thinking
(leading to creativity).
•
Where relevant, support students to access professionals
or experts who could support them.
•
Provide access to the Internet, library books and
magazines.
•
Help students to complete their project and record
their findings.
•
Encourage them to reflect on their own performance
and learning.
•
Use the tips on page 24 to help students complete their
CREST Silver project report.
In this pack
This collection of resources contains nine different project
ideas that can each be used to gain a CREST Silver Award.
Each project has a teacher guide, which outlines the project
from a teacher’s perspective, and then a student brief, which
can be given to the student when they are ready to do
the project. Check out the CREST resource library for more
support on running a CREST project if you need to as well.
5
Teacher guide
Feeding the future
Climate change and food supply
We hear more and more about the energy required to produce food,
and greenhouse gas emissions from food production. But what about
the water in our food? A lot of water is used to make our food. Some
estimates suggest that 3.8tn cubic metres of water is used by humans
annually, and 70% of that is used in agriculture. But in the future we
are likely to experience more droughts and more flooding, meaning
that water availability may become more and more unreliable.
In this project, students will research how much water is used in the
food supply chain, from field to fork. Focusing on agriculture, students
will investigate how and if farmers could change their methods in
order to use less water in food production.
Prompts
How has food production and distribution changed over the past 50
years? Has the amount of water in our food changed as a result?
What are some known methods for reducing the amount of water
used in agriculture? If students are stuck, you might like to suggest
they look into:
• Water use in organic vs. non-organic farming.
• Drought tolerant crops.
• Rain water storage.
• Optimising watering times.
• Crop rotation.
• Different types of irrigation.
• Dry farming and soil management.
• Covering crops, composting and mulching.
6
Student brief
Feeding the future
Climate change and food supply
(Geography, water, data)
Have you ever wondered how much water is Useful resources
in our food?
• The Water We Eat
Imagine you work at the Department for Environment,
Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA). You are concerned about
food security in the future, and about how food
production may be affected by a potential increase in
water shortages. Conduct a research project and produce
a report that explores how much water is used in food
production and looks at possible ways to reduce the
amount of water used by the agriculture sector in the UK.
https://thewaterweeat.com/
• Food’s Big Water Footprint
https://www.watercalculator.org/footprint/foods-bigwater-footprint/
• Water footprint of crop and animal products: a
comparison
https://www.waterfootprint.org/en/waterfootprint/product-water-footprint/water-footprintcrop-and-animal-products/
Getting started
• 10 Ways Farmers Are Saving Water
https://cuesa.org/article/10-ways-farmers-are-savingwater
Start by doing some research into how much water is in
our food. Think about the whole journey from farm to
table. Find out which kinds of food products use the most
water and which ones use the least. Where does this
water normally come from?
• Reducing Water Waste in Agriculture Through “Smart
Farming”
https://www.advancedsciencenews.com/reducingwater-waste-in-agriculture-through-smart-farming/
Things to think about
• How do you calculate how much water goes into a
food? What counts?
• How much of the water that goes into our food is from
the agriculture stage of food production?
• Are there any examples of approaches to agriculture
that use less water?
• How will you analyse and present your findings?
7
Teacher guide
Imaginative irrigation
Climate change and food supply
Most crops grown in the UK rely heavily on natural rainfall. But rainfall
varies significantly seasonally and annually, and some regions are
much drier than others.
Irrigation is the process of applying controlled amounts of water to
plants at intervals. Irrigation helps to grow agricultural crops during
periods of less than average rainfall.
Irrigation, using man-made systems to water plants where there is not
enough rainfall, could help build resilience to drought and water
scarcity risk in UK agriculture, particularly in the context of a changing
climate. However, some irrigation systems are more efficient in their
water use than others.
In this project, students will design, make and test their own crop
irrigation system for water efficiency.
Prompts
• There are lots of different types of irrigation systems – find out a
bit about the advantages and disadvantages of the different
variations.
• How would your irrigation system fare in the winter? Students will
need to think about not only designing an irrigation system that
works, but one that can survive outside across all seasons.
• How easy is your system to maintain?
• How much would your system cost to make? Is it cost effective?
8
Student brief
Imaginative irrigation
Climate change and food supply
(Engineering, design, water)
Have you ever wondered how farmers
manage to water all their fields?
Useful resources
• Irrigation water strategy for UK agriculture and
horticulture
https://www.nfuonline.com/nfu-online/science-andenvironment/irrigation-and-abstraction/irrigationwater-strategy-for-uk-agriculture-and-horticulture/
Imagine you are a farmer. You rely heavily on rainfall to
water your plants, but sometimes when there is not
enough rain you have to water them manually. This
takes a lot of time! You would like to have an irrigation
system that you can control remotely. You also want a
system that is efficient and does not waste water.
Design and make a prototype irrigation system that can
be controlled remotely. Test and improve your design
to make it more efficient.
• Agriculture – key to climate action
http://www.fao.org/tempref/agl/IPTRID/FGuideMod
3.pdf
Health and safety
Getting started
To avoid any accidents, make sure you stick to the
following health and safety guidelines before getting
started:
Start by researching irrigation systems and how they
work. There are lots of different types of irrigation
• Find out if any of the materials, equipment or
systems – find out a bit about the advantages and
methods are hazardous using
disadvantages of the different variations. Which ones
http://science.cleapss.org.uk/Resources/Studentare most efficient? Why? Use your research to help
Safety-Sheets/
inform your design. Perhaps you could interview a local
farmer to find out if they use an irrigation system and, if • Decide what you need to do to reduce any risks,
so, which kind.
such as wearing appropriate personal protective
equipment.
Things to think about
• Make sure there is plenty of space to work.
• How will you control your irrigation system?
• Clear up slip or trip hazards promptly.
• What settings will there be?
• Make sure your teacher agrees with your plan and
risk assessment.
• You will need to think about not only designing an
irrigation system that works, but one that can
survive outside across all seasons.
• What situation is your irrigation system designed
for?
• How will you test the effectiveness of your irrigation
system?
• Once you have built a prototype, think about how
you might be able to improve the efficiency of your
irrigation system.
9
Teacher guide
Parched plants
Climate change and food supply
Plants need sunlight, nutrient rich soil and water to grow. But clean
freshwater is not always available where and when we need it, and
increasing temperatures and populations mean there is more and
more pressure on this vital resource.
With more and more people facing water scarcity, farmers around the
world are looking for ways to grow more crops with less water, and
finding both high and low tech solutions.
In this project, students will investigate seed germination and plant
growth in different conditions to determine what crops we could
grow in the UK if we had 25% less water.
Prompts
• How much data do you need to collect to make your conclusions
statistically significant? Encourage students to think about how
many plants they will grow.
• Is there such a thing as too much water? Encourage students to
think about both ends of the curve.
• What variables would there be on a real-life farm that are not
present in your controlled experiment?
10
Student brief
Parched plants
Climate change and food supply
(Biology, water, plants)
Have you ever wondered if plants can
survive with less water?
Useful resources
• Is the world running out of fresh water?
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20170412-isthe-world-running-out-of-fresh-water
Imagine you are a farmer. Every year one of your
biggest expenses is water, and it is getting more and
more expensive. You would like to find out what the
optimal amount of water is for the different crops you
grow, and which crops need the least water.
• More Crops With Less Water, Is It Possible? – Futuris
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2fjVwTr8U5s
• Growing Crops with Less Water
https://www.aau.edu/researchscholarship/featured-research-topics/growing-cropsless-water
Getting started
Start by planning out your experiment – think about
how long you have and which plants you can grow
within that time. You might like to do some research
into which crops are currently grown the most in your
area, and how water-intensive they are. You could then
look at what kinds of crops are grown in parts of the
world where there is less rainfall.
• Crop Water Requirement
https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/agriculturaland-biological-sciences/crop-water-requirement
Health and safety
To avoid any accidents, make sure you stick to the
following health and safety guidelines before getting
started:
Things to think about
• How do you know when a plant needs watering?
• What is the optimal amount of water for a plant?
• Does the amount of water a plant needs vary from
species to species?
• Wear eye protection.
• Find out if any of the materials, equipment or
methods are hazardous using
http://science.cleapss.org.uk/Resources/StudentSafety-Sheets/ to assess the risks. (Think about what
could go wrong and how serious it might be.)
• What will you compare your plant growth to?
• How many different species will you investigate?
• How long will you take measurements for?
• Decide what you need to do to reduce any risks
(such as wearing personal protective equipment,
knowing how to deal with emergencies and so on).
• How often will you take measurements?
• Make sure there is plenty of space to work.
• Clear up slip or trip hazards promptly.
• How will you present your findings?
• Make sure your teacher agrees with your plan and
risk assessment.
11
Teacher guide
Drought mitigation
Drought
There are a wide range of different drought mitigation technologies
on the market, including products for drought monitoring, better
water and crop management, augmentation of groundwater,
intensified watershed, reduction in water demand, and water
conservation.
In this project, students will research different drought mitigation
technologies, look at the costs and benefits of these technologies
and make recommendations for whether their local community
should explore the technology further or not.
Prompts
• Is your area at high risk of drought? What are the likely
consequences of drought in your local area? Which of these
consequences are the most problematic? Encourage students to
think about mitigation strategies that address the likely impact of
drought in their area.
• What is the current drought mitigation strategy in your local area
(if there is one)? Encourage students to evaluate the current
strategy – do they think this is effective? Why, or why not?
• Encourage students to think about other implications of their ideas,
e.g. cost and infrastructure. Will any of the measures they plan to
implement affect local people? How? What might the reaction be?
12
Student brief
Drought mitigation
Drought
(Drought, climate change, water cycle)
Have you ever wondered how to mitigate
the impacts of drought?
Useful resources
• Historic Droughts
https://historicdroughts.ceh.ac.uk/
• Drought Facts
http://threeissues.sdsu.edu/three_issues_droughtfa
cts04.html#:~:text=Activities%20such%20as%20wate
r%2Duse,of%20a%20drought%2Dmitigation%20plan
Imagine you work for the local council. You are
concerned about the pattern of increased frequency
and intensity of droughts in your area. Other parts of
the country are implementing various drought
mitigation strategies such as water-use planning, rainwater harvesting, runoff collection using surface and
• Mitigation, Preparedness & Response
underground structures, improved management of
https://www.droughtmanagement.info/pillars/mitig
channels and wells, and exploration of additional water
ation-preparedness-response/
resources through drilling and dam construction.
Conduct some research into these options, and create a • Drought Mitigation Measures: A Comprehensive
drought mitigation plan suitable for your local area.
Framework
https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007%2F97894-015-9472-1_18
Getting started
• UKCEH Water Resources Portal
https://eip.ceh.ac.uk/hydrology/water-resources/
Start finding out about the drought risks in your local
area and think about which strategies would be
appropriate in light of this. Conduct some research into
the current drought mitigation strategy in your area and
different drought mitigation plans around the world.
Health and safety
To avoid any accidents, make sure you stick to the
following health and safety guidelines before getting
started:
Things to think about
• Find out if any of the materials, equipment or
methods are hazardous using
http://science.cleapss.org.uk/Resources/StudentSafety-Sheets/ to assess the risks. (Think about what
could go wrong and how serious it might be.)
• Can you make a list of the different types of
drought?
• Is your area at high risk of drought?
• What are the likely consequences of drought in your
local area? Which of these consequences are the
most problematic?
• What is the current drought mitigation strategy in
your local area?
• Which parts of the world have a similar situation?
Are there aspects of their strategies you could
incorporate into your own plan?
• Why do drought mitigation strategies vary so much?
• How can you evaluate which measures from other
areas have been successful or unsuccessful?
• What are the practical implications of your strategy?
Have you thought about cost and who will be
responsible for the different aspects of your plan?
Where will the money, time and infrastructure come
from?
• Will any of the measures you plan to implement
affect local people? How? What might the reaction
be?
• Decide what you need to do to reduce any risks
(such as wearing personal protective equipment,
knowing how to deal with emergencies and so on).
• Make sure there is plenty of space to work.
• Clear up slip or trip hazards promptly.
• Make sure your teacher agrees with your plan and
risk assessment.
13
Teacher guide
Rain gauges
Drought
Climatologists use temperature and precipitation records to create a
definition of the ‘normal’ climate for an area (typically using the
average of 30 years of data), which then helps us to measure periods
of unusual weather, such as flooding or drought.
To collect this data, climatologists use a variety of tools. A rain gauge
is a useful tool to track how much precipitation there is, and is one of
several indicators to monitor the length and severity of a drought.
In this project, students will design, make and test a rain gauge
which can be used to help predict drought and the likelihood of
having to use reservoirs or groundwater supply.
Prompts
• How could you evaluate how accurate your rain gauge is? Is there a
way you could improve the design to make it more accurate?
• How often do you need to take measurements to make your data
useful?
• Try comparing the amount of rain to the length of time the rain
lasted. Was it a short and heavy rain shower or a long and light
one?
• How will you display the data you collect? What kind of graph(s)
would be most suitable to display rainfall over a period of time?
• How long would you need to collect data for in order to calculate
average rainfall?
14
Student brief
Rain gauges
Drought
(Engineering, data, drought, climate change)
Have you ever wondered how to measure
rain?
Useful resources
• How to Build a Rain Gauge
https://www.wikihow.com/Build-a-Rain-Gauge
• Why Is a Rain Gauge Important?
https://sciencing.com/rain-gauge-important6611576.html
• Rain Gauges Helping Farmers Adapt to Droughts in
Mwenezi
https://www.scoreagainstpoverty.org/375-2/
• DROUGHT: The Importance of Drought Indicators
https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/news/droughtimportance-drought-indicators
• National River Flow Archive
https://nrfa.ceh.ac.uk/
Imagine you are a climatologist. You are trying to
calculate the average rainfall for your local area. You
want your data to be as accurate as possible. Design
and make a rain gauge, and then use your gauge to
collect data about rainfall in your area.
Getting started
Start by researching how rain gauges work. You could
look at some different products on the market to
inform your design ideas. You will need to think about
durability and functionality. Remember, your design
doesn’t have to look like other rain gauges, as long as it
can collect and measure rainfall data.
Health and safety
Things to think about
To avoid any accidents, make sure you stick to the
following health and safety guidelines before getting
started:
• Find out if any of the materials, equipment or
Where will you put your rain gauge? How might the
methods are hazardous using
location affect the data you collect?
http://science.cleapss.org.uk/Resources/StudentSafety-Sheets/ to assess the risks. (Think about what
How can you measure/evaluate how accurate your
could go wrong and how serious it might be.)
gauge is? Can you think of any ways to improve your
design?
• Decide what you need to do to reduce any risks
(such as wearing personal protective equipment,
How long will you collect data for? How often do you
knowing how to deal with emergencies and so on).
need to take measurements to make your data
useful?
• Make sure there is plenty of space to work.
Why not add to your data by using historical data
• Clear up slip or trip hazards promptly.
from a local rain gauge at the UKCEH Environmental
• Make sure your teacher agrees with your plan and
Information Platform, or from the National River
risk assessment.
Flow Archive?
• Remember your rain gauge needs to survive outside
for a long period of time in order to gather viable
data. What materials will you use?
•
•
•
•
15
Teacher guide
Evaporation experiments
Drought
Drought is sometimes described as an imbalance between
precipitation and evaporation over a long period of time.
During a drought, evaporation from open bodies of water generally
increases, and the land is drier than usual. Moisture still evaporates
into the atmosphere, but not enough to form rain clouds. This
effectively causes the land to ‘bake’ and removes additional moisture,
which further intensifies dry conditions.
As average temperatures rise due to climate change, the Earth’s water
cycle accelerates as a result of an increased evaporation rate. This
increased evaporation rate makes more water available in the air for
precipitation in some parts of the world, and creates drier land areas
in other parts – exacerbating both flooding and drought.
In this project, students will design an experiment to measure the
ongoing evaporation of water set up with different variables, e.g.
water alone, water in different types of soil, water in soil with plants
growing in, simulating different weather conditions, and so on. They
will use their results to assess what factors may affect evaporation.
Prompts
• What different variables will you measure? What environmental
conditions will you need to control? Support students to think
about their methodology and how to create fair test conditions.
• Do you have any innovative ideas about how we could slow down
evaporation? Encourage students to be creative and test out
different variables.
• What do your results tell you? Which factors affect the speed of
evaporation? How could your research be used in the development
of drought mitigation solutions? Encourage students to think about
the wider purpose of their project and how their research could be
taken further.
16
Student brief
Evaporation experiments
Drought
(Physics, evaporation, drought, climate change)
Have you ever wondered if we can slow
down evaporation?
Useful resources
• UKCEH Water Resources Portal
https://eip.ceh.ac.uk/hydrology/water-resources/
Imagine you work for an organisation that conducts
drought research. You are concerned about the pattern • Evapotranspiration and Droughts
of more intense and longer-lasting droughts in some
https://geochange.er.usgs.gov/sw/changes/natural/
regions, and how this will evolve in the future. You want
et
to find out if all types of land have the same rate of
• UKCEH: What is a drought?
evaporation, and investigate what kinds of changes
https://www.ceh.ac.uk/news-andmight help mitigate the severity of drought. You are
media/blogs/what-is-a-drought
particularly interested in finding out how land use and
land cover (e.g. plants, forest, grass and crops) affect
• Royal Meteorological Society
the rate of evaporation.
https://rmets.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.10
02/wea.67
Getting started
Health and safety
Start by planning out your experiment. You will need to
decide what different variables you will test, e.g. water
alone, water in different types of soil, water in soil with
plants growing in, and so on. Think about how you will
measure the speed of evaporation.
To avoid any accidents, make sure you stick to the
following health and safety guidelines before getting
started:
• Find out if any of the materials, equipment or
methods are hazardous using
http://science.cleapss.org.uk/Resources/StudentSafety-Sheets/ to assess the risks. (Think about what
could go wrong and how serious it might be.)
Things to think about
• How many different tests will you run?
• How will you measure the evaporation rate?
• How often will you take measurements?
• How will you create a controlled environment for
your testing?
• As well as soil types and the presence of vegetation,
what else might be interesting to test?
• Is there a way you could test out the impact of
different weather conditions on the rate of
evaporation?
• How will you record and present your results?
• How could this project be taken further? If you were
trying to engineer drought mitigation solutions, what
would be the next step?
• Decide what you need to do to reduce any risks
(such as wearing personal protective equipment,
knowing how to deal with emergencies and so on).
• Make sure there is plenty of space to work.
• Clear up slip or trip hazards promptly.
• Make sure your teacher agrees with your plan and
risk assessment.
17
Teacher guide
Flood management
Flooding
Flood Risk Management (FRM) is constantly changing and evolving. In
recent years, many countries have developed a more integrated FRM
approach, but there is still a great deal of local and regional variation.
For example, some countries have one body responsible for managing
flood risk, whereas in others this responsibility is devolved to regional
or local authorities. Some countries focus more on building flood
defences, whereas others focus on land use planning or encouraging
individuals to prepare their properties. These differences might be
due to different needs, different political focus or different budgets.
Not all countries have the financial means to build flood defences.
In this project, students will research and evaluate different local
flood management plans, and then make recommendations for their
own local area based on its specific needs.
Prompts
• Is your area at high flood risk? What kind of flooding is it most at
risk of? What are the likely consequences of flooding in your local
area? Which of these consequences are the most problematic?
Students could create their own risk assessment, rating the
different flood risks by likelihood and by potential damage caused.
• What is the current flood management strategy in your local area?
Encourage students to evaluate the current strategy – do they
think this is effective? Why, or why not?
• Encourage students to think about other implications of their ideas,
e.g. cost and infrastructure. Will any of the measures they plan to
implement affect local people? How? What might the reaction be?
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Student brief
Flood management
Flooding
(Geography, flooding, climate change, environment)
Have you ever wondered if flood
management is the same everywhere?
Useful resources
• Check the long term flood risk for an area in England
https://flood-warninginformation.service.gov.uk/long-term-flood-risk
Imagine you work for a local council. You have been
asked to write a flood management strategy for your
local area. You will need to consider both mitigation
and adaptation measures, and think about who will be
responsible for these.
• Flood Maps (Scotland)
https://sepa.org.uk/environment/water/flooding/flo
od-maps/
Getting started
• Flood risk maps (Wales)
https://naturalresources.wales/evidence-anddata/maps/long-term-flood-risk/?lang=en
Start finding out about the flood risks in your local area,
and think about which strategies would be appropriate
in light of this. Conduct some research into the current
flood management strategy in your area, and different
flood management plans around the world.
• Check the risk of flooding in your area (Northern
Ireland)
https://nidirect.gov.uk/articles/check-the-risk-offlooding-in-your-area
• Development and Flood Risk Practice Guide
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government
/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/777
2/pps25guideupdate.pdf
• Managing flood risk: roles and responsibilities
https://local.gov.uk/topics/severeweather/flooding/local-flood-riskmanagement/managing-flood-risk-roles-and
• Beach Nourishment
https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/earth-andplanetary-sciences/beach-nourishment
Things to think about
• Is your area at high flood risk? What kind of flooding
is it most at risk of?
• What are the likely consequences of flooding in your
local area? Which of these consequences are the
most problematic?
• What is the current flood management strategy in
your local area?
• Which parts of the world have a similar situation?
Are there aspects of their strategies you could
incorporate into your own plan?
Health and safety
• Why do flood management strategies vary so much?
• How can you evaluate which measures from other
areas have been successful or unsuccessful?
To avoid any accidents, make sure you stick to the
following health and safety guidelines before getting
started:
• Find out if any of the materials, equipment or
• What are the practical implications of your strategy?
methods are hazardous using
Have you thought about cost and who will be
http://science.cleapss.org.uk/Resources/Studentresponsible for the different aspects of your plan?
Safety-Sheets/ to assess the risks. (Think about what
Where will the money, time and infrastructure come
could go wrong and how serious it might be.)
from?
• Decide what you need to do to reduce any risks
• Will any of the measures you plan to implement
(such as wearing personal protective equipment,
affect local people? How? What might the reaction
knowing how to deal with emergencies and so on).
be?
• Make sure there is plenty of space to work.
• Clear up slip or trip hazards promptly.
• Make sure your teacher agrees with your plan and
risk assessment.
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Teacher guide
Permeable pavements
Flooding
Floods happen when the soil can no longer absorb the water falling
directly onto the ground or overflowing from a river, pond or dam.
Instead of soaking into the soil, the water runs off. Too much runoff
and you have a flood.
When natural vegetation is replaced with an impervious surface, like
concrete or brick, for example, the water cycle is altered – not only
does water run off these surfaces, but the groundwater is not
replenished. This can lead to more frequent flooding and lower water
table levels.
With an increasing population and, more importantly, an increasing
urban population, more and more of us live surrounded by impervious
surfaces. Coupled with more frequent and intense rainfall as a result
of climate change, surface water flooding is an ever-growing risk.
In this project, students will investigate the permeability of different
surfaces and use their findings to design a permeable pavement or
road.
Prompts
Porous vs. permeable. Porosity and permeability are both to do with how much and how easily water can flow
through a space. Ask your students to find a definition for each. What are the differences? Do you want your
pavement to be porous or permeable, or both? Why?
You might like to set up your students with the following experiment method for testing permeability. Students
will need to consider how to make the test fair (e.g. ensuring that the same volume of the material they are
testing is placed in the bottle, using the same amount of water, pouring the water at the same rate, and so on),
and how to measure their results (e.g. the amount of time it takes for a set volume of water to flow through
the substance).
• Cut the base off a plastic bottle.
• Cover the mouth with a cheesecloth or similar material – something tightly woven enough to allow water
through but not sand.
• Fix the bottle to the edge of a table with the cheesecloth covered mouth at the bottom and the open base
at the top.
• On the floor underneath, place a measuring jug to catch the water, and place a tray on the floor under the
bottle and jug to catch water splashes.
• Fill the bottle with the substance you are testing.
• Pour the water through.
• Have paper towels and maybe a mop nearby to deal with any splashed water, which should be cleared up
ASAP.
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Student brief
Permeable pavements
Flooding
(Physics, materials, flooding, climate change, environment)
Have you ever wondered which type of soil Useful resources
is the most absorbent?
• First the heat, then the rain: The problem of surface
water flooding in England
Imagine you work for a company that designs
https://theccc.org.uk/2018/07/30/first-the-heatpavements. You are hired to design the pavements for a
then-the-rain-the-problem-of-surface-waternew housing estate. The area already suffers from
flooding-in-england/
regular surface water flooding, so your client wants to
make sure that the pavements do not further reduce
• Protecting property from flooding
the amount of land that can absorb rain water – they
https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/warningswant a permeable pavement.
and-advice/seasonal-advice/your-home/protectingyour-property-from-flooding
• Evaluating the Infiltration Performance of Eight
Getting started
Dutch Permeable Pavements Using a New Full-Scale
Infiltration Testing Method
Permeability is the degree to which liquids are able to
https://mdpi.com/2073-4441/6/7/2070/pdf
flow through a material. Different substances have
varying levels of permeability. Start by investigating the • Evaluating the potential benefits of permeable
permeability of different types of soils, rocks and manpavement on the quantity and quality of stormwater
made materials (e.g. asphalt and concrete), either
runoff
through research, or by designing and conducting an
https://usgs.gov/science/evaluating-potentialexperiment.
benefits-permeable-pavement-quantity-and-qualitystormwater-runoff?qt-science_center_objects=0#qtAs well as being permeable, your pavement still needs
science_center_objects
to meet all the other design criteria that a pavement
normally has.
• What do people do on a pavement? Think about
Health and safety
whether your pavement design can accommodate
these activities.
To avoid any accidents, make sure you stick to the
following health and safety guidelines before getting
• How will your pavement hold up over time?
started:
• How will it fare in different weather conditions?
• Find out if any of the materials, equipment or
methods are hazardous using
http://science.cleapss.org.uk/Resources/StudentThings to think about
Safety-Sheets/ to assess the risks. (Think about what
could go wrong and how serious it might be.)
• How will you make sure your permeability
experiment is fair? What variables will you need to
• Decide what you need to do to reduce any risks
control?
(such as wearing personal protective equipment,
knowing how to deal with emergencies and so on).
• How many different types of materials will you test?
You might also like to test out different mixes of
• Make sure there is plenty of space to work.
materials (e.g. half sand/half clay), and some existing
• Clear up slip or trip hazards promptly.
permeable paving solutions.
• Make sure your teacher agrees with your plan and
• What other factors influence pavement design?
risk assessment.
Think about all the different ways people use
pavements.
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Teacher guide
Flash floods
Flooding
There are many factors that affect the likelihood and severity of flooding,
including the amount of rainfall, the intensity of rainfall, topography, soil
conditions and ground cover. In this project, students will look at soil
conditions and ground cover, and explore whether changes can be made to
the local environment to reduce flood risk.
Soil and rock type can have a big influence on what happens when it rains.
For example, impermeable soils and rocks such as clay or shale do not allow
water to infiltrate, and this forces water to run off, increasing flood risk,
whereas permeable rocks allow water to infiltrate into them.
Vegetation can also affect the likelihood of flooding. By intercepting and
slowing precipitation hitting the ground, vegetation substantially reduces the
volume and rate of stormwater runoff. This helps to protect soil from erosion
and reduces flash flooding.
In this project, students will design and run a series of experiments,
including a channel, to investigate the relationship between flood velocity
and the rate of erosion.
Prompts
Ideas for what to test inside the channel. If students are stuck, suggest some
ideas such as:
•
Fill the channel with different types of soil, e.g. silt, sand and clay.
•
Fill the channel with different types of stone or rock.
•
Fill the channel with small plants.
•
Pour water through a second time, or even third, to see what happens
when there is already some water absorbed in the ground.
How will you measure erosion? Encourage students to think about what
observations and measurements they can make to quantify the differences
between their experiments. For example, they might like to time how long it
takes for water to stop dripping out of the end of their channel. They might
also like to measure the volume of water that they collect at the end of their
channel and compare this to the amount they poured in, to see how much
water has been absorbed by the contents of their channel.
How will you make sure your experiment is fair? Encourage students to think
about using the same volume of water, and how they will control the rate at
which they initially pour the water into the channel, using the same volume
of filling, taking care to spread the filling similarly through the channel, and
so on.
How do the width and slope of your channel affect the speed of water?
Students could build a second model with a different width and slope to
compare. What if the width of the channel changes part way down the
slope? Encourage students to look at the depth of the water as well as the
speed. If your model was a river would it be at risk of overflowing its banks?
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Student brief
Flash floods
Flooding
(Physics, flooding, climate change, environment)
Have you ever wondered how fast a flash
flood is?
Useful resources
• What difference could natural flood management
techniques make?
Imagine you are a town planner. You are thinking about
https://www.ceh.ac.uk/news-andbuilding a new school at the bottom of a hill in your
media/blogs/what-difference-could-natural-floodtown. You are worried about the risk of flooding and
management-techniques-make
want to know whether there is anything you can do on
the slope or around the school grounds to reduce the
• Urban Flood Risk Reduction by Increasing Green
risk of flooding.
Areas for Adaptation to Climate Change
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S
1877705816330570
Getting started
• Types of flooding
https://floodguidance.co.uk/what-isUsing a channel for the water to travel down, set up
resilience/types-flooding
your experiment. Your channel will need to be open at
the top (i.e. not a closed tube), so that you can easily
• Stream Flow and Sediment Transport
set up different ‘soil conditions’ and ‘ground cover’. Set
http://www.columbia.edu/~vjd1/streams_basic.htm
up your channel at a slight slope, and make sure to put
a bucket or tray at the bottom of the channel to catch
• River Processes
any water or other materials as they flow out.
https://geographyas.info/rivers/river-processes/
Decide what measurements and observations you will
make for each test. You might like to start by pouring
Health and safety
the water with nothing in the channel.
To avoid any accidents, make sure you stick to the
following health and safety guidelines before getting
Things to think about
started:
• What different things will you fill your channel with? • Find out if any of the materials, equipment or
You might like to make some predictions about what
methods are hazardous using
materials will perform best in terms of slowing or
http://science.cleapss.org.uk/Resources/Studentabsorbing the water.
Safety-Sheets/ to assess the risks. (Think about what
could go wrong and how serious it might be.)
• What measurements will you take? How will you
record your results?
• Decide what you need to do to reduce any risks
(such as wearing personal protective equipment,
• Is it just the amount of water that matters? Try
knowing how to deal with emergencies and so on).
testing pouring the water at different speeds – what
difference does it make?
• Make sure there is plenty of space to work.
• How do the width and slope of your channel affect
• Clear up slip or trip hazards promptly.
the speed of water? What if the width and slope of
• Make sure your teacher agrees with your plan and
the channel changes part way down the slope?
risk assessment.
23
TOP TIPS
For completing a Silver
project
1. Understand the problem
Do your research! Make sure you
plan your time effectively and find
out as much as you can about
climate change, drought and
flooding before you start. And
make sure you are clear about the
problem you need to solve. If you
are developing you own project
idea, discuss your ideas with your
teacher or mentor before you start
your project.
2. Plan your approach
Draw or write a plan showing how
you will approach the problem, the
tasks you will complete, the
resources you’ll need and how long
you will spend on each task. Ask
your teacher or mentor for
feedback on your plan.
3. Watch out!
Identify any risks to health and
safety or ethical concerns you think
there will be. Decide how you will
limit or overcome these risks. Show
your risk assessment to your
teacher.
4. Research
5. Use your research to
improve your plan and
generate ideas
Use your research to help you
come up with a possible solution or
to select the best experiments to
use in your practical work.
6. Finalise your idea and
carry out practical work
Carry out any practical work
including experiments, surveys,
designing and making activities.
When testing your ideas, make
sure you make it a fair test and
record all your results clearly. You
could also use photos and a diary
to record your project activities.
7. Concluding your project
Find a professional mentor:
What have you found out by doing
your project?
https://www.stem.org.uk/stemambassadors/local-stemambassador-hubs
Did you come across any
problems? How did you overcome
them?
Find out more by doing some
research using the suggested links
on the project page.
What is the impact of your project
for other people? How could it be
developed further?
Research relevant news articles,
blog posts and other media
sources.
Has it changed how you feel about
climate change, drought or
flooding?
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8. Choose the best way to
communicate it
Tell others about what you did. You
could use a written report, a digital
presentation, a blog or a poster
display. Make sure you include
each stage from planning through
to the conclusion.
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email: crest@britishscienceassociation.org
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of the British Association for the Advancement of Science
Registered charity: 212479 and SC039236
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