RUNOFF RODEO
MATERIALS & INSTRUCTIONS FOR ASSEMBLY
TEAM SHOEBOX KITS
RUNOFF EXPERIMENT 1
BASIC MATERIALS
Clear package tape
Set of printed team labels
Hot knife kit (Dremel or equivalent kit with interchangeable hot
knife points)
FOR EACH TEAM:
These materials will be used by all teams for Part A, the control
situation of soil on a gentle slope with gentle rainfall.
One plastic shoebox with lid
One large (16 oz.) plastic cup to hold water supply for experiment
One small (5 oz.) plastic cup, marked “fill to here) – to measure the amount of
water used for rainfall (Use 85 mL as the “fill” amount)
One small (5 oz.) plastic cup with small holes in bottom & marked “Gentle Rain”
One small dustpan (“Mr. Clean” brand is relatively easy to find & inexpensive)
One graduated beaker or graduated cylinder (recommend 100 mL volume and 5
or 10 mL increments) or 5 oz. plastic cup with 10 mL increments marked
on the outside
One notched plastic food storage container, without lid (Rubbermaid small
square food storage containers - NOT the small deep ones – work best.
Any similar small, shallow container is acceptable; however, the “fill”
amount of water noted above may differ from 85 mL, and you may need to
experiment beforehand to determine the appropriate “fill” amount and
mark your 5 oz. “Fill To” cups accordingly. Make sure that you always use
the same type of container, since this should be a constant in the
experiments.)
Soil – Use packaged potting soil. Hyponex works well, but other brands are
acceptable – regardless of choice, be sure to use the same brand for all
kits & experiments. Either provide a pre-filled individual bag for each team
(A tab-zipper-seal one gallon food storage bag works well, and you can
add a 3 or 5 oz. plastic cup to scoop soil out of bag. Recycled plastic
cups from single-serving applesauce also make good soil scoops and are
eye-catching reminders about recycling), or have a central supply of soil.
The individual bags save time & chaos when conducting the experiment.
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(Optional) One large (16 oz.) “Dirty Water Collector”, to be used if students will
not have easy access to lab sinks during the experiment.
For a guide to these components and to assembling a complete
kit for the lesson, use the photographs in the Slides 22-23 and
26-28 in the PowerPoint presentation.
To notch plastic food containers and make holes in the Gentle
Rain and Intense Rain cups, use Dremel hot knife kit or
equivalent hot knife kit with interchangeable points and blades.
Using the PowerPoint Photographs (Slide 27) as a guide to the
depth of the “V” notch, mark a “V” on the container with a
permanent marker, then use the hot knife blade to cut the notch.
To make the “Gentle Rain” and “Intense Rain” (Part B &
Experiment 2) cups, use one of the point attachments for the hot
knife, and make 8 evenly distributed holes in the bottom of each
5 oz. cup used. For Gentle Rain, the holes should be
approximately the size of a pencil point, and for Intense Rain,
the holes should be approximately 3-4 mm in diameter. You will
probably need to experiment first with the hot knife to “get the
feel” of making the appropriate sizes of holes. Cups should be
labeled appropriately on the outside using permanent marker,
“Gentle Rain” and “Intense Rain”.
ADDITIONAL MATERIALS FOR PART B:
The following materials are specific to the variable that a team is
investigating. Please note that the individual team instructions
include student instructions for both Part A and Part B.
Variable = Angle of Slope (Bareback Bronc Riders)
One notched plastic food storage container, without lid
Small block or blocks of wood, used to tilt the dustpan to a steeper slope
Laminated team instructions for Bareback Bronc Riders - Angle of Slope
(See Figure 1 for details.)
Variable = Compaction of Soil (Barrel Racers)
One notched plastic food storage container, without lid
Laminated team instructions for Barrel Racers – Compaction of Soil
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Variable = Intensity of Rainfall (Team Ropers)
One notched plastic food storage container, without lid
Laminated team instructions for Team Ropers - Intensity of Rainfall
Variable = Type of Earth Material (Saddle Bronc Riders)
One notched plastic food storage container, filled to bottom of notch with
Model Magic, that is also sealed tightly to the sides of the container.
Allow the Model Magic to harden in air for one day, then for long
term storage, save the plastic lid for this container & store the
container with the lid on in the team kit, to keep the Model Magic
from drying excessively & cracking between uses. Very small
surficial cracks in the material will not affect the experiment. If the
Model Magic becomes “gooey” from repeated use, simply let it air
dry for a day before replacing the lid for storage. To effectively
simulate impermeable bedrock, use only Model Magic. Do not
substitute clay (which becomes too gooey & messy and
disintegrates) or Silly Putty (which dries, cracks deeply, and shrinks
away from the sides of the container).
Laminated team instructions for Saddle Bronc Riders - Type of Earth
Material
(See Figure 2 for details.)
Variable = Pavement & Similar Surfaces (Bull Riders)
One notched plastic food storage container, without lid
“Parking Lot” = specially cut lid for container, can be decorated with car
stickers
One small flip-top squeeze bottle filled with colored poster paint, for
making “oil & gas drips”. Poster paint may require dilution with a
small amount of water (particularly following long term storage) so
that it will flow and “pollute” properly during the experiment’s
“rainfall event”
Laminated team instructions for Bull Riders - Pavement & Similar Surfaces
(See Figure 3 for additional details.)
To make the specially cut lid for the Pavement variable, take the
original lid that fits the container, and, using the hot knife blade,
cut off the “lip” of the lid that fits over the side of the container,
leaving about 1 to 1-1/2 inches of the lip for a tab, which when in
place will be on the side opposite the V-notch of the container.
The lip should be cut off so that the remaining flat-surfaced lid
fits down into the container and butts snugly against the interior
sides of the container, so that if water is poured into the
container, none will leak around the lid and into the soil. (Figure
3 illustrates construction of the “pavement”.) The purpose is to
simulate a paved surface that will cover the soil in the container.
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You can consult Figure 3 and the team instructions for the Bull
Riders – Pavement & Similar Surfaces, for an understanding of
how the lid will be used in the experiment. If you can find
stickers of cars & trucks, affix stickers to the “pavement”
surface to simulate a parking lot.
It is most convenient to pack & store all materials (Part A & Part
B) for each team in the shoebox. Using clear package tape,
attach the appropriate team label to the lid of each box. Then,
for the experiment, give each team the appropriate kit &
accompanying laminated instructions.
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RUNOFF EXPERIMENT 2
REDUCTION OF RUNOFF
MATERIALS NEEDED & INSTRUCTIONS FOR ASSEMBLY
For Vegetation:
One notched plastic food storage container, with lid
Florists’ “green moss”
One “Intense Rain” cup
Fill notched container with loose soil to a level with the bottom of the
notch. Spread moss evenly across the soil surface & GENTLY “root” the moss
by wiggling it into the soil with tip of index finger (BE CAREFUL NOT TO
COMPACT SOIL). See Figure 4.
For Geotextile
One notched plastic food storage container, with lid
Small square of nylon netting fabric or garden weed cloth, cut to fit the
inside size of the container
4 plastic cocktail toothpicks (with “heads”), cut short enough to anchor the
netting securely
One “Intense Rain” cup
Fill notched container with loose soil to a level with the bottom of the
notch. Lay the fabric in the container to cover the entire soil surface, and anchor
it securely on all four corners with the toothpicks. See Figure 5.
For Terraces
One notched plastic food storage container, with lid
Two small lengths of balsa wood strips (approx. ½ " * ¼ “ cross section),
cut to fit snugly inside the container, perpendicular to the “downhill
flow” direction leading to the notch
One “Intense Rain” cup
Fill notched container with loose soil to a level with the bottom of the
notch. Place the balsa strips perpendicular to the downhill flow direction, so that
they divide the container into thirds, and with your finger gently push them down
to slightly embed the bottom of each strip in the soil. See Figure 6.
You can select a type of runoff reduction BMP for each team &
package the materials in the shoebox with the team’s kit for
Experiment 1 – then at the end of Experiment 2 have all teams
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summarize & compare results for the 3 different runoff reduction
BMPs.
In most cases, especially for younger students, it is easier to fill
the boxes & prepare the BMPs for Experiment 2 yourself ahead
of time, put lids on the boxes, use labels or permanent marker to
write the name of the particular BMP (vegetation, geotextile,
terraces) on the lid, and either put the pre-packaged BMPs in the
shoebox kits or set them aside for distributing to the students
when the class is ready to begin Experiment 2.
PowerPoint slide 23 illustrates an example shoebox kit
containing the materials for both Experiment 1 and Experiment
2.
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FIGURES
FIGURE 1
Bareback Bronc Riders – using scrap wood blocks to create a steeper
slope for Part B of Experiment 1. Picture at left is for clarity of viewing, at
right is as actually assembled for the experiment.
FIGURE 2
Saddle Bronc Riders – using Model Magic to simulate impermeable
bedrock, for Part B of Experiment 1. Illustrations demonstrate that
material should be pressed closely to the sides of the container (at left)
and depth of material in container, relative to V-notch (at right).
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FIGURE 3
Bull Riders – top row illustrates how “pavement” is constructed, and
bottom row illustrates how the “pavement” is placed for use in Part B of
Experiment 1.
FIGURE 4
BMP – Planting Vegetation
For Experiment 2
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FIGURE 5
BMP – Geotextile
For Experiment 2
FIGURE 4
BMP – Terraces or Berms
For Experiment 2
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