Name_________________________________________________________________________
Groundwater Model Activity
Groundwater is water that is in the pore spaces in the sediment in the ground. In New York,
the water that you use in your home comes from groundwater.
Part 1 – Building a cross section of the earth illustrating groundwater location.
Question – Where is groundwater located?
Vocabulary
1. Sediment = pieces of rock material.
2. Saturated = when the pore spaces are completely filled up.
3. Water Table = the surface below which the ground is saturated with water.
4. Zone of saturation = the part of the ground where all of the pore spaces are filled with
water.
5. Zone of aeration = the part of the ground where all of the pore spaces are filled with air.
6. Aquifer = A permeable layer of rock or sediment that stores and carried groundwater.
7. Ordinary well = A hole drilled into the earth to obtain water.
Materials
1. One clear plastic shoebox
2. Wet sediment
3. Dry sediment
4. A large plastic pipette
5. A plastic cylinder
6. An overhead pen
Procedure
1. Fill the bottom half of the shoebox with wet sediment. Make sure the sediment is
completely saturated with water.
2. Cover the saturated sediment with dry sediment. The dry sediment should fill up most
of the shoebox. Leave about a 1 inch space on the top.
3. Make a line where the water table is located with the overhead pen. Label this line
“water table”.
4. Label the Zone of Saturation using brackets/arrows and label it “zone of saturation”.
5. Label the Zone of Aeration using brackets/arrows and label it “zone of saturation”.
6. Write the word “groundwater” in the area where groundwater is located.
Questions
1. What is groundwater?
2. What happens to the water table if it rains a lot?
3. What happens to the water table during a drought? (when it doesn’t rain for a long
time)
4. Exactly where is the water located within the zone of saturation?
5. Will sorted or unsorted sediment contain more groundwater? Explain why.
An Ordinary Well
Part 2 – Building an ordinary well to collect groundwater
Question - How do ordinary wells collect water?
Materials
1. Your groundwater model
2. A thin plastic cylinder
3. A large plastic pipette
Procedure
1. Dig a hole in your groundwater model in a place you want to put in an ordinary well.
2. Put the plastic cylinder into the hole.
3. Squeeze the bulb of the pipette and put it deep into the well.
4. Release the bulb at the very bottom of the well and observe what happens.
5. Repeat steps 4-5 many times and observe what happens each time.
Questions
1. Describe what happened in the well you constructed. Be specific.
2. Why do people need to have wells?
3. What information do you need before you build a well?
4. Describe a situation in which a well could dry up.