Water Works
Water Works’ hydraulic learning stations demonstrate the roles
played by water as a force of nature and source of energy. Make
it rain, observe flood plains, control a river’s flow and create
and sail boats. Use the power of water to set machines in motion
and use pipes to move water from one area to another.
Water Works is an area where visitors can learn about the water
cycle, why objects float and how water is used to do work.
Every substance has a particular density, or how much mass
is present in a certain volume. The density of water can be
rounded to one thousand Kg/m3. Any substance with a larger
density than water will sink. A substance that has a lower
density than water will float. For example, ice has a lower
density than water, so it floats when placed in water.
Take the case of a raft in water. Its weight pulls it down
into the water. However, the water pushes back, supporting the
raft with a force called upthrust, or the Buoyant Force. The
amount of upthrust depends on how much water is pushed aside when
the raft enters the water. The upthrust increases as more of the
raft settles in the water. The raft will float when the upthrust
equals the weight of the raft.
Objects can also float in a gas, such as a balloon filled
with Helium. If the weight of the balloon and the air it
contains is less than the upthrust, it will rise.
There is a lock and dam downstream and a dam upstream.
Dams are usually not placed in rivers to control flooding. Often
they are there to keep enough water for boats to pass. Before
the dams were placed on the Ohio River, large boats could not
travel up and down river except during periods of heavy rain.
Water is often used to help people accomplish work. Think
of the Hoover Dam, which uses the water to generate electricity.
Water is often used as transportation. Barges move up and down
the Ohio River daily, and are able to move much more material per
load than trains and trucks.
Town
In this section of the exhibit, you can flood or save the
town. There is a dam that can be placed across the stream to
raise the water level. If the water starts to get too high, use
the sandbags to keep the water from flooding the town. When you
decide to save the town, open up the dam to let water out. This
is how actual flood control works.
This is also a good area to talk about water and drainage
cycles. Turn the small handle near the town to make it rain. In
the water cycle, water vapor is formed by evaporation. The water
vapor rises and clouds form. The water vapor condenses and forms
precipitation. When the precipitation is heavy enough, it falls
to the ground.
As the water falls, point out how the water runs from the
land into the stream. More water will flow from the land to the
stream if there is inadequate vegetation to soak up the water.
Some good questions to ask here are "How can we save the town?"
and "How can we flood the town?"
Bridge Building
In this area try out your construction skills. There is a
bridge that is half-finished and we need you to help finish it.
When you see the bridge completed, please dismantle it for the
next visitor.
Boat Building
Design a boat at our boat building station and sail it
downstream. Use different shapes and experiment with many
different designs. A good place to start sailing is above the
dam near the town. If the design is not successful, ask why and
create a new design. Keep designing and testing until you build
a successful boat.
Lock and Dam
As the boats travel downstream, they come to an area where
there is a difference in the water level. There is a system of
locks in place to demonstrate how boats travel up and downstream
where dams occur. When traveling downstream, the small dam can
be opened so the water level downstream rises. When the water
levels are equal inside the lock, close the small dam and open
the larger dam. The water level drops to the level downstream,
and the boat can continue to sail on. Eventually it will come to
a white blower, where a gust of wind will continue it on its
journey downstream. Two good questions to ask here are: 1) "How
can the boat go downstream without going over the waterfall?"
and 2) "How can the boat go upstream since it cannot sail up the
waterfall?"
Water Mechanics
Now we come to a series of teamwork activities. On one
side of the water table fill the bucket with water. Then a
system of ropes and pulleys is used to raise the bucket over the
funnel. It is the responsibility of someone on the other side of
the water table to dump the water using the rope. It may take a
few tries to get the timing down. When successful, the water
will travel through the funnel and spin a small turbine, ringing
a bell. Here you can ask, "What will happen when the water flows
down the funnel?"
At the next teamwork activity, a person on one side of the
water table turns a wheel to transport water up a conveyor belt.
It is the responsibility of a visitor on the other side of the
water table to decide if the water will fill a bucket, turn a
turbine or fall back into the table. This task is accomplished
by turning a wheel. Notice how the gears work on the silver
catch basin. Ask "What will happen when the bucket gets full?"
or "What will happen when the water hits the pinwheel?"
In this area we also find a handle connected to a water
spout. When this handle is turned, water will spray from the
spout and turn a turbine. This in turn will turn the balls
connected to the top of the turbine. People often use water to
turn a turbine and generate electricity.
Lower Pool
The final station is an area where younger kids can use
shovels to pick up water and pour into little pinwheel machines.
There is plastic pipe that can be connected to valves on the
water table. Build different structures to transport the water
from one place to another. Using the valves to shut off water
flow in one tube will increase the water pressure in another
tube. Here you can ask "How can you spin the pinwheel?" or "How
can I make this water flow from this tube and spin the pinwheel?"
There are many activities you can do in Water Works. After
leaving this area we hope you have a better understanding of why
some things float and some don't, how the water cycle works, how
boats travel up and down river and how water can be used to do
work.
Knowledge and Skill Development
 Cognitive
o Develop problem-solving skills by testing cause-effect
relationships (boat building)
o Recognize how water helps accomplish work
o Sensory-touch/smell/sound
 Motor
o Boat building, connecting pipes, handles and knobs
o Pouring water from container to container
o Sensory-touch/smell
 Social-Emotional
o Sense of accomplishment-building with pipes/boats
o Cooperative play to operate machines
o Responsibility for behavior by following rules and
cleaning up
o Sympathy for other-flooding
o Valuing others-taking turns
Curriculum Connections:
Ohio–Science:
• 4. The learner will select and use appropriate material and
tools to construct a useful device.
• 2. The learner will discuss the impact of human activity in a
selected natural environment.
Ohio Fourth Grade Proficiency Outcomes–Science:
• 6. Evaluate a simple procedure to carry out an exploration.
• 14. Identify and/or describe the relationship between human
activity and the environment.
Kentucky–Science:
• 2.1 Students understand scientific ways of thinking and working
and use those methods to solve real-life problems.
• 2.3 Students identify and analyze systems and the way their
components work together or affect each other.
Classroom Connections:
Study the water cycle in your classroom. Explore how the water
cycle affects communities by investigating hurricanes, floods or
tidal waves. Water Works contains an area that can be flooded.
Experiment with this idea further in the exhibit or follow up in
the classroom with the above activity.
Safety tips:
The floor is often wet in this exhibit; it is important to walk
at all times. There are several “splash zones” where children may
get very wet. Aprons thrown on the floor can cause tripping
hazards, so please hang your apron up!