Hydrologist:
Date:
Period:
MODEL MY WATERSHED – Water Cycle
1) Go to the website: www.wikiwatershed.org.
2) Click on the Model tab in the main menu.
3) Scroll down to the Simple Water Balance Simulator, click Launch app. (If you cannot see
the soil types at the bottom of the page, push F11 on your keyboard to show full screen).
TERMS YOU NEED TO KNOW: (write the definitions or draw pictures below)
Evapotranspiration
Run-off
Infiltration
Which one of these causes the most soil erosion problems?_________________
Which one of these replenishes our ground water? ____________________
4) Notice the different land cover – click on these different land cover pictures and see how
the pictures and the daily water budget changes.
5) Notice the different soil types – click on these different soil type pictures and see how the
daily water budget changes.
a. Explain what happened to the Infiltration and Run-off when you chose the Sand soil
type?
_________________________________________________________________
b. Explain what happened to the Infiltration and Run-off when you chose the Clay-Loam
soil type?
_________________________________________________________________
c. Why would there be a difference in the amount of run-off and infiltration between
each soil type? _____________________________________________________
6) At the top of the screen notice the precipitation bar. This is a toggle bar, you can move it
to the right or left and it changes the amount of precipitation. Notice how this changes
the amount of run-off, evapotranspiration, and infiltration.
Once you have explored how to change the model, please complete the following:
1) Use the precipitation toggle bar to indicate a 2.0 rainfall.
2) Click on the Loam soils – this is one type of soil we have here in Lancaster
3) Click on each of the various land covers, and write down the daily water budget in “inches”
below.
Land cover
Low intensity
residential
High intensity
residential
Commercial
Grassland
Forest
Turf Grass
Pasture
Row Crops
Evapotranspiration
Run-off
Infiltration
4) Using the data from the table you just wrote in the table in Step 3, create a bar graph comparing the
amount of Run-off in each land cover (if an amount is zero, do not make a bar)
Amount of Run-off for land covers
.
in.
R
u
n
o
f
f
in.
in.
Land Cover
Use the graph to help answer these questions:
1) Which one of these land covers created the most run-off? ______________________________
a. Why? _______________________________________________________________________
2) Some examples of turf grass are the playing fields behind the school, and the lawn at your home. How
much run-off does turf grass have (in inches)? ______________ Why do you think it has almost the same
amount of run-off as a hard surface, like a road or roof (high intensity residential)?
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
5) Using the data from the table you created in Step 3, create a bar graph comparing the amount of
Infiltration in each land cover (if an amount is zero, do not make a bar).
Amount of infiltration for land covers
I
n
f
i
l
t
r
a
t
i
o
n
(inches)
Land cover types
Use the graph above to help answer question 3:
3) Which one of these land covers created the most infiltration? ___________________________
a. Why? _______________________________________________________________________
Evapotranspiration: Use the data table you created in step 3 to answer question 4.
4) Which one of the land cover types had the most evapotranspiration? _________________________
A plant loses water from its leaves. A large oak tree can transpire (evaporate from its leaves) 40,000 gallons of
water in a year!!!
5) Plants have a large vacuole in their cells to store water. This water can evaporate from the leaves. What is
one way a plant could hold on to its water and prevent evapotranspiration (an adaptation)?
__________________
6) In which biome (desert, rain forest, deciduous forest, grassland, etc) would plants need the greatest
adaptation for losing water? _____________
7) How do you think cutting down the rain forests (or forests in Pennsylvania) affects the environment we live
in? _______________________________________________________________________________________
Name:
Date:
Period:
Read and Talk to the text below, and make notes, highlight information that is confusing, etc.
Complete the task on the back of this paper.
Why does it matter if trees are planted or cut down? Trees provide us with wood, fuel, food, medicine, latex
and other products used in our daily lives. They also affect our climate. No, they can't make snow on a sunny
summer day, but their very existence -- or removal -- makes a difference.
Climate isn't the same as weather. While weather is short-term, like the five-day forecast on the evening
news, climate is the weather pattern over a long period of time, usually 30 years. And the climate of our
planet is warming -- heating up by approximately 1 to 1 1/2 degrees in the past century [source: The Weather
Channel].
The outdoor air conditioning provided by trees reduces the energy used inside your home or office. Shade
provided by strategically planted deciduous trees cools buildings during the warm months, allows the sun's
warming rays to shine through its branches in the winter and also protects buildings from cold winds. With
some planning, urban trees can help minimize the heat island effect that saddles many cities.
Heat islands are cities that are often several degrees warmer than the suburbs because the urban areas
generate and trap heat. Studies of Atlanta found that temperatures downtown were 5 to 8 degrees hotter
than those in the suburbs. This, in turn, increased the number of local storms [source: NASA]. Phoenix is also
warmer than its outlying areas. In 1950, Phoenix was 6 degrees warmer than the nearby Casa Grande
Monument. By 2007, however, the temperature difference increased to 14 degrees [source: Christian Science
Monitor].
(Taken from: http://science.howstuffworks.com/nature/climate-weather/storms/trees-affect-weather1.htm )
Now … what?
Scientists promote the use of building practices (BEST MANAGEMENT PRACTICES) that reduce the amount of
destructive runoff. Paved surfaces can be made with porous materials which allow water to flow through
instead of flowing over the top. An even better solution is to minimize the amount of paved surfaces.
“Cluster housing” is one method that reduces paved surfaces by promoting the building of subdivisions where
houses are built closer together in order to use the rest of the land for open space, recreation or agriculture.
The houses themselves can be built with “green roofs.” These roofs are covered with vegetation as opposed
to impervious materials (ones that don’t absorb water) like shingles. In addition to absorbing storm water,
green roofs provide natural insulation (reducing energy costs), last longer than traditional roofs, and create
habitats for animals.
Another design technique is to build “rain gardens” in areas that receive a lot of runoff, such as near a
downspout or driveway. A rain garden is a shallow depression that is planted with deep-rooted native plants
and grasses. In addition to absorbing excess water, rain gardens have been shown to remove large amounts
of harmful chemicals and sediments from rainwater runoff.
Task 1 – You are a commercial builder and have just been given 20 million dollars to create the best, most
“green” home you can create. You must get your design approved by the local zoning board before you can
begin building. You are going to draw a sketch and list the examples of best management practices you used
in your design.
I have given you some examples of best management practices in the reading, and I would like you to
incorporate these into your sketch. You must also incorporate at least 3 other examples that would make
your house the most “green” (think alternative energy, insulation, windows, etc.).
Place sketch of home here
List the materials and best management practices you used in your design.
For additional educational materials about watersheds, visit www.wikiwatershed.org.