H2Oh!: Classroom Demonstrations and Activities for Improving Student Learning of Water Concepts
A. Chan
1
Hilton ,
R.M.
2
Neupauer ,
1Florida
S.J.
3
Burian ,
J.W.
4
Lauer ,
P.P.
5
Mathisen ,
D.C.
6
Mays ,
M.S.
2 University
7
Olsen ,
C.A.
3
Pomeroy ,
B.L.
8
Ruddell ,
and A.
9
Sciortino
3University
State University, Tallahassee, FL;
of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO (neupauer@colorado.edu);
of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT;
4Seattle University, Seattle, WA; 5Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Worcester, MA; 6University of Colorado Denver, Denver, CO; 7Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA;
8Arizona State University, Mesa, AZ; 9California State University, Long Beach, Long Beach, CA
Introduction
Studies have shown that:
• students learn more and enjoy classes more when their preferred
learning styles match the teaching style of the instructor (Packer and
Bain 1978; Renninger and Snyder 1983)
• most college-aged students prefer visual modes of learning (Barbe
and Milone 1981)
• most instruction is conducted in a lecture, or auditory, format (Felder
and Silverman 1988).
Classroom demonstrations and activities provide opportunities for
incorporating visual learning into the typical classroom environment.
H2Oh!: Classroom Demonstrations for Water Concepts (H2Oh!, 2013) was
created to help instructors incorporate demonstrations and activities into
water-related classes. This poster shows several examples of
demonstrations and activities from this book.
Bernoulli Principle and Orifice Jet
Three-Reservoir Problem
For this demonstration, an open tank is constructed out of Plexiglass and a
small orifice is drilled near the bottom. Prior to class, the orifice is sealed with
tape, and the tank is placed on a table and filled with water to a known height.
During class, students use the Bernoulli equation and knowledge of physics
and dynamics to calculate the distance a water jet emanating from the orifice
will travel before reaching the ground. This distance is marked on the floor.
The instructor or a volunteer lies on the floor between the table and the mark,
then the tape is removed from the orifice, and the jet flows. Because of
friction, the jet does not travel as far as was predicted, and the instructor or
volunteer gets soaked.
For this demonstration, three plastic containers placed at different elevations are
used to represent reservoirs. Plastic tubing representing pipes connects the
reservoirs to a common junction. When the three containers are filled with water,
water will flow out of the upper container and into the lower container, but
whether water flows into or out of the middle container depends on the
elevations of the water levels in the containers and the friction losses in the
tubing. In this demonstration, students can explore situations that lead to water
flow into or out of the middle container.
Table of Contents
About This Book
Items in red are shown in this poster.
2 Fluid Mechanics
Fluid Properties
2.1 What is a fluid?
2.2 Viscosity
2.3 Shear-thinning and thickening
2.4 Continuum/fluid density
2.5 Surface Tension
2.6 Reynolds number
Buoyancy and Stability
2.7 Modeling clay bowls
2.8 Buoyancy and toy boat
2.9 Bubbles in Guinness
Hydrostatic Pressure and Forces
2.10 Piezometers and pressure
2.11 Pressure of a static fluid
2.12 Pressure forces on submerged planes
2.13 Pressure force vs. weight of a fluid
Bernoulli Principle and Bernoulli Equation
2.14 Straws/cups
2.15 Suspending a ping-pong ball in an air jet
2.16 Gravitational and pressure potential energy
2.17 Bernoulli principle and orifice jet
2.18 Energy grade line, hydraulic grade line, negative
pressure via siphon
2.19 Draining tank - energy grade line
Conservation Principles
2.20 Hose-end sprayer
2.21 Conservation principles for squirt guns
2.22 Bottle rocket
2.23 Lawn sprinklers
• Collection of 45 classroom demonstrations and activities for use in waterrelated classes.
• Brief demonstrations and activities (most are < 20 minutes) that can be easily
incorporated into classroom lectures. These are not full lab exercises.
• Easy to Use:
• Guidance on preparing and conducting the demonstration and a brief
overview of the principles that are demonstrated.
• Information on the target audience level, availability of the materials,
typical preparation time, and average duration of the activity in the
classroom is provided.
• Target audience: Instructors of undergraduate water-related courses in
engineering and geology. Activities may be adapted for middle and high
school students as well as graduate students.
• Available at www.asce.org/bookstore. Soft Cover: ISBN 978-0-7844-1254-1;
E-Book: ISBN 978-0-7844-7702-1
Suspended Sediment Analysis
In this activity, students use simple techniques for determining
suspended solids concentrations. The activity involves filtering
water samples, quantifying water volumes and associated solid
masses that end up on the filters, and using this data to estimate
suspended solids concentrations. To avoid more complicated
filtering systems and illustrate the basic concept, a simple
approach with a handheld funnel is used. The dry weight of
material that ends up on the filter for a given filter volume is used
to estimate the suspended solids concentration. The sample
collection and solids analysis procedures must be completed
carefully to avoid errors that could affect the accuracy of results.
This activity introduces students to the basic analysis approach and
illustrate some accuracy and error considerations that may affect
results for suspended solids and other water quality analyses.
3 Hydraulics
3.1 Soaker hose - pipe friction losses
3.2 Pipes in series
3.3 Pipes in parallel
3.4 Three-reservoir problem
4 Surface Water
4.1 Atmospheric water
4.2 Rainfall and runoff
4.3 Isohyetal method for precipitation analysis
4.4 Linear reservoirs, unit hydrographs & river routing
4.5 Watershed definition and delineation
4.6 Flood frequency analysis - Battle of the Rivers
Items
5 Groundwater
5.1 Porosity
5.2 Specific retention
5.3 Layered hydraulic conductivity
5.4 Flow direction in an anisotropic porous medium
5.5 Well hydraulics with groundwater flow model
5.6 Molecular diffusion in a porous medium
5.7 Groundwater contaminant transport
5.8 NAPL ganglia
6 Water Quality
6.1 BOD and remaining BOD concepts
6.2 Pond water quality
6.3 Suspended sediment analysis
Rainfall and Runoff
For this activity, students work in small groups to conduct experiments
using a “watershed” constructed of a pan, sponge, and sandpaper. This
activity illustrates the relationship between rainfall, runoff and infiltration.
Students should be familiar with the concepts of runoff and infiltration,
and the components of a hydrograph.
Porosity
In this demonstration, the concept of porosity is
illustrated using cereal as a porous medium and
milk at the pore fluid. Cereal is poured into a
measuring cup. Then a known volume of milk is
added and fills the pore space. Using this volume
as the pore volume, and reading the total
saturated volume from the measuring cup,
students can calculate porosity of the cereal. The
straw represents a groundwater well, which can
be used to demonstrate hydraulic head changes
resulting from extraction of pore fluid.
References
Barbe, W. B. and Milone, M. N. (1981). “What we know about modality strengths.” Educ. Leadersh., 38, 378–380.
Felder, R. and Silverman, L. (1988). “Learning and teaching styles in engineering education.” Engr. Educ., 78, 674–
681.
H2Oh!: Classroom Demonstrations for Water Concepts, (2013). A.B. Chan Hilton and R.M. Neupauer, eds., American
Society of Civil Engineers, Reston, VA.
Packer, J., and Bain, J. D. (1978). “Cognitive styles and teacher-student compatibility.” J. Educ. Psychol., 70, 864–871.
Renninger, K. A. and Snyder, S. S. (1983). “Effects of cognitive style on perceived satisfaction and performance
among students and teachers.” J. Educ. Psychol., 75, 668–676.