Investigating Aquifers
Water ecoSTEM Kit Materials Used: Awesome Aquifers Kit and Bioplastic Cups
ENGAGE - Students Observe This Phenomenon
GATHER
REASON
EXPLORE a Kit-Supported Learning Experience
Teams of 4 students will use the Awesome Aquifer kit and its related Science Olympiad event guide to create working models of groundwater and its interactions with the surface, using the bioplastic cups provided. (Bring your own soil and gravel, food coloring or powdered drink mix, old pumps from soap dispensers, clay, and other items.)
EVALUATE
Students may use the large aquifer model kit (included) to demonstrate and explain an aquifer in a 1:1 session with the teacher. A hand soap pump can be used for a well.
ELABORATE
The class may participate in a groundwater case study known as A Grave Mistake. Alternatively, students may research the Oglala Aquifer and claims by protesters that an oil pipeline in the area presented an unacceptable risk, and make a claim backed by evidence and reasoning.
EXTEND
Students may create an edible aquifer model; use it to explain water table and saturation zone; and show how contamination happens. (Bioplastic cups included; BYO clear soda, sorbet, paper straws, food coloring, toppings)
COMMUNICATE
Revised EXPLANATION
After making sense of a core idea by engaging in science or engineering practices through the lens of crosscutting concepts, students revise their original explanations of a phenomenon.
EMPOWERMENT
Students may propose solutions and choose a project to do, such as designing and installing a rain garden to filter runoff water.