This demonstration should follow a class discussion on potential sources of pollution to drinking water supplies. To illustrate how water is stored in an aquifer, how ground water can become contaminated, and how this contamination ends up in a drinking water well. Ultimately, students should get a clear understanding of how careless use and disposal of harmful contaminants above the ground can potentially end up in the drinking water below the ground. This particular experiment can be done by each student at their work station.

Water quality monitoring activities can support student inquiry into ecological concepts and pollution issues, as well as offer insight into integrating field and lab work. This exercise provides students with practice in identification (to order or family level) of stream macroinvertebrates that they've previously collected. Provided information indicates water pollution tolerance of the various taxa. Students use the data to calculate several different biotic indices for the macroinvertebrates; these are compared to express overall stream water quality. Ideas for possible extensions of this activity are presented.

As part of their general education studies, all students at the University of Kentucky must take two natural science courses. Many non-science majors choose the biology sequence of courses. Unfortunately these courses are lecture-only courses, and so some students can graduate without ever having had a science laboratory course. In an effort to provide students with some laboratory experience, I have developed / adapted a number of laboratory activities, which I have successfully incorporated into a non-majors biology course (Human Ecology). These activities are carried out in a lecture hall with 300 students in 50-minute time periods. In this chapter, two of these laboratory activities are presented. 1) Soil Testing - students test soil samples for nitrogen, potassium, phosphate and pH; compare the relative fertility of different soil samples; and carry out an inventory of animal and microbial life in soil samples. 2) Water Pollution Testing - students examine the effects of household chemicals on water quality (from Using Fast Plants and Bottle Biology in the Classroom, published by National Association of Biology Teachers, 1994, ISBN #0-941212-17-3).

Students construct a three-dimensional model of a water catchment basin using everyday objects to create hills, mountains, valleys and water sources. They experiment to see where rain travels and collects, and survey water pathways to see how they can be altered by natural and human-made activities. Students discuss how engineers design structures that impact water collection, and systems that clean and distribute water.

D-Lab is a design studio course in which students work on international development projects for under served communities. The class is focused on a participatory, iterative prototyping design process, with particular attention on the constraints faced when designing for developing communities. Students work in multidisciplinary teams on term-long projects in collaboration with community partners, field practitioners, and experts in relevant fields. Students will learn about their partner communities through the collaborative design process and be exposed to many hands-on fabrication and prototyping skills relevant to development at MIT and manufacturing in their partner community. The course will consist of hands-on labs, guest speakers, and a guided design process with review by experts and professionals in development and design.

This activity is a field investigation where students will observe three areas with high sensitivity to pollution, and test water quality in two of the locations.

This EPA website provides general information about dissolved oxygen, including what it is, sampling and equipment considerations, and sampling and analysis protocols. The site also features a chart of dissolved oxygen solubility as a function of temperature.

This site teaches kids about the importance of safe drinking water through teaching and learning resources such as an activity on how to build your own aquifer, experiments on the water treatment process, and the drinking water art project.

In this unit, students explore the various roles of environmental engineers, including: environmental cleanup, water quality, groundwater resources, surface water and groundwater flow, water contamination, waste disposal and air pollution. Specifically, students learn about the factors that affect water quality and the conditions that allow for different animals and plants to survive in their environment. Next, students learn about groundwater and how environmental engineers study groundwater to predict the distribution of surface pollution. Students also learn how water flows through the ground, what an aquifer is and what soil properties are used to predict groundwater flow. Additionally, students discover that the water they drink everyday comes from many different sources, including surface water and groundwater. They investigate possible scenarios of drinking water contamination and how contaminants can negatively affect the organisms that come in contact with them. Students learn about the three most common methods of waste disposal and how environmental engineers continue to develop technologies to dispose of trash. Lastly, students learn what causes air pollution and how to investigate the different pollutants that exist, such as toxic gases and particulate matter. Also, they investigate the technologies developed by engineers to reduce air pollution.

Demonstrate and explain what happens to water when it leaves your home

This site features 25 online modules that put students in problem-based learning scenarios. In one module, students predict the impact of increased carbon dioxide on the wheat yield in Kansas. In another, they predict weather 48 hours in advance. Topics include coral reefs, climate change, the Everglades, mountain gorillas, rainforests, volcanoes, water quality, and ozone depletion.

In this video from Common Ground and Cleaner Water, Tribby Vice, a Kentucky farmer, talks about the changes he has made on his farm to protect the water quality of the stream running through his property and the watershed in which he lives.

This unit focuses on the scarcity of safe drinking water across the world, some of the science basics of water, how water can be cleaned through a series of filtration steps, and how nanofiltration can be used as a cost-effective way to solve filtration problems. Upon completing this unit, students will understand: A shortage of clean drinking water is one of the most pressing global issues: As a result of water’s bent shape and polarity, water has unique properties, such as an ability to dissolve most substances. These properties are responsible for many important characteristics of nature; Pollutants can be separated from water using a variety of filtration methods. The smaller the particle that is to be separated from a solution, the smaller the required pore size of the filter and the higher the cost of the process; Innovations using nanotechnology to create a new generation of membranes for water filtration are designed to solve some critical problems in a cost-effective way that allows for widespread use. Length: 3 lessons, up to 7 50-minute classroom periods if all lessons are used. Not all lessons are required. Use the lessons most appropriate for your students.

The purpose of this resource is to measure soil water content by mass. Students collect soil samples with a trowel or auger and weigh them, dry them, and then weigh them again. The soil water content is determined by calculating the difference between the wet sample mass and the dry sample mass.

This lesson plan helps students understand the factors that affect water quality and the conditions that allow for different animals and plants to survive. Students will look at the effects of water quality on various water-related activities and describe water as an environmental, economic and social resource. The students will also learn how engineers use water quality information to make decisions about stream modifications.

This project combines extended inquiry w/service learning. Students learn about environmental sampling, soil and water in particular, by investigating a site within the community. Data collected by the students provides useful information to the community partner to aid in the development of the site for community gardens.

This document provides general guidance on how to install and use piezometers and water-table wells to investigate soil water regimes under conditions commonly encountered in Soil Survey and hydropedology studies.

Activities offer students the opportunity to learn about multiple facets of waterbodies and pollution, including aquatic life (indicator species), local concerns, and public outreach through research, teamwork, and role-playing exercises.

The Biology Department at the University of Wisconsin -- Fox Valley is carrying out a long-term project in which students gather water quality data on a nearby impaired stream. These data will eventually be used to help formulate a restoration plan for the stream. This exercise follows the procedures our students use to assess stream habitat quality, chemical and physical parameters, and benthic macroinvertebrate diversity and pollution tolerance. Data collection is completed in the field using relatively simple -- but informative -- techniques. Sources of supplies and equipment are provided as well.