infinity-project.org The Caruth Institute for Engineering Education Engineering Education for today’s classroom. Engineering Earth

infinity-project.org The Caruth Institute for Engineering Education Engineering Education for today’s classroom. Unit 2: Water and the Environment

infinity-project.org The Caruth Institute for Engineering Education Engineering Education for today’s classroom. Unit 2: Objectives Students will investigate how water availability affects our lives. Students will learn about watersheds and their relevance to people. Students will discover how different factors contribute to water quality and how water quality is monitored.

infinity-project.org The Caruth Institute for Engineering Education Engineering Education for today’s classroom. Section 1: Water and Watersheds

infinity-project.org The Caruth Institute for Engineering Education Engineering Education for today’s classroom. The Water Cycle and Water Balance 326 million cubic miles of water on Earth Each cubic mile represents over a trillion gallons. Over 90% of water on Earth is salt water. Less than 10% of water on Earth is freshwater. 33% of freshwater is groundwater ~65% of freshwater is ice Less than 1% in rivers, lakes, and streams

infinity-project.org The Caruth Institute for Engineering Education Engineering Education for today’s classroom. Water Concerns Globally Conserved Does Not Mean Locally Conserved Fluctuations in precipitation and loss of vegetation can dramatically affect local water availability. The loss of groundwater and meltwater creates vulnerabilities. Examples: Sahara: desertification Lake Superior: shrinking

infinity-project.org The Caruth Institute for Engineering Education Engineering Education for today’s classroom. What Is a Watershed? Land Areas That Shed Their Water into a Particular River Elevation of land and the composition of soil and rock help to determine where water goes. Ridgelines outline watersheds. Networks Small streams combine to form larger streams, which combine to form rivers. Not Just Surface Water Water infiltrates soil and rock to become groundwater.

infinity-project.org The Caruth Institute for Engineering Education Engineering Education for today’s classroom. The Physics of Watersheds I Potential Energy: PE = mgh Stored energy Arises because of gravity Changes with elevation Kinetic Energy: KE = 0.5mv 2 Energy associated with water movement Strongly associated with water velocity Total Energy: PE + KE + frictional losses As PE is lost, KE is gained and vice versa. Some energy is lost due to friction between the water and the streambed.

infinity-project.org The Caruth Institute for Engineering Education Engineering Education for today’s classroom. The Physics of Watersheds II Stream Course Water pursues the course of least resistance, always descending if possible. Streams can change course over their lifetime due to erosion and fluctuations in water volume. “Meanders,” the sinusoidal curves characteristic of many streams, serve to control stream velocity and are a sign that the stream is in equilibrium. Continuity Equation: Changes in the cross-sectional area of a stream also change its velocity, all else being equal. Discharge: Discharge is the volume of water passing a given point along the stream per unit time and is often used instead of velocity, since velocity can be misleading.

infinity-project.org The Caruth Institute for Engineering Education Engineering Education for today’s classroom. The Physics of Watersheds III Manning’s Equation: Relates discharge Q to: Slope, S Hydraulic radius, R Perimeter of the cross section in contact with water, P W Stream bed roughness, n Includes frictional and energy effects on the stream Applies to open water channels in general Erosion Collisions between flowing water and the streambed or streambank cause the stream to lose energy while picking up sediment, causing erosion. Erosion increases with velocity, as does debris carried.

infinity-project.org The Caruth Institute for Engineering Education Engineering Education for today’s classroom. Exercise 2.1 The Physics of Watersheds Exercise 2.1 Use physics to solve problems involving stream mechanics.

infinity-project.org The Caruth Institute for Engineering Education Engineering Education for today’s classroom. Activity 2.1 The Physics of Watersheds—LabVIEW Activity 2.1 Use LabVIEW to compare the energy equation to Manning’s open change flow equation to see how well each equation models water discharge.

infinity-project.org The Caruth Institute for Engineering Education Engineering Education for today’s classroom. Activity 2.2 Water Erosion Prediction Project Activity 2.2 Have the class split into teams and compete to see who can use the USDA WEPP software to engineer a slope with the lowest annual soil erosion.

infinity-project.org The Caruth Institute for Engineering Education Engineering Education for today’s classroom. Ecosystem Services Provisioning Services Regulating Services Cultural Services Support Services Provisions that come from biological productivity: food, fiber, forage, fuel, and biochemicals Freshwater Water purification and regulation Pollination and seed dispersal Climate regulation through vegetation cover and carbon storage Recreation and tourism Cultural identity and diversity Cultural landscapes and heritage values Indigenous knowledge systems Spiritual, aesthetic, and inspirational services Soil formation and development Primary production Nutrient cycling

infinity-project.org The Caruth Institute for Engineering Education Engineering Education for today’s classroom. Water Footprint Use Principles for Calculating Ecological Footprints to Determine Water Footprint Industrial and agricultural use: 278 billion gallons/day Domestic residential use: 4 billion gallons/day Cutting back requires: A reduction in “visible” water usage Increased efficiency in products or services that are water intensive Ways to Conserve Water Industrial/agricultural: renewable energy sources, drip irrigation, and no-till farming Residential: no-flush toilets, automatic sinks, and low-pressure shower heads