K20 LEARN
Water We Going To Do? Floodplains And Watershed Management
How has human activity affected Earth's watersheds? An action-packed lesson plan, part of the K20 Center, examines water's ability to go with the flow regardless of what is in its path. Scholars build model watersheds, examine time-lapse...
Curated OER
Nature Rules In The Great Flood of 1993
Students examine the event of the Great Flood of 1993. Using the internet, they research the economic, social and ecological changes that impacted the area. They conduct a town meeting in which they debate the positives and negatives of...
Curated OER
Floodplain Modeling
Students simulate the impact of fluctuating river volumes on structures and landforms. They experiment with table top-sized riverbed models and water. Students consider how human design can help mitigate the effects of a flood.
Curated OER
Floods
Students investigate how hurricanes impact a stream flow. In this floods lesson plan students predict the impact of storms on animals and interpret data.
Curated OER
Dynamic River Model
Students develop the concepts of flood stage, levees, floodplain, and the dynamics of river flooding. They construct river models and test various flow rates and volumes. This lesson has an excellent experiment for students to do.
Curated OER
Geography: Water, Water Everywhere
Students discuss flooding and its causes. They view a Powerpoint presentation about floods and prevention methods. After creating a model with clay and pans, they investigate river behavior in various terrains with different amounts of...
Curated OER
Flood!
Learners construct a model of a river system. Students observe the effects caused by water rushing through riverbanks and across plains. They predict what will happen when levees are added to the model. Learners test their hypothesis.
College Board
2009 AP® Environmental Science Free-Response Questions
How do genetically modified crops affect agricultural practices? This is one of four environmental questions scholars respond to in an AP® test prep resource. Other topics include methane digesters, water runoff, and nitrogen-based...
Curated OER
Spongy Wetlands
Young scholars sort things that absorb and things that do not absorb, They predict, orally or in writing, what happens to houses with or without wetlands. Students build a wetland area in a meat tray to show how wetlands absorb water,...
Curated OER
In Harm's Way: Natural Disasters in My Community
Eleventh graders research and debate natural disasters that have occurred in their community. They assess whether these natural disasters were avoidable or were accidents. They investigate the extent of insurance coverage for disasters.
Curated OER
River Research
Students use the internet to research the streams and rivers found in Illinois. Using the information, they identify and describe the rivers and streams along with the physical characteristics of a river ecosystem. They share what they...
Curated OER
River System
Fifth graders explore the parts of a river system and understand the importance of each part. In this river system lesson, 5th graders diagram a river system and write a paragraph explaining its parts.
Curated OER
User-friendly rivers
Students explore and explain their connection to rivers through watersheds. They break into three groups. Each group needs: Blue enamel paint, Miniature objects to simulate a model river system, modeling clay, Tempera paint, Toothpicks...
Curated OER
What's a Swamp Good For?
Students identify the function and value of wetlands. In this lesson on appreciating wetlands, students explain how different household items can represent different aspects of the wetlands.
US Geological Survey
U.s. Geological Survey: Floods and Flood Plains
This site provides a detailed report on floods and flood plains. Facts about weather patterns, zoning restrictions, and dams and levees are given along with diagrams and photos.
Idaho State University
Idaho State University: Environmental Geology: Rivers and Flooding
Recognize what physical characteristics create rivers on Earth's surface. Identify where floods occur and what makes them happen.
University Corporation for Atmospheric Research
Ucar: Considering Flood Risk
Students analyze and interpret data on a map of floodplains to assess risk of flooding and inform decision making that will mitigate the effects of flooding.
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Floodplain Modeling
Students explore the impact of changing river volumes and different floodplain terrain in experimental trials with table top-sized riverbed models. The models are made using modeling clay in aluminum baking pans placed on a slight...
NASA
Floods: Using Satellites to Keep Our Heads Above Water
This article describes how scientists use satellite images to try and spot extreme floods. These satellites keep information stored, such as data on hundred-year floods, and try to identify likely flood plains based on that data.
PBS
Pbs Newshour Extra: What Is a Flood Plain?
Students will view flooding situations and hypothesize how much risk they are in their homes and schools. They will also estimate the expense of living through a flood and compare the price to the cost of repairing damage due to flooding.
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Water, Water Everywhere
Students learn about floods, discovering that different types of floods occur from different water sources, but primarily from heavy rainfall. While floods occur naturally and have benefits such as creating fertile farmland, students...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Natural Disasters
Students are introduced to our planet's structure and its dynamic system of natural forces through an examination of the natural hazards of earthquakes, volcanoes, landslides, tsunamis, floods and tornados, as well as avalanches, fires,...