Students use everyday building materials sand, pea gravel, cement and water to create and test pervious pavement. They learn what materials make up a traditional, impervious concrete mix and how pervious pavement mixes differ. Groups are challenged to create their own pervious pavement mixes, experimenting with material ratios to evaluate how infiltration rates change with different mix combinations.

In this field lab, students will explore macroinvertebrates found in a pond system near the middle school. They will explore and observe, then focus on a particular objective from information shared by all groups. Students will then formulate a question and procedures to "test" their question.

In this activity, students will learn how water can be polluted by algal blooms. They will grow algae with different concentrations of fertilizer or nutrients and analyze their results as environmental engineers working to protect a local water resource.

This multimedia resource, part of the NC Science Now series, describes how researchers at UNCCH-IMS have developed a water testing system, using a genetic technology method, to rapidly test coastal waters which will decrease the time needed to notify the public about contamination. Components of this resource include a video and a related blog article. Links to these components are provided on the page under the heading "UNC-TV Media."

Student teams practice water quality analysis through turbidity measurement and coliform bacteria counts. They use information about water treatment processes to design prototype small-scale water treatment systems and test the influent (incoming) and effluent (outgoing) water to assess how well their prototypes produce safe water to prevent water-borne illnesses.

In this virtual resource, students will model the function of a watershed, and apply these concepts to an investigation of how water flows on their school grounds.

The wakelet site features videos demonstrating hands-on activities for students to complete at school in small, socially-distanced settings. Activities may also be adapted for at-home learning. Some activities incorporate an outdoor component, acknowledging the need to balance screen time with green time to support mental health. Tips for taking your students outside can be found here: https://education.eol.org/cnc_materials/TipsForTeachingOutside.pdf

During this activity, students will learn how environmental engineers monitor water quality in resource use and design. They will employ environmental indicators to assess the water quality of a nearby stream. Students will make general observations of water quality as well as count the number of macroinvertabrates. They will then use the information they collected to create a scale to rate how good or bad the water quality of the stream. Finally, the class will compare their numbers and discuss and defend their results.

Students analyze data and maps to understand how increased population growth impacts the water quality of the Chesapeake Bay. Then they explore how the health of the Bay affects its animals.

In this lesson, students research where their local drinking water comes from and explore pollution and other risks to drinking water sources. Students will investigate methods of water treatment and the relationship between water treatment and public health.

Engineers design and implement many creative techniques for managing stormwater at its sources in order to improve and restore the hydrology and water quality of developed sites to pre-development conditions. Through the two lessons in this unit, students are introduced to green infrastructure (GI) and low-impact development (LID) technologies, including green roofs and vegetative walls, bioretention or rain gardens, bioswales, planter boxes, permeable pavement, urban tree canopies, rainwater harvesting, downspout disconnection, green streets and alleys, and green parking. Student teams take on the role of stormwater engineers through five associated activities. They first model the water cycle, and then measure transpiration rates and compare native plant species. They investigate the differences in infiltration rates and storage capacities between several types of planting media before designing their own media mixes to meet design criteria. Then they design and test their own pervious pavement mix combinations. In the culminating activity, teams bring together all the concepts as well as many of the materials from the previous activities in order to create and install personal rain gardens. The unit prepares the students and teachers to take on the design and installation of bigger rain garden projects to manage stormwater at their school campuses, homes and communities.

In this STEM lesson, students are challenged to create and test a water filtering system. The STEM activities in this lesson focus on water recovery and management. Students will design and build a water filtration device, test the device, make observations, and collect data. They will collaborate as they analyze results and attempt to idenity the best filter media to use. Based on their analysis and on study of other filtration devices, they will make modifications to their model and repeat the process in an effort to produce the most effective filtration apparatus possible. Lastly, students will compare individual results and communicate their results to the larger community.

Students will be working with the problem "How do we know water is safe to drink? " under the theme of "How does access to clean water and sanitation affect a culture? " Students participate in labs related to the hydrologic cycle and water quality. Students design and build a local watershed to model the movement of water across land. Students also research and explore print, video, and audio resources for news and information about local / global water pollution / impact by and on humans.Students share what they have researched with each other, then create an artifact (infographic, video, slideshow, animation, comic strip, etc) intended to educate peers and younger students about water quality and its importance. Ideally, finished products would be shared with others in an authentic setting.Standards:Ohio Science Standards (Grade 7) CCSS English Language Arts (Grade 7)

Students measure the effectiveness of water filters in purifying contaminated water. They prepare test water by creating different concentrations of bleach (chlorine-contaminated) water. After passing the contaminated water through commercially available Brita® water filters designed to purify drinking water, students determine the chlorine concentration of the purified water using chlorine test strips and measure the adsorption of chlorine onto activated carbon over time. They graph and analyze their results to determine the effectiveness of the filters. The household active carbon filters used are one example of engineer-designed water purification systems.

Students will learn where and how people obtain safe drinking water while recognizing the various roles that professionals play in municipal water agencies in acquiring, treating and delivering safe water. This discussion guide is meant to be used with the Water You Drink four-part video series.

In this activity, students take water samples from a local waterway. They will test the pH and then conduct a series of experiments to investigate the chemistry of the water.

Students learn about physical models of groundwater and how environmental engineers determine possible sites for drinking water wells. During the activity, students create their own groundwater well models using coffee cans and wire screening. They add red food coloring to their models to see how pollutants can migrate through the groundwater into a drinking water resource.

In this lesson, students will conduct a simple experiment to test what the ph of water may be when certain solids are added to the water and relate this to the effects of acid mine drainage.