The Arizona STEM Acceleration Project

Fluid Mechanics

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Part I: Where has the water gone?

Fluid Mechanics

Part I: Where has the water gone?

An 11th and 12th grade STEM lesson

John Tharp

November 21, 2023

Notes for teachers

• This lesson is designed to be taught over 2 - 50 minute periods, but could easily be extended depending on the needs of students.
• This lesson utilizes complex water systems, so a basic background on where rivers come from could be useful.
• Although this lesson utilizes science, geographic, and artistic principles, it is primarily an engineering lesson and should emphasize this.

List of Materials

• Computers w/ Google Maps
• Engineering/graph paper for drawing complex river system
• Pens/Pencils
• Youtube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qy4xQyRJLg8
• Mass Conservation activity https://docs.google.com/document/d/1pAFawig6O26biMkRJODPYjd_-XbSDsvFu8qH9un43Zs/edit?usp=sharing

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Engineering Standards

S4.1 Use the relationship among energy, work, and power to solve a variety of problems involving mechanical, fluid, electrical, and thermal systems.

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S4.3 Use the laws of conservation of energy, charge, and momentum to solve a variety of problems involving mechanical, fluid, electrical, and thermal systems

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(This lesson is the precursor to the conservation of energy lesson, and is necessary for its understanding)

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Earth and Space Science Standards

HS.E1U1.12 Develop and use models of the Earth that explains the role of energy and matter in Earth’s constantly changing internal and external systems (geosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere, biosphere)

HS+E.E1U1.5 Obtain, evaluate, and communicate information on the effect of water on Earth’s materials, surface processes, and groundwater systems.

HS.E1U3.14 Engage in argument from evidence about the availability of natural resources, occurrence of natural hazards, changes in climate, and human activity and how they influence each other.

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Objective(s):

Fluid Mechanics

• Be able to explain what mass is and how a fluid has mass
• Be able to understand that mass must be conserved (Law of Conservation of Mass)
• Be able to analyze a complex fluid system to relate the mass entering and leaving the system
• Be able to generate solutions to real-world problems using engineering analysis

Agenda (lesson time)

Day 1:

Class discussion on why people need water (5 minutes)

Water Crisis Video (5 minutes)

Mass conservation Lecture (20 minutes)

Introduce Mass Conservation Activity and begin work (15 minutes)

Day 2:

Brief reminder of activity (5 minutes)

Time for groups to complete activity (45 minutes)

Where does water come from?

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As a table, make a list of the different ways that people get water (2 minutes)

Combine these into a class list (3 minutes)

Rationale: Lesson will open with a group discussion on where water comes from. It is a good idea to reinforce and/or adjust student ideas as to where we get water, since it sets the stage for the rest of the lesson. This should be rather quick, and will help get students thinking.

Where has all the water gone?

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As a class, watch the video about the AZ water crisis (see link in “materials” section, or video object below). (5 minutes)

Rationale: This video will allow students to relate to the idea of water conservation, since it is a very real concern here in Arizona.

How can we help conserve water?

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Mass Conservation lecture (20 minutes)

Rationale: This lecture-style brief will now dive into the science of mass conservation. All while relating back to the main idea of water conservation in AZ, we should cover ideas like:

• What is Mass?
• The Law of Conservation of Mass
• How this applies to fluid systems (like rivers in AZ)

Hands-on Activity Instructions

• Students should be placed in groups of 3-4
• Step-by-step instructions can be found here:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1jCB-m9sNjr3eU5N9JqjcQjSXTz__IBd4GrSm5q0L0L4/edit?usp=sharing

If anyone has trouble accessing, please email me at jtharp@mitglobalonline.org for access.

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• In brief, students will be creating a map of the East Verde river and adjacent creeks. They will then add labels for mass (water) that enters the East Verde, and mass (water) that leaves. After the map and labels are complete, groups will create a model (equation) that will help scientists calculate how much water the East Verde River dumps into the Verde River. Lastly, students will create a possible engineering solution to the flooding and drought issues that are common in AZ along the East Verde River.

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Assessment

• Students will be assessed by looking at the maps, models, and engineering solutions that groups created. This can be done in a couple of ways:
• Analyzing each piece of the activity (points for each part of activity are listed in the activity Google Doc)
• By looking at the thought process of students as they work through the activity. I like to have students work out of an engineering notebook (composition book w/ graph paper) so that we can see notes, sketches, ideas, equations, etc.
• Informal assessment: With this activity specifically, I like to glance at each group’s final ideas for the activity about engineering solutions to the flooding and drought. This can help see if students are thinking about the mass (water) conservation in the way that you are driving them to do.

Differentiation

• Create a map template for students to fill in, rather than spending time drawing a map.
• Provide a lesson prior to this one about the water cycle, so that students see how this activity/lesson fits in with how the world works
• Provide examples of maps from previous years. All should look similar, but with different labels. This will help students get the ball rolling quicker since they will have a frame of reference.

Remediation

Extension/Enrichment

• Students who complete the activity early can dive deeper into their engineering solution for the drought/flooding that occurs in the Verde Valley. They could even add this to their map, and update their model accordingly.
• Students who are interested in the water crisis in Arizona can independently research how we are working to solve these issues and can create their own ideas on how to improve processes that are already in place.