Stimulating Understanding of Computational science through Collaboration, Exploration, Experiment, and Discovery for students with Hearing Impairments
a collaboration of the Shodor Education Foundation, Inc., Eastern North Carolina School for the Deaf, Barton College, the National Technical Institute for the Deaf, and Interpreters, Inc.

For Teachers!

Rain Gardens for Controlling Excess Runoff.

Overview:

The amount of runoff under different conditions can be modeled with an Excel application. It allows for the modification of such variables as soil type, ground cover type, and amount of rainfall in order for the user to obtain a greater understanding of the quantity of water runoff and the effect of different soil and cover types on the water runoff. 

Communities need to control the extra runoff caused by development in order to reduce flooding and maintain the water table for  wells and springs. A second Excel model allows the students to calculate the size of the rain garden needed to retain the excess runoff and allow it to seep into the soil over a few days. To address the impact of increasing development on runoff, communities across the country are implementing regulations requiring these types of procedures.

Goals and objectives: 

This lesson addresses these National Science Education Standards:

Human beings live within the world's ecosystems. Increasingly, humans modify ecosystems as a result of population growth, technology, and consumption. Human destruction of habitats through direct harvesting, pollution, atmospheric changes, and other factors is threatening current global stability, and if not addressed, ecosystems will be irreversibly affected. 

Student Prerequisites: 

Students need to be familiar with the use of a computer mouse.  

Materials Needed: 

Computers with Excel and Internet access or CD with this lesson.

You can down load a free Excel  model used in this lesson.

Developed by
The Shodor Education Foundation, Inc.

Copyright © 1999-2001 by The Shodor Education Foundation, Inc.

This project is supported, in part, by the National Science Foundation Opinions expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the National Science Foundation.