Surface water

Lab - Surface Water

Pre-Lab Questions

When a river bends and twists, what is it called?

1. What are some geological and ecological benefits of estuaries?

2. What process associated with rivers creates excellent farmland?

3. How is “hard” water formed?

Experiment 1: Building a Stream

Table 1: Observations
Observations after 1 minute
Observations after 2 minutes

Table 2: Observations
Trial	Velocity	Stream Width (cm)	Average Depth (cm)	Discharge
1	7.2 cm/s
2
3

Post-Lab Questions

1. To provide bank stabilization and prevent erosion, riparian buffers, which are vegetated areas next to streams, increasingly are being constructed. The buffers also slow and absorb floodwaters, trap harmful chemicals in runoff, and make water clearer by protecting streambank sediment. What effect would riparian buffers have had on this lab activity?

2. What type of rock might a wetland produce?

3. Did you observe different stream velocities and discharges using different parts of your stream? How do you know?

4. Identify two possible sources of error in this experiment, not including human error.

5. If you were using this data to build a predictive model for flooding or droughts, what other information would you need?