Map a Groundwater Plume From Well Data

Pair the case studies with the data sheets, then ask students to compare a problem with its fix. The groundwater and runoff sheets work well as map and graph labs.

Mark benzene levels in 12 wells, outline the plume from a leaking tank and pick a safe well site. Dashed contours join points where the water table is the same height. Groundwater flows from high to low, crossing them at right angles, and carries a leak along as a plume. The directions on the page read: Mark each well with the key, draw one line around every well with benzene, add a flow arrow, and answer. An answer key is included.

Yes, both. We made it for 8th grade Earth systems, and it works the same at home or at school. At home, a student can work through it alone and then go over it with you, which shows quickly what is solid and what needs another look. In class it works as independent practice, homework or a warm-up, and you can print one copy or a full set.

Factory trawlers caught huge amounts of cod after the 1950s, and later quotas rested on stock estimates that were far too high. By the early 1990s few adult cod were left, and Canada closed the fishery in 1992. Atlantic Cod Collapse and Fishing Limits graphs the catch.

In the 1960s the Soviet Union dug canals to carry river water to new cotton fields, so less water reached the lake while evaporation went on. The lake shrank and grew saltier, and commercial fishing ended. Aral Sea Shrinking Case Study graphs its area over time.

A cover crop such as cereal rye holds soil in place, slows water so more soaks in and takes up leftover nitrogen. That cuts runoff and the nitrate it carries to streams. The cover crop sheet has students find the percent reduction from sample data.