Contaminant movement through the subsurface is different for each contaminant and for different subsurface conditions. This module provides a general overview to the term "fate and transport," which refers to what happens when a contaminant migrates and its mode of migration. This module provides tools to help students understand the complexity of subsurface migration of contaminants and relate these complexities to trial issues. The module introduces concepts related to effective flow, dispersion, diffusion, and migration of partially soluble contaminants. Specific references to trichloroethylene (TCE) are provided as this was the most significant contaminant linking the defendants' to the plaintiffs' claims.

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This module is focused on increasing the users understanding and familiarity with the fate and transport of contaminants. Video clips of sand tank models showing the movement of contaminants in subsurface porous media are included. The sand tank models provide a visual guide to help see how different geologic materials with different permeability's effect the movement of fluids and ultimately the distribution of contaminants.

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Lab: Particle Size Analysis, Soil Texture, and Hydraulic Conductivity

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Environmental and earth science students seldom have an opportunity to apply what they learn in class to the solution of real-world problems. With NSF support we have developed the prototype Plume Busters software, in which students take on the role of an environmental consultant. Following a pipeline spill, the environmental consultant is hired by the pipeline owner to locate the resulting plume created by the spill and remediate the contaminated aquifer at minimum monetary and time cost. The contamination must be removed from the aquifer before it reaches the river and eventually a downstream public water supply. The software consists of an interactive Java application and accompanying HTML linked pages. The application simulates movement of a plume from a pipeline break through a shallow alluvial aquifer towards the river. The accompanying web pages establish the simulated contamination scenario and provide students with background material on ground-water flow and transport principles. To make the role-play more realistic, the student must consider cost and time when making decisions about siting observation wells and wells for the pump-and-treat remediation system.

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Three different types of sediments will be taken and the porosity and water flow rate for each type will be determined. From this activity, students will understand concepts of porosity and water flow through soil material.

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Students in groups of two create a 4-minute educational video, brochure, and poster on an aspect of soil erosion, soil conservation, and/or watershed health for agricultural regions within the midwestern states. This is a half term project and the materials are presented in a forum towards the end of the semester. The project is aimed to help students learn to pitch science to a wide audience and provide practice (indirectly) applying scientific principles to conservation efforts.

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This is a large-scale participatory activity used to prompt students to review what they have learned and to think actively and cooperatively about the connections between the systems we have discussed prior to the activity. It produces a large, visual product students can reflect on.

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This activity provides an approach to teach field methods that is programmed to avoid common pitfalls in teaching field methods to students. The two common problems that are avoided is familiarity with equipment and improved group function.

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This activity could be part of a bigger theme under pollution. The activity could be the water part and the bigger focus could contain all other types of pollution.

Students are introduced to a simple approach to scientific writing. To make the writing process immediately relevant to them, I present the approach after they have started the first assignment of the semester (whether lab or homework) but before it is due. Thus, students are more attentive to the presentation and are more invested in trying to apply the approach to a current assignment. As a class, we begin by answering the question "what did you do?" followed by answering the questions "who, what, where, when, how, and why?" as appropriate to develop the first paragraph/section. Next, we answer the question "what did you find?" followed by the questions "who, what, where, when, how, and why?" as appropriate to develop the second paragraph/section. Finally, we review what we have written and add the finishing touches (e.g., title, references, figures, etc.). Thus, students learn how to pose and answer basic questions that form the basis of a scientific report.

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This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"One-third of the Earth’s fresh water comes from groundwater repositories. These terrestrial subsurface aquifers are an important source of our drinking water. Understanding the geochemistry and ecology of groundwater – including its microbial communities – is critical for keeping our water safe. A recent study sought to further understand a newly discovered superphylum – Patescibacteria. Patescibacteria is a very large superphylum, with more than 20 candidate phyla defined since 2015. This newly discovered class of bacteria is prevalent in groundwater environments and has limited genetic material. With such little genetic information to work from, the researchers wondered how these bacteria were able to adapt to changes and thrive in their aquatic environment. Using genome-resolved metagenomics, they evaluated sequence data from groundwater-residing Patescibacteria..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

Students learn about contamination and pollution, specifically in reference to soil in and around rivers. To start, groups use light sensors to take light reflection measurements of different colors of sand (dyed with various amounts of a liquid food dye), generating a set of "soil" calibration data. Then, they use a stream table with a simulated a river that has a scattering of "contaminated wells" represented by locations of unknown amounts of dye. They make visual observations and use light sensors again to take reflection measurements and refer to their earlier calibration data to determine the level of "contamination" (color dye) in each well. Acting as engineers, they determine if their measured data is comparable to visual observations. The small-scale simulated flowing river shows how contamination can spread.

This is an assignment I worked on with Dr. Brusseau (University of Arizona) for his Contaminant Transport class. In this problem solving exercise, students are provided data sets that could be obtained by monitoring flow and transport of a tracer or contaminant in the field or in a soil column experiment in the laboratory. They will need to input the equations into a spreadsheet to complete the assignment.

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In this lesson, students will explore the causes of water pollution and its effects on the environment through the use of models and scientific investigation. In the accompanying activities, they will investigate filtration and aeration processes as they are used for removing pollutants from water. Lastly, they will learn about the role of engineers in water treatment systems.

The students will conduct a fluvial sediment transport study in Little Fountain Creek basin. The overall goal is to compare the size of clasts in the streambed material to the size of clasts that can be transported by various flood events. The objectives are to:
1. characterize the size, shape, and composition of the streambed sediment and interpret changes in the downstream direction
2. assess the size of the sediment that might be transported for a flood with a 2-yr, a 10-yr, and a 100-yr recurrence interval
3. estimate the recurrence interval of the 2013 flood and the size of sediment that event might have transported
4. integrate knowledge gained in a written report with appropriate visual elements.

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In this presentation, we will discuss how saltwater intrusion affects small islands freshwater supplies, and how tourism is a significant part of this. In Zanzibar fresh water for drinking and other purposes come from rain that replenishes the island’s groundwater reservoir and in many cases freshwater is a scarce resource. On top of this, the excessive pumping in groundwater for the tourist industry increases the risk of salt water seeping into the freshwater magazine from the sea, thereby destroying the freshwater resource.

Students use spreadsheets to analyze the reasons why New Orleans has subsided in the past 250 years.

Learners will read or listen to a story about two sisters, Marisol and Sofia, as they explore the Sun's role in the water cycle. Additionally, numerous extension resources are included in the accompanying educator guide, such as suggestions for no-cost language arts activities, links to further science activities, a book walk cue chart to guide classroom discussion before, during, and after the story, a graphic organizer, and alignments to the National Science Education Standards (NSES) and the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS).

Groundwater is one of the largest sources of drinking water, so environmental engineers need to understand groundwater flow in order to tap into this important resource. Environmental engineers also study groundwater to predict where pollution from the surface may end up. In this lesson, students will learn how water flows through the ground, what an aquifer is and what soil properties are used to predict groundwater flow.

This unit introduces the hydrological cycle to provide context for the module as a whole. It particularly focuses on those portions of the hydrological cycle that take place on land and that form the basis for water that is used by society. Students conduct a stakeholder analysis to better understand societal issues around water. Then the scientific exercise of the unit emphasizes quantitative approaches to describing the critical portions that humans have access to: surface water and shallow ground water. Students calculate residence times and fluxes between reservoirs and track water particles on an annual basis. They also explore available data sets for specific reservoirs such as snowpack and rivers.

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Online-adaptable: This exercise could be converted to online whole-class discussions/lectures and a breakout group activity. Would be best done synchronously.

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