Modeling Ecosystem Impacts of Flooding

Overview

Students watch a video of the Texas flash floods and analyze a local flood risk map, posting responses on a class synthesis board. They model water flow with rubber ducks, trays of water, sand, rocks, and clay, simulating a dam failure, varied terrain, and sediment that affects Orbeez standing in for aquatic life. A lesson on ecosystem stability covers resistance, resilience, biodiversity, and natural and human-caused change. Students then take stakeholder roles in a dam project, research their position, and debate ecological and socio-economic impacts. A final water quality lab tests freshwater samples for nitrates, nitrites, ammonia, alkalinity, and hardness, ending in a Claim-Evidence-Reasoning response. The lesson lasts 180 minutes: 15-minute Engagement, 30-minute Exploration, 20-minute Explanation, 45–60-minute Elaborate, and 45–60-minute Evaluation.

Lesson Objectives

• Use models and simulations to explore ecological impacts of flooding on riverine and coastal ecosystems.
• Analyze hydrological data to determine effects of human interventions (e.g., levees, flood walls) on natural systems.
• Identify career pathways in hydrology, ecology, civil engineering, and scientific research.