I.

Brief(7minutes)L&S
A. Imagineitstheyear1860.YouvejustarrivedinSouthernAppalachia.Howcan
youtakeadvantageofthenaturalresourcesaroundyoutocreateatechnologyto
makeyourlifeeasier?Whatdoyouthinksomeofthoseresourcesmightbe?
B. Onecriticalresourcearemountainstreams.Notonlydidsettlersneedthesefor
thecleanwatertheyprovidedandthecropsthewaterhelpedthemtogrow,they
realizedthattheycouldharnessthepowerofthewatertomakeworkeasierthis
ishydropower.
Doesanyoneknowwhattheseitemsinfrontofusarecalled?
Anyonehaveanideahowthesettlersmighthaveusedsomethinglikethis
tomakeworkeasier?
Thisiscalledanovershotwaterwheel.(Showstudentshowitworks.)
Wouldanyoneliketotry?
(Studentscanexperimentwithpouringthewater)
Whatdoyounotice?
Withoutchangingthedesignofthewheel,howcanyoumakeitspinfaster?
Whydoyouthinkpouringthewaterfromhigherupincreasesthespeedof
thewheel?
Gravitationalpotentialenergyistheenergystoredinthewaterwhenweholdit
uphigh.
Whathappenstothepotentialenergyinthewaterwhenwepourit?
Thepotentialenergyisconvertedtokineticenergywhichthenbecomes
mechanicalenergyasthewheelturns.Thatmechanicalenergywasusedbythe
settlerstodrivegiantstonesthatgroundcorndowntoflour.
C. Technology,overtime,hasnotstayedthesameithasevolved.Wehave
developednewwaysofharnessingthepowerofwaterinmoreefficientways.This
newerformofhydropoweriscalledhydroelectricitybecauseittakesthat
mechanicalenergywewereabletogetwiththewaterwheelandconvertsitto
electromagneticenergy.
Lookatthispicture.Thinkingaboutthewaterwheelwheredoyouthink
thekineticenergyfromthewaterisbeingconvertedintomechanical
energy?
Overallconceptofhydroelectricdamincludingacademiclanguage(newworld)
1. Penstock
2. Dam
3. Headandheadheight
4. Turbineelectricitygeneration
D. Harnessingthepowerofarivereitherthroughtheoldworldtechnologyofthe
waterwheelorthroughthenewworldtechnologyofthehydroelectricdamisa
growingsourceofpowerbecauseitisrenewableandrelativelyclean.Butare
theresomehiddencoststhatwemustconsider?
1. HowistheflowofthewaterontothewheelorTURBINEinthiscase
differentthanhowthewaterwheelworked?

2. Whydoyousupposetheturbineislocatedwhereitis?
E. Todayyouwillhavetwoexperiences,oneexploringwhytheturbineinadamis
positionedwhereitisandoneexploringthesocialandenvironmentalcostsof
dams.Letstakeafewminutestothinkaboutthesequestionsyoullhavea
chancetorevisityouranswersafteryouvehadtheseexperiences.(THISISTHE
PREASSESSMENT)

II.

ExperimentStation(20minutes)L&S
1. Briefstudentsonwhattheywillbedoing.Theywillbeexperimentingwithdifferent
penstockheights.Thebucketssimulateadam,andthevalvesrepresentdifferentheight
penstocks.Theirgoalistofindtheflowrateofthewaterfromeachpenstock,aswellas
thetheoreticalpowergenerationofeachheightpenstock.
2. Studentrolesneedtobeassigned.Atminimum,needapersontotime(timer),aperson
toholdthebeakerandcollectwater(watercollector),andapersontostopandunstop
thevalves(stopper).Ifthereisafourthperson,thatpersoncanrecorddatainthetable
(recorder).Eachgroupneedsadatatable.
3. First,studentsmustrecordtheheadheight(H)foreachpenstockheight.Thesehead
heightswillbewrittenonthesideofthebucket.Atthispoint,thefacilitatorsshould
explainwhatthisheadheightmeans.
4. Experiment(thisprocesswillbemodeledforthestudents)
a. Beginningwiththetoppenstock,studentsmustcollectdataforvolumeandtime.
Thegoaltimeforthevalvetobeopenshouldbe3seconds.Thestopperwill
openthetopvalveatthesametimethatthetimerstartsthetime.Thewater
collectorshouldcollectallwaterinthebeaker.Whenthetimehasreached3
seconds,thetimerwillinstructthestoppertoputthestopperinthevalve,and
thewatercollectorwillstopcollectingwater.
b. Thewatercollectorwillreadhowmuchwaterwascollectedinthebeaker.This
shouldberecordedinthetable.
c. Thewaterfromthebeakershouldbereturnedtothebucket.
d. Stepsacshouldberepeatedtwicemore,foratotalofthreetrialsforthetop
penstock.
e. Stepsadshouldberepeated,oncewiththemiddlepenstockandoncewiththe
bottompenstock.
5. Oncestudentshavecompletedthreetrialsforeachpenstock,theymovetothecalculation
portionofthestation.
a. First,studentsshouldcalculatetheflowrateforeachtrial.
b. Then,studentsshouldfindanaverageflowratecollectedforeachpenstockheight,
andrecordtheminthetable.
c. Then,theyshouldcalculatethetheoreticalpowerproducedbyeachpenstock
heightbyusingtheformulaP=Q_avg*g*H,whereQ_avgistheaverageflowrate,g
isthegravitationalconstant,andHistheheadheight.
6. Oncecalculationsarecomplete,facilitatorshouldleadstudentsthroughadiscussionof
thedata.

a.
b.
c.
d.

Whichpenstockheighthadthehighestflowrate?Thehighestpowergeneration?
Whatfactorsdoyouthinkinfluencethepowergeneration?
Howdoesthisrelatetodamsandhydropowergeneration?Whataboutturbines?
Extension:Considerthefactthatthesystemistypicallynot100%efficient.What
partsofthesystemwouldcauselessthan100%efficiency?Howdoweaccountfor
thatinourcalculations?

III.

EnvironmentalStreamTableStation(20minutes)T&Y
a. Introducethestreamtableanditsfunctionality
i.
Waterispumpedfromthereservoirtothetop,whereitthentravelsdowntothe
bottomviagravity
ii.
Demonstratetostudentshowtheflowcanbemanipulatedbycreatingariver
iii.
Allowthestudentstocreateariver,withhomes(megablocs)alongtheriverbanks
andupthehillside
b. Instructstudentstodamtheriver,astoprovideelectricitytothehomes
i.
Havestudentsobservewhatishappeningabovethedam
ii.
Havestudentsobservewhatishappeningbelowthedam
iii.
Askstudentstocomeupwithanswers(inpairs/groups),whatishappeningtothe
homes?Whatishappeningtothewildlife?Whatishappeningtothelandscape?
Giveconsiderabletimeforthemtorespond.
c. Instructstudentstoallowfromwatertospillfromthecenterofthedam.
i.
Havestudentsobservewhatishappeningbelowthedamwhenthathappens
(riverstillruns,butwithamuchsmallerrate)
ii.
Havestudentspredictwhatwillhappenif/whenthedamfails.

IV.

Debrief(10minutes)T&Y
a. Studentswillbeaskedtorevisitthetwoquestionsfromthebeginning,takingtheir
experiencesinthestationsintoaccount(THISISTHEPOSTASSESSMENT).
b. Studentswillbeaskedtoshareouttheirideas,andaskanylingeringquestions.
c. FacilitatorswilldiscussTallulahGorgealocaldamandutilizationofhydropower.This
willbesupportedbypicturesofTallulahGorge.
i.
Showvideo
ii.
Whatwouldtheylookforwhentheywenttothegorge?
iii.
Howcouldtheyseewherethemaximumwaterheightis?