Assessment

Pre-Lesson Assessment
Pre-Quiz: Ascertain students' base understanding of the water cycle and hydrographs by asking them the
following multiple-choice questions.

Which of the following represents the movement of water from the oceans into the atmosphere?
Choose from: (a) runoff, (b) precipitation, (c) evaporation. Answer: (c).

Which of the following represents the movement of water from the land surface into the oceans?
Choose from (a) runoff, (b) precipitation, (c) evaporation. Answer: (a).

Which of the following represents the movement of water from the atmosphere to either the land
surface or oceans? Choose from (a) runoff, (b) precipitation, (c) evaporation. Answer: (b).

A hydrograph is: ________. Choose from: (a) an instrument used to measure streamflow, (b) a
map of stream gage locations, (c) a graph that plots streamflow. Answer: (c).

Post-Introduction Assessment
Real-World Calculations: See if students comprehend the application of the principle of conservation of
mass to water resource engineering by assigning them to solve mathematically the following problems (or
work through them together, as a class). In these problems, students use the regional water balance
equation to estimate the amount of runoff leaving a watershed. By thinking of a watershed's water cycle
as a closed system of inputs and outputs (inputs outputs = storage), we (and engineers) can make
water estimates and predictions.
1. In a watershed that is 3.5 km2, the volume of annual precipitation was 5,000 m 3 and the volume of
water that was evaporated was 400 m3. Estimate the volume of annual runoff (m3). Assume that

storage and groundwater flux are negligible. Answer:

2. In a watershed that is 5 km2, annual precipitation was 20 cm and the evaporation rate was 0.01
cm/d. Estimate the volume of annual runoff (m 3). Assume that storage and groundwater flux are
negligible. Answer:

Lesson Summary Assessment

Discussion Questions: Before conducting the associated activity(ies), evaluate students' comprehension
of the lesson concepts through a class discussion. Example questions:

What are the primary components of the hydrological cycle (water cycle)? (Answer: Precipitation,
runoff/surface water, groundwater, evaporation, transpiration between the planet's atmosphere,
land and oceans.)

How does water move from the oceans into the atmosphere? (Answer: Evaporation.)

How does water move from the land surface into the oceans? (Answer: Surface water, runoff.)

How does water move from the atmosphere to either the land surface or oceans? (Answer:
Precipitation.)

What is a watershed? What is a hydrograph? Define in your own words the lesson vocabulary
words.

What types of data are plotted to create a runoff hydrograph? (Answer: To make a hydrograph, we
use surface water flow data collected at one location over a period of time. We plot the rate of
flow in volume/time units, such as cubic feet per second, on the y-axis, over time, on the x-axis.)

What is the difference between an event hydrograph and an annual hydrograph? (Answer: The
difference is the time period, short data collection for a storm event, perhaps minutes or hours,
versus long data collection, perhaps years.)

What equations have we learned today and what do they describe? (Answer: We learned three
equations: conservation of mass, the regional water balance equation, and a simplification to the
regional water balance equation. Conservation of mass states that mass is conserved over time.
The regional water balance equation is a closed water cycle system that considers inputs and
outputs of water. One simplification we can make is to assume groundwater has negligible effects,
thus we use precipitation and evaporation to estimate runoff.)

What do we mean by the regional water balance equation? (Answer: It's the regional closed water
cycle system in equation form: precipitation plus incoming groundwater minus the sum of leaving
groundwater and runoff equals storage. It puts all together the inputs and outputs in the
watershed "system.")

How do engineers apply the principle of the conservation of mass to understand watersheds?
(Answer: Engineers think of the watershed as one closed water cycle system, with inputs, outputs
and storage amounts.)

For what purposes might engineers collect a watershed's streamflow data, make hydrographs
and use the regional water balance equation? (Example answers: To calculate a community's

expected water needs [drinking water, sewage treatment, recreation, irrigation of crops, parks and
yards], to recommend whether water restrictions should be put in place during droughts, to inform
land owners of areas that are at risk of flooding, to design and manage dams and reservoirs, to
determine probabilities and statistics about potential flood scenarios, etc.)
Extension Activity: Have your students use what they learned and apply it to a real-world engineering
problem. Pose the following scenario to your students:

Longmont, CO, is a town that sits at an elevation of ~5,000 ft above sea level to the east of the
Rocky Mountains and north of Denver, CO. The St. Vrain Creek, which is a tributary of the South
Platte River, flows right through the center of Longmont, CO. Starting on September 9, 2013, a
weather system stalled over this area of Colorado and dropped almost 20 inches of rain over the
following week. To put this in perspective, this area of Colorado generally sees 20 inches of rain
over the course of an entire year. On September 12, streamflow reached 6,000 cubic feet per
second! The resulting Colorado Flood of 2013 was one of the worst recorded natural disasters the
state has ever seen. Imagine you are a Civil Engineer that works for the city of Longmont, CO and
answer the following questions:

1. Describe what the event hydrograph would look like for this event. [Answer: the event hydrograph
would have an x-axis with time spanning from Sep 9 to Sep 16 and a y-axis spanning from 0 to
6,000 cfs.]
2. Describe what the annual hydrograph that spanned January 2013 December 2013 would look
like. [Answer: this would follow the general shape of the hydrograph in Figure 5 (showing
increased flow during the spring/summer months, however, in addition there would be a large
peak during the Sept 9-12 period as compared to any other flows throughout the year.]
3. As a Civil Engineer, you are tasked to develop ways for the city to be more prepared for a flooding
scenario in order to protect its citizens. What are some ideas for protecting against future
flooding? [Example ansers: (1) Fix the local floodplain map to make sure it is updated and to
better ready citizens for evacuation plans, (2) Model the flow and capacity of stormwater drainage
to make sure it can handle a catastrophic event, (3) Use a computer model that will use the flow
of water upstream to estimate the flow of water at a point downstream so that we can have better
emergency alert systems that eliminate 'flash" flood situations.]