Floods: Rising Waters and You
Grade Level: 9-12

Summary: Every year, people around the world spend immense sums of money preventing and repairing the damage caused by floods. In this activity, students will examine how floods work and why they can cause so much damage and destruction. They will use a stream table to observe the processes that lead to flooding and the effects of floods on human-made structures.

View the Lesson Plans for this Unit
View the Content Standards

Download Related Documents:
E-Sheet Introduction to Floods

Stream Table Experiments Scoring Guide

Lab Activities Student Instructions

Guide to Building Your Own Stream Tables

Activity 1:
E-Sheet Introduction to Floods

Students will learn about how floods are created and how they can affect the landscape. Students will use the internet to research facts and terms about floods.

Featured video clips in this activity:

Missoula Flood - Part 1 During the ice age, glacial ice dams across the Northwest caused rivers to flood on a massive scale, leaving topography that resembles a giant riverbed.

Missoula Flood - Part 2 The effects of the ice age floods across much of the Northwest can most readily be seen from the air.

Missoula Flood - Part 3 During the ice age, the Missoula Flood transported vast amounts of rich soil from eastern Washington to western Oregon.

Activity 2:

Stream Table Experiments
Students will use a stream table to experiment with water flow and observe processes related to flooding.

Featured video clips in this activity:

Rafting on the Grand Teton River The collapse of the Grand Teton Dam in the mid 1970s was followed by tragic consequences, but also improved conditions for river rafting.

Activity 3:

Living on a Meander-Will the Rising Water Get My House?
Students will use the stream table again to determine which part of a meander is safest place for building a house.

Featured video clips in this activity:

Congaree Swamp - River Bottom A wide variety of insects, especially butterflies and dragonflies, can be found in the river bottom regions of the Congaree Swamp.