Students will try to pump the contamination out of the aquifer. They should begin by poking a hole in the clay in the center of the aquifer. Insert a straw 1-2 inches into the aquarium gravel to simulate a well. Have students discuss which clean up method worked best, flushing or pumping. Once they have drawn possible plume paths, students will receive the actual contaminant plume traces for comparison.
Procedure Begin by defining the water table for the students.
It gathers in the saturated zone, where all the pores and crevices of the rock and soil are filled with water. The top of this zone is the water table. If one were to dig a well that just penetrates the top of the saturated zone, the water table would be the level at which water stands in the well. Provide students with copies of the water-table map. As a class, have them identify the highest elevation of the water table and the lowest elevation.