They calculate the volume of water that would be produced from varying amounts of rainfall and snow melt. Students use data of stream heights at locations along the Red River at different dates to prepare spread sheet graphs of the flooding event. Students use topographic maps of the Red River Valley to develop an NIH Image surface plot and use density slicing to determine the spread of water at varying heights of the river. Students improve their Stella models to incorporate interactions with floodplains and other factors. Students use a developed Stella model for the Red River to model the flooding event of 1997.
Students use an Internet search to research proposed solutions to the Red River flooding.
Student groups are assigned to investigate and model a particular proposal. Student groups present the results of their research and advocate for their assigned proposed solution. The Stella model represents the flow of water from a watershed basin. It includes factors of infiltration, runoff, evaporation, stream cross-section, flood plain topography, etc. The model will illustrate the effects of changes in input values.