This requires improving their understanding of hydrology. Hydrologic models provide a way to improve this understanding by predicting water constituent levels for varying inputs. Existing hydrologic models, however, are too involved for the general public to learn and understand, because of the challenges of creating the input, running the model, and evaluating the output. In an educational role, existing hydrologic models must be modified to overcome these challenges. First, the input to educational hydrologic models must be simplified, making use of pre-existing file sets built around specific educational standards.
Users then choose the file sets geared toward their areas of interest.
Second, running the model should be made as simple as possible. Third, the output from the model should be portrayed clearly and concisely, with examples and interpretative help. In addition, the entire model should be easy to use. One way to overcome these challenges for educational hydrologic models is the use of the Internet, specifically the World Wide Web and web browsers. Web pages can easily accommodate features, like graphic user interfaces, that work on multiple computer platforms.