Cracking Dams makes engineering principles accessible and exciting to students from K-12 through college. It provides three levels of difficulty targeted at the different audiences, the beginning level is intended to be accessible to kindergarten students while the advanced level is aimed at upper high-school and freshman college students. Pictures of dams, film clips of broached dams and graphics of developing cracks all contribute to a lively presentation of the causes, processes and results of cracking dams. Cracking Dams contains the history and principles of dam design as well as historical examples of famous dam failures. The social, political, environmental and economic pros and cons of dams are tied in through concrete examples and a series of off-site hyperlinks to further information.
Simulations help advanced students understand the science behind the forces that crack dams.
These instructional courseware packages were chosen through a rigorous application and review process and represent excellence in the use of computer-based instructional media to enhance engineering education. The Premier Courseware have distinctive strengths, representing the breadth of styles, sophistication, pedagogies, and use of multimedia that should encourage incorporation of courseware in the classroom. Synthesis Coalition , All Rights Reserved.