This activity is appropriate for children studying environmental conditions including aquifers and wells, and the issues of pollution. Recommended for children no younger than 10 years old.

Students creating the soil levels in the groundwater model.

In this activity, students first observe how water and "contaminants"(a groundwater dye) flow through different soils. Then, using provided scenarios, they create a groundwater model using a variety of soils in a plexiglass shell. (See the slideshow below for a demonstration.) Students contaminate their model (simulating road salt, fertilizer runoff, buried waste, chemical spills, etc.) and measure the concentration of the contaminant at different points in their model.

The scenario's storylines help further students' thinking about the ways in which groundwater contamination is tested, and health aspects related to contaminated groundwater. This activity stresses measurement, health and the recording of data.

This activity has been funded by an NIEHS Core Center Award, P30-ES02109, under the direction of Professors Heidi Nepf and Trish Culligan.

This model shows a number of pollutants as they run through a groundwater system.