Author: Administrator

Name:_________________________
Levees

Part 1: Reading Questions
1) What causes rivers to flood?___________________________________________________
2) Does flooding affect people? Yes No
3) What can engineers do to protect people from flooding?____________________________
4) Draw the following pictures
5) ____________________________________________ allow the levees to hold back water.
6) Rocks along the side of the levee allow the levee to ________________________________
7) What factors do people need to think about when designing a levee? _________________
__________________
__________________
8) Do all people agree that all factors are equally important? Yes No
9) How do levees fail? ______________________________
______________________________

Land Before Levee was Built	Land After Levee was Built

Structure of the Levee

Function

Structure of the Levee

Function

Part 2: Material Exploration

Engineering Problem
The city of Lowlandia has contacted several engineering firms and requested that each firm put together a bid and a scale model of a levee that they could construct for the town. The firm with the “best” levee will be hired to build the towns new levee.

Earth Materials
Lowlandia has the following materials that can be used to build the levee:
Rocks Gravel Sand Clay Grass

Testing Earth Materials
For each of the materials above, construct a levee solely out of that material. Test how well the levee holds back flood waters by pouring 50 mL of water behind the levee and letting it sit for 30 s. Then test how well the levee withstands erosion from rain by filling the rain cup 1/4 of the way full of water and letting it rain on the levee for 10 seconds.

10) Rocks (Cost: $20 per cup)
Drawing of Material

The material held back floodwater (water behind levee).
Agree 1 2 3 4 5 Disagree
The material eroded with rain (water on top of levee).
Agree 1 2 3 4 5 Disagree
What function could rocks serve in the levee?__________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

11) Gravel (Cost: $20 per cup)
Drawing of Material

The material held back floodwater (water behind levee).
Agree 1 2 3 4 5 Disagree
The material eroded with rain (water on top of levee).
Agree 1 2 3 4 5 Disagree
What function could gravel serve in the levee?_________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

12) Sand (Cost: $20 per cup)
Drawing of Material

The material held back floodwater (water behind levee).
Agree 1 2 3 4 5 Disagree
The material eroded with rain (water on top of levee).
Agree 1 2 3 4 5 Disagree
What function could sand serve in the levee?__________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

13) Clay (Cost: $100 per cup)
Drawing of Material

The material held back floodwater (water behind levee).
Agree 1 2 3 4 5 Disagree
The material eroded with rain (water on top of levee).
Agree 1 2 3 4 5 Disagree
What function could clay serve in the levee?___________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

14) Grass (Cost: $10 per 5 cm x 5 cm square (size of drawing box below))
Drawing of Material

The material held back floodwater (water behind levee).
Agree 1 2 3 4 5 Disagree
The material eroded with rain (water on top of levee).
Agree 1 2 3 4 5 Disagree
What function could grass serve in the levee?_________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Part 2: Designing Levees

Levee Testing
To see how the levees perform, the following tests will be done:
Test 1: 100 mL of rain will fall on the levee.
Test 2: The floodwaters will rise to half the maximum predicted flood height and will sit for 30 seconds.
Test 3: The floodwaters will rise to the maximum predicted flood height and will sit for 30 seconds.
Levees will be evaluated on how well they perform and their cost.

Preliminary Levee Design
As a group, use your findings about how the Earth materials interact with water to help you design the best levee for Lowlandia. Lowlandia has set your budget to be $400. City planners think you will need ~12 cups of material in your final levee construction. Use the terms in the picture below when deciding where to use materials. In the city yard are the following tools that you can use: a water truck (squirt bottle), a backhoe (spoon), and a dump truck (bowl).

Upper Surface

Lower Surface

Upper Inside
Lower Inside

Levee Material	Price per Unit
Rocks	$20 per cup
Gravel	$20 per cup
Sand	$20 per cup
Clay	$100 per cup
Grass	$10 per square (5 cm x 5 cm)

15) We will use rocks in our levee: yes no (if no, skip to gravel)
Rocks will be used in the following locations: (circle all that apply)
Upper Surface Lower Surface Upper Inside Lower Inside
We are putting rocks here because:
o It is resistant to rain or normal erosion
o It helps hold water back
o It is cheap
o It is expensive
o Other:_____________________________________________________

16) We will use gravel in our levee: yes no (if no, skip to sand)
Gravel will be used in the following locations: (circle all that apply)
Upper Surface Lower Surface Upper Inside Lower Inside
We are putting gravel here because:
o It is resistant to rain or normal erosion
o It helps hold water back
o It is cheap
o It is expensive
o Other:_____________________________________________________

17) We will use sand in our levee: yes no (if no, skip to clay)
Sand will be used in the following locations: (circle all that apply)
Upper Surface Lower Surface Upper Inside Lower Inside
We are putting sand here because:
o It is resistant to rain or normal erosion
o It helps hold water back
o It is cheap
o It is expensive
o Other:_____________________________________________________

18) We will use clay in our levee: yes no (if no, skip to grass)
Clay will be used in the following locations: (circle all that apply)
Upper Surface Lower Surface Upper Inside Lower Inside
We are putting clay here because:
o It is resistant to rain or normal erosion
o It helps hold water back
o It is cheap
o It is expensive
o Other:_____________________________________________________

19) We will use grass in our levee: yes no
Grass will be used in the following locations: (circle all that apply)
Upper Surface Lower Surface Upper Inside Lower Inside
We are putting grass here because:
o It is resistant to rain or normal erosion
o It helps hold water back
o It is cheap
o It is expensive
o Other:_____________________________________________________

20) Use the checklist below to verify your group has materials for each section of the levee. If not, go back and modify questions 15-19.
Inside Levee
The Upper Inside of the levee will be made from (check all that apply) :
o rocks o gravel o sand o clay o grass
The Lower Inside of the levee will be made from (check all that apply) :
o rocks o gravel o sand o clay o grass
Outside Levee
The Upper Outside of the levee will be made from (check all that apply):
o rocks o gravel o sand o clay o grass
The Lower Outside of the levee will be made from (check all that apply) :
o rocks o gravel o sand o clay o grass

21) Draw a picture of your levee using the following symbols
Rock Gravel Sand Clay Grass

Sand/Gravel Base

Max Predicted Flood Level

Upper Surface
(~2 cups)

Upper Inside
(~3 cups)

Lower Surface
(~3 cups)

1/2 Flood Level

Land
Here

Lower Inside
(~4 cups)

Water
Here

22) Will you be able to afford your levee? Keep in mind that you only have $400. Yes NO*
*If you answered no go back and modify questions 15-20.

Part 3: Building Levees

Levee Evaluation
As a class, fill out the levee evaluation tool, so that all levees will be evaluated the same after they are constructed.
Building Your Levee
As a group, construct your levee. You must follow the union rules below during construction.
Workers (you) cannot touch the soil with their hands.
Workers can only use one tool at a time.
Any time that your firm does not obey the rules you will be fined $10, which will come out of your $400 levee budget.
Buying Materials
To get materials you will need to give the store the correct amount of money.
You can buy full cups or half cups of materials. Grass must be bought in 5 cm x 5 cm pieces.
Unused, unmixed materials can be returned to the store for credits, if needed.

Levee Statistics

Levee Material	Price per Unit	Amount Used
		Full Cups	Half Cups
Rocks:	$20 per cup
Gravel:	$20 per cup
Sand:	$20 per cup
Clay:	$100 per cup
		Number of Squares
Grass:	$10 per square
Total Cost: $400 -$__________=$____________

Money Left

Part 4: Levee Testing and Evaluation

Levee Ratings
Fill out the form below as you test your levee and 2 others levees. Make sure that you use the evaluation tool to give a score (1-4) for the cost and the performance.

	Firm 1	Firm 2	Firm 3
Levee Cost:	$_____________	$_____________	$_____________
Cost Score:
Performance: / (Check box if test is passed)	oRain / o½ Flood / oFlood	oRain / o½ Flood / oFlood	oRain / o½ Flood / oFlood
Performance Score:
Total Score:
Observations:

Part 4: Discussion Questions

Think about how your levee performed in Test 1 (rain).
Discuss with your firm how your levee held up to rain and normal erosion.
23) How could you change your levee to better withstand rain and erosion?_______________
_________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
Think about how your levee performed in Test 2 (half flood) and Test 3 (full flood).
Discuss with your firm how your levee held up to flooding.
24) How could you change your levee to better withstand flooding?_____________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
25) Are levee cost and levee performance equally important why or why not?_____________
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
26) Do you think that all people will agree with this (circle one)? Yes No
27) I think firm (1 2 3 ) deserves the contract because______________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Circle One

A

B

28) The structural difference between levee A and levee B is ___________________________
29) The function of this feature is _________________________________________________
30) Levee ____ is the better design because ________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________

C

Predicted Flood Height →

Predicted Flood Height →

D

31) The structural difference between levee C and levee D is ___________________________
32) The function of this structure is _______________________________________________
33) Levee ____ is the better design because ________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________

E

F

0000

0000

0000

0000

34) The structural difference between levee E and levee F is ___________________________
________________________________________________________________________
35) The function of this structure is _______________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
36) Levee ____ is the better design because ________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
37) What is the purpose of a levee?_______________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
Before answering the next question watch the levee video.
38) Are there any negative impacts to building levees, if so what are they?________________
_________________________________________________________________________

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