Fourth Grade Students Build Dams

Fourth grade students have been studying how humans can affect the flow of flood waters by building dams in science. They were challenged to design and build a dam out of provided materials (including mud, sand, popsicle sticks, rocks, and paper towels) to protect a town (represented by small cubes in their stream table) from heavy rains. Once constructed, they tested their engineering skills by pouring water into a cup with a hole in it to see if the water flowed properly through the river and the other barriers to protect the town. 

This fun, messy, hands-on activity provided students with an opportunity to use their ingenuity and creativity but also incorporated important science concepts such as examining a problem, researching, creating a plan and prediction, and measuring the outcome.