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.