2A
Study rain, puddles, and drains
Goal
You'll study the rain, puddles, and drains at your site so you can take water into account in your design.
Objectives
Each person will be able to:
1. show the direction of rain flow across your site
2. measure the depth and show the shape of a puddle
3. show the high and low points of the site, and understand "slope"
4. describe the location and condition of drains
Materials
& Resources
Worksheets, 1 for each person or small group
"Study how rain flows across your site"
"Study puddles after it rains"
"Map drains"
Activity
Steps:
You can study puddles and drains the day after it rains. You need to study the rain flow while it's actually raining. You can study puddles and drains while it's raining too.
1. Discuss:
Draw a map of your site on the board and label the streets and main features. Ask the group what direction they think the rain flows across the site. Ask, why is this important? Discuss possible problems with drains (they can get clogged with leaves, soil, trash). Discuss problems with puddles (they interfere with play, breed mosquitoes, etc.
Draw a triangle on the board with a flat bottom, and introduce the idea of "slope". Ask which direction water flows in on the triangle you drew. Draw an arrow showing their answer. They'll find the slope of their site by seeing how water flows across it.
Go out to your site and walk around filling out each worksheet.
Come back inside and look at the worksheets, and answer the questions on each one.