On Tuesday we took the stream table to Oak Grove school to have the 4-6th grade explore and learn first hand about the ways streams behave and how people can live in harmony with streams within their community.
The students observed how a stream forms in the stream table and discussed how water and sand interacted. They observed erosion and deposition in action, as well as the creation of meanders, a delta, and other stream features like sandbars and cutbanks.
With only a short amount of time with each group we had the students build a town like we see in Vermont today (close to the river) and make observations and predictions as to how it will fare in a flood. We named our town and our river, which resulted in some funny names from the students! We had the students participate in placing items on the landscape and deciding where things should go. We built farms and parking lots, daycare buildings and schools, bridges and culverts, and made sure everything had a place in our miniature town. We turned on the water to a normal flow event, maybe it rained, or there were some significant snow melt and observed what happened. Before turning the water up and watching destruction ensue. Turning the water on is the most exciting part. As the sand eroded away the students felt a sense of urgency to try to stop everything from falling apart. “We can’t protect the farm!” One child exclaimed as the water reached all the little sheep and horses. We saw small culverts they used become too small for the amount of water that was flowing through. We saw bridges and dams they built not be able to hold up to the force of the water like they thought.
The Emriver stream table in action demonstrating how human impacts on a river can change and impact the ways a stream responds.
We had the students make observations as to how they would engineer the town differently if they did it again. “Maybe we need a bigger culvert, and more forests.” one student said. We posed questions like:
- So what does that mean for Vermonters as we anticipate more floods to occur, with even more water?
- How can we change things for the better?
- What would protect the town?
Students farm after a high flow event in the stream table.
We talked about erosion, some students knew what erosion was but couldn’t quite describe how it happened. We talked about how erosion is the process of wearing away the surface of the Earth in different ways. Erosion can happen in many, many forms (water, waves, wind, glacier, chemical, temperature). One of the most common ways that soil erodes is by water.
Did we see any of that happen here? Students pointed rapidly at all parts of the stream table where the river undercut the town and changed and moved directions.
I think one of the biggest takeaways from this I saw students hinting at was the human impacts on a stream and the ways the stream responds. And with that the urgency to fix the damage caused from water flowing through the town they just built. How great would it be if we could just put our hands over the banks as they eroded away and build them back up as things were happening? Or put our thumb over that hose to stop the water?
Two students shocked and excited when they saw the water get turned on in the table.
Students felt and connected how powerful the river was and the impacts it had on the town they built and the community they live in. These students will be more empowered to help their rivers now. Understand that all the parts of the landscape that go into shaping how rivers move and become unbalanced.
Special thanks to Katrina Moore who helped us organize bringing the stream table into these classrooms and to Oak Grove School for having us! We are excited for more opportunities to play in the stream table and have kids experience a hands-on changing river. If you are interested in borrowing the stream table for classrooms in Southern Vermont check out this resource from the Windham County Conservation District. The Emriver stream table is a great tool to demonstrate river science to people of all ages and see how rivers are dynamic in real time.
Students changing the river landscape and making improvements after a high flow event.