Stream table - TEACHER HELP
Roy Clevenstine
stream table for use in a TINY classroom?
Thanks, Roy <rcle...@jasper.knox.net>
mm...@delphi.com
>Can anyone suggest a simple, durable and INEXPENSIVE way to build a
>stream table for use in a TINY classroom?
set aside useful stuff for you. a discarded childs wading pool may be
ideal...at least to put everything else in....
Lesli Wood
> Can anyone suggest a simple, durable and INEXPENSIVE way to build a
> stream table for use in a TINY classroom?
>
I know you didn't ask, but the expensive way is to buy a pre-fab plastic thing from one of the earth science equipment catalogues. A flume/stream table is simple. Use plywood, lots of waterproofing sealant, silicon, wood screws. This is not like a water-filled, plexiglass flume. The materials I listed should stand quite a bit of moisture. Use a few plexiglass inserts to make things more visible. One good place for plexiglass is a small window on the bottom of the catchment basin. Ever seen delta lobes prograding from the underside? Make it 18 inches deep to account for copious amounts of incision without the stream bottoming out, about 3 feet wide and about 6 feet long. You want to make it wide enough to be able to see delta lobe switching, river meandering, etc. You want to make it long enough to develop a nice stream reach, slope, and have a reasonable basin of deposition if you decide to flow into a standing body of water. Buy a recirculating sump pump and about an
eight foot flow hose, both of which you can find at the hardware store also. Now fill with dirt, fill sump
with water and build and destroy at your leisure. Remember to use lots of silicon sealant around the catchment basin, God did and you don't see the oceans leaking do you.
I guess what I am saying is the basic design of a flume is simple. The materials vary from steel to concert to plastic to wood. I've built them big and I've built them small. If you are not a carpenter yourself, find one local and tell them what you want. A good carpenter should have a small one kicked out in a day and a half. My suggestion is keep it simple. Cost shouldn't top a couple of hundred dollars if that. Change the slope by either grading the fill to the desired slope or simply elevating the the upper end of the flume. Size doesn't have that much affect on the overall processes active in a flume. No matter how big you build a flume, you can never accurately simulate the natural system in its entirety. You are trying to look at gross processes and stimulate thought and observation. You are doing "analogue" experiments.
Garr Williams with the USGS in Denver wrote a book on building flumes some years ago. I think it was called The Design and Use of Experimental Flumes. For a more accessible fix check out Dr. Stanley Schumm's, 1987 book Experimental Fluvial Geomorphology, I think he is co-author. Mr Flume himself.
Anyway, build and destroy landscapes till your heart's content. Happy fluming.
Lesli j. Wood
Rosemary McKenney
> Can anyone suggest a simple, durable and INEXPENSIVE way to build a
> stream table for use in a TINY classroom?
>
> Thanks, Roy <rcle...@jasper.knox.net>
You might try contacting the Missouri Department of Conservation at 2901
West Truman Blvd. Po Box 180, Jefferson City, MO 65102-0180 ph.
314-751-4115. The Missouri Conservationist magazine had an article on stream
tables within the last 3 or 4 years, including plans.
Rose McKenney
US Geological Survey
mcke...@usgs.gov
chris.h...@gmail.com
> Can anyone suggest a simple, durable and INEXPENSIVE way to build a
> stream table for use in a TINY classroom?
>
> Thanks, Roy <rcle...@jasper.knox.net>