They are also used to regulate the flow of water in rivers. Water can be released from the reservoir during drier seasons to support wildlife and the environment downstream , and to provide a resource for human uses.
Reservoir water can be used to supply water to our homes and factories. Reservoirs are designed to store the rain that falls during the wetter parts of the year, so that there is a continuous supply of water for the drier periods.
The water from reservoirs must be cleaned before it is used. This is done at a water treatment works. Chemicals are added to help remove unwanted naturally occurring mineral particles and harmful bacteria. Dirt and other small particles are usually removed by filtering the water through beds of sand and gravel, or by adding chemicals that cause the particles to stick together so that they can be separated off from the water.
Once the water is treated, it is transferred to a service or storage reservoir ready for distribution. Service reservoirs are covered reservoirs. In the UK, there is a network of tens of thousands of kilometres of underground pipes that carry billions of litres of clean water every day to homes, offices, schools, factories and hospitals. Reservoirs can be used to store water to feed hydroelectric power stations.
Hydroelectric power is generated by using the energy from falling water to drive water turbines that in turn drive electric generators.
The reservoir water is stored at a higher level than the turbines, which are housed in a power station. Sometimes, the power station is directly in front of a dam, and pipes through the dam feed water directly to the turbines.
In other cases, the power station is some distance downhill from the reservoir, and the water is fed to it through long pipes or tunnels called penstocks. Ingber Meghan E. For information on user permissions, please read our Terms of Service. If you have questions about how to cite anything on our website in your project or classroom presentation, please contact your teacher. They will best know the preferred format. When you reach out to them, you will need the page title, URL, and the date you accessed the resource.
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Dams can be used to store water, control flooding, and generate electricity. Join our community of educators and receive the latest information on National Geographic's resources for you and your students. Skip to content. Twitter Facebook Pinterest Google Classroom. Media Credits The audio, illustrations, photos, and videos are credited beneath the media asset, except for promotional images, which generally link to another page that contains the media credit.
Brainstorming: Ask students to think of all the different ways in which they use water on an everyday basis. Possible answers include drinking, bathing, cooking, swimming, cleaning, etc. Write these answers on the board and then ask the students to tell you where the water comes from for these activities.
Students may answer that water comes from rivers, lakes, and streams, in which case you can start a discussion about the need for dams to store water. Teaming: After you have introduced the hypothetical Thirsty County scenario, divide the class into engineering teams of students each, and ask each team to write a short "proposal" response to the municipality of Thirsty County to address the residents' needs. For example, students may write a statement that says their team will "address the residents' needs by designing a dam that provides people with water during summer droughts, protects buildings from flash floods and storms, and produces hydropower as a clean energy alternative to coal-fired power plants.
Emphasize that engineers must propose multiple plans to the County Board and convince the board members that their design is worth spending taxpayer money. Encourage students to address topics such as water-saving appliances, efficient water use in gardens and landscaping, both water conservation measures and not building on land that has a high risk of annual flooding.
Pros and Cons: Ask students to think of all the benefits of building a dam such as water storage, hydroelectricity, flood mitigation, etc.
Create a list of these benefits on the board. Next, ask students to think of some negative effects of dam construction such as impeding fish migration, damaging flora and fauna, etc. Next to the list of benefits, create a list of these negative effects. Ask students: "What should engineers do when their designs have both positive and negative impacts on society? Answer: All engineering projects have positive and negative effects.
The main job of engineers is to develop plans to help address problems people have without creating new problems or making other problems worse. If Thirsty County has no money for schools and people are starving in the streets, spending money on a dam might not be the best engineering solution to the water issues Thirsty County faces.
Plan a field trip to a nearby dam to give students a real-world sense of these often gigantic engineering structures. If a field trip is not possible, show students a library video on dams or photographs of the Hoover Dam, located on the border between the states of Arizona and Nevada; see a link in the Additional Multimedia Support section.
The photograph gallery provides dam views, power plant, historic views and old post cards. Accessed July 8, Accessed February 29, United States Society on Dams. Last revised November 14, Accessed December 4, However, these contents do not necessarily represent the policies of the Department of Education or National Science Foundation, and you should not assume endorsement by the federal government.
Why Teach Engineering in K? Find more at TeachEngineering. Quick Look. Partial design process. Print this lesson Toggle Dropdown Print lesson and its associated curriculum.
Suggest an edit. Discuss this lesson. Curriculum in this Unit Units serve as guides to a particular content or subject area. Witnessing Evaporation Are Dams Forever? TE Newsletter. Subscribe to TE Newsletter. Summary Students are introduced to the concept of a dam and its potential benefits, which include water supply, electricity generation, flood control, recreation and irrigation.
This lesson begins an ongoing classroom scenario in which student engineering teams working for the Splash Engineering firm design dams for a fictitious client, Thirsty County. Engineering Connection Human-made dams are important in our modern life.
Grades 3 - 5 Do you agree with this alignment? Possible solutions to a problem are limited by available materials and resources constraints.
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