BEYOND STALACTITES AND STALAGMITES: PROBLEM-SOLVING GAMES AND PHYSICAL MODELS ENGAGE EARTH SCIENCE STUDENTS IN KARST WATER QUALITY

Although water quality is a major concern in many karst environments, this topic may receive only superficial coverage in many secondary school earth science curricula and textbooks. A two-part sequence of classroom activities, developed at Virginia’s MathScience Innovation Center, engages students in realistic simulations of karst water quality investigations and provides a more in-depth understanding of these vulnerable water systems.

Following a brief review of basic karst geology, students experiment with physical models to compare groundwater flow in porous media and karst aquifers. After discussion of methods used in karst water quality investigations (e.g., cave mapping, LiDAR, dye tracing, flow measurements, geophysical methods), student teams solve karst water pollution “mysteries”, based on actual case studies, using physical simulations of karst systems and investigative techniques.

Applying students' knowledge from this first part of the sequence, the second part continues with the Spring-O Bingo Game, a longer activity simulating a karst area where a contaminated spring has caused an outbreak of illness. A bingo card (identical for all teams) serves as the base map of the area, showing local geologic features and land use. As the instructor generates the bingo card numbers from a bingo game cage and numbered balls, student teams receive clues from scientific observations for the corresponding squares on their bingo card maps. In a realistic representation of many actual karst water investigations, the teams must synthesize the scientific clues to solve the mystery (Where did the pollution originate? What path did it take to the spring?)

Assessments suggest that the activities in this sequence effectively enhance students’ understanding of and interest in the science of karst water quality. This sequence is one of the MathScience Innovation Center’s most-requested earth science lessons among the 13 school districts it serves, and several undergraduate physical geology classes also use activities from the sequence.