Overview:
By recreating a model of an earthern dam, students will be able to relate to how four flood-control projects within the Kansas-Lower Republican Basin have been instrumental in preventing downstream flooding.
 
Grade Level: 4th - 6th
 
Outcome:
Students will know and understand the importance of dam projects in the Kansas-Lower Republican River Basin.
 
Geographic Themes:
place, region, human-environment interaction
 
Kansas Social Studies Standards For Benchmarks, Grade levels 5-8:
The student will understand the connections among people, places, and environments in the classroom, local school, community, Kansas, the U.S., and different regions in the world.
 
The student will understand the effects of economics, science, and technology in the classroom, school, community, Kansas, the U.S., and different regions in the world.
 
National Geography Standards: Grades 5-8
#1
The geographically informed person knows how to use maps and other geographic representations, tools, and technologies to acquire, process, and report information from a spatial perspective.
#4
The geographically informed person knows the physical and human characteristics of places.
#7
The geographically informed person knows the physical processes that shape the patterns of Earth's surface.
#14
The geographically informed person knows how human actions modify the physical environment.
 
Performance Objectives:
  1. When given a map of Kansas River Basins the students will identify and label: the Kansas-Lower Republican Basin, Republican River, Milford Reservoir, Big Blue River, Tuttle Creek Reservoir, Delaware River, Perry Reservoir, Nakarusa River, Clinton Reservoir, and the Kansas River.
  2. Students will demonstrate and explain the effects of a dam on flood control.
Vocabulary:
river basin sediment
reservoir lake
dam hydrology
spillway U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
earthen dam  
 
Materials Needed:
The following maps from the Kansas Water Office:
  • "Kansas River Basins and Federal Lakes" Nov. 1996
  • Videos from Tuttle Creek Project Office (see "Resources")
For each small group:
  • 2 sheet cake pans
  • approximately 3 quarts of damp soil (will work better that sandy soil)
  • Monopoly houses and hotels
  • pitcher,
  • pea
  • rock or small gravel
  • modeling clay
  • bucket of water
  • pamphlets from Kansas-Lower Republican Basin state parks such as Tuttle Creek Reservoir or Milford Reservoir.
 
Procedures:
DAY ONE:
1.
Using the "KWL" (know, want to know, learned) procedure, make a list of what students know about Kansas river systems in general and about the Kansas-Lower Republican Basin in particular. Next, brainstorm and list things they would like to learn.
2.
Give each student a copy of the following two maps: "Kansas
River Basins and Federal Lakes" and "Kansas-Lower Republican Basin". After students have surveyed maps independently, divide them into cooperative groups of three or four and have the recorder in each group record:

a.

b.

general observations from the group about either map
specific observations about the Kansas-Lower Republican Basin. Included in the list should be all features listed above in Objective 1
3.
Compile a class list of observations about the Kansas-Lower Republican Basin. Included in the list should be all features listed above Objective 1.
4.
Read the book Dams Man-Made Wonders by Jason Cooper.
DAY TWO:
1.
Pass out reservoir pamphlets to each group. After giving as appropriate time for groups to read, discuss what a reservoir is and list the purposes of dams.
2.
Discuss the flood of 1951 and how it affected towns in the Kansas-Lower Republican Basin and the building of dams. Show the video, "The Flood of `93"
3.
Make river basin models. Give each group 2 sheet cake pans, 3
quarts of soil, a pitcher, "Monopoly" houses and hotels, approx. 1 cup or pearock or small gravel modeling clay and a bucket of water. They are to construct 2 river basin models which include towns downstream from where a dam could be built. The models should be the same except for the fact that one will have a dam protecting the town.
4. Slowly pour enough water to simulate a flood in each model (pans should be slightly tilted). This could be done one group at a time so everyone can see each demonstration. Discuss results.
5. List: "What We've Learned"
 
Assessment:
  1. Observe student participation in projects.
  2. Students will label a map of the Kansas-Lower Republican Basin with features listed in Objective 1.
  3. Students will draw "Before" and "After" pictures of their projects and write a paragraph describing what happened. They will then write a paragraph about a real dam project in the Kansas-Lower Republican Basin.
  4. Check for the understanding that dams are built primarily for flood control.
Extensions:
  1. Research and illustrate other purposes for building dams. i.e. hydropower, recreation, fish and wildlife enhancement, navigation, water supply, irrigation.
  2. Research and report on adverse effects of dams i.e. loss of farmland, and residential displacement such as occurred to Randolph, KS when Tuttle Creek Reservoir was built.
  3. Take a field trip to a reservoir.
Resources:
The following references are all on file at:
Riley County Historical Society
2309 Claflin
Manhattan, KS 66502
785-565-6490

"The 1951 Flood as told to the Topeka Daily Capital"

  • "Flood Control" A Proceedings Report Forum at KSU
  • "Flood Disaster: Kansas City, MO, 1951"

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    • irc staff / jh 03/16/98 (updated kn 06/21/99)
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