Classroom Activities to Illustrate Concepts of Darcy’s Law and Hydraulic Conductivity
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Volume 136, Issue 1
Abstract
A Darcy bottle is a water bottle that is filled with porous material and liquid, and that contains a drain assembly on the bottom of the bottle to allow liquid to drain. A collection of Darcy bottles with different cross-sectional area, different types and amounts of porous material, and different types and amounts of liquid are used in a series of classroom activities to illustrate Darcy’s law and basic concepts of hydraulic conductivity. Each activity can be completed in a few minutes, and can be conducted during a regular class period to supplement the lecture. Assessment results show that the Darcy bottle activities enhance student learning, particularly for less intuitive concepts.
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Published In
Journal of Professional Issues in Engineering Education and Practice
Volume 136 • Issue 1 • January 2010
Pages: 17 - 23
Copyright
© 2010 ASCE.
History
Received: Feb 25, 2008
Accepted: Jun 3, 2009
Published online: Dec 15, 2009
Published in print: Jan 2010
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