Plumeflow Project

The Plumeflow project links the research performed within EMSI with educational activities through the development of both physical and virtual simulations that can be used to illustrate the basic principles of groundwater contaminant transport on length scales from the molecular level to the field level. The modules are flexible enough that they can be adapted to teaching a wide range of individuals, from elementary school students through graduate students pursuing their Ph.Ds.

The models are being tested in elementary, middle, and high school classrooms in a number of New York City schools, beginning in the Spring of 2002. Each model consists of a small tank filled with a sand and gravel aquifer with clay as a confining layer, water intake and out-take valves, and plastic tubing "wells" that allow the introduction of contaminants (in the form of dyes). The user can inject a dye, watch it move through the sand tank, and evaluate the positive and negative effects of pumping and other remediation techniques. Professors Roberta Mitchell and Susan Sacks of the Barnard Education Program participated in the outreach component to these schools.

The teachers who are using the models in their classrooms participated in a training workshop with Professor Martin Stute in summer 2001 that covered both the underlying science and how to use the model in a classroom. A second training session was held in October of 2002 to include more teachers and schools in the project. New and old teachers and their students gathered at a Sand Tank Science Fair in May of 2003 to share the projects they have done using the sand tanks.

Elements of Plumeflow have also been used in the Barnard Hydrology class, Columbia's Center for New Media and Learning's CD-ROM-based environmental science simulation unit Brownsfields Action, and various workshops and presentations at different Columbia schools. Professor Stephanie Pfirman also presented the Plumeflow concept in December 2000 at the Project Kaleidoscope Taking Responsibility for Leadership conference in Tucson, Arizona.

If you would like more information about the Plumeflow project, please contact Stephanie Pfirman at spfirman@barnard.columbia.edu.