Course Description:  Introduction to the theory and principles of ground water flow as well as streamflow.  Topics include the hydrologic equation, evapotranspiration, well drilling and testing, porosity and permeability, Darcy's law, confined and unconfined aquifers, flow nets, geology of ground water occurrence, water table maps, geophysical exploration methods, well logs, streamflow, and hydrographs (4 credit hours).   (From the NEIU catalog.)

Course Syllabus

Course Home Page         Outline of Topics
Evaluation and Grading    Course Requirements

What should you bring to this course?
 Course Outcomes and Objectives (What will you take from this course?)

Hints for Solving Quantitative Problems

Instructor Contact Information:

Instructor: Dr. Laura L. Sanders              Office: S-146
Phone:      773/442-6051                        Fax: 773/442-5710                      E-Mail: L-Sanders@neiu.edu

Office Hours:     Tuesdays  3:00-3:45 pm and 6:45-9:10 pm
                           Thursdays 3:00-3:45 pm and 5:55-7:00 pm

Course Prerequisites: Physical Geology (ESCI 211),
                                 College Algebra (MATH 104) or Precalculus Mathematics (MATH 106)
Text:     C.W. Fetter, Applied Hydrogeology, 4th edition, 2001.
Website for textbook:  www.appliedhydrogeology.com
Course Website:        www.neiu.edu/~llsander/337home.html
Department Website:   www.neiu.edu/~deptesci/welcome.htm

Evaluation and Grading

Evaluation:  3 exams, weighted equally: 36%
Laboratory work:   12%
Homework and quizzes: 36%
Project paper:   16%
No extra credit will be given.

In general, 90-100% = A, 80-89% = B, 70-79% = C, 60-69% = D, <60% =F

Course Requirements

Attendance at all lecture and lab sessions is expected.  Please bring the following to class every day:
    § Your textbook and notebook;
    § A scientific calculator, pencil, eraser, ruler, and a colored pencil (any color).

E-Mail: Students must have an e-mail account (either through NEIU or an e-mail service) and must check their e-mail at least twice weekly.

Exams and Quizzes: Three exams will be given; dates are shown on the outline of topics.  Any quizzes given will be announced in advance.

Laboratory Work: Weekly laboratory activities will be described on handouts.  Only certain portions of each lab will be graded, and unless otherwise stated, you should hand in these portions before you leave the lab.  On occasion, we may have lab quizzes; these will be announced in advance.  Lab work will be assigned a grade of 0, 0.5, or 1 pt.

Homework: Homework will be given regularly.  Assignments and due dates will be posted on the homework page.  If your homework is not ready on the due date, this must be discussed with me on the due date.  No homework will be accepted more than one week later than the due date.

Project: In the project, which we will work on throughout the semester, you will construct, test, and use a numerical ground water model that will allow you to delineate a wellhead protection area of a community water supply well in Illinois.  Several of the homework assignments and labs will deal directly with this project.  The final paper will be a report describing the geologic and hydrogeologic setting, the ground water model, and the 5-year recharge area for the well(s) in the study.

Assessments: Students must participate in all assessment activities ("green sheets").

Flexibility: This outline is subject to change as the semester goes along.  Please allow for flexibility in topics and assignments.

What should you bring to this course?  If you are an undergraduate, you should come into this course with the ability to do the following:

* List the three major classes of rocks.
* List two types of rock that belong to each of the major classes, and give examples of each.
* List the major types of sediments in order of descending grain size.
* Tell what type of rock each type of sediment would form, if lithified.
* Draw a diagram illustrating the processes and products of the rock cycle.
* Name and describe the two major types of weathering processes.
* List and describe three major types of glacial deposits, and describe how they form.
*Use a topographic map to investigate and describe the topography of an area.
* Use a topographic map to determine what direction a stream flows.
* Use a topographic map to tell what direction is downhill from a given point.
* Given elevation values at several data points, construct a simple topographic contour map.
* Given a point on a map, use the Public Land Survey system (Township, Range, and Section) to tell its
    geographic location.
* Given the Township, Range, and Section of a point, plot it on a topographic map.
* Use a topographic map to construct a topographic profile.
* Give and use the geometric formulas for area of a rectangle, triangle, and circle.
* Give and use the geometric formulas for the volume of a rectangular solid and a cylinder.
* Give the general formula for a graph of a straight line and explain what each variable in the formula means.
* Given a simple algebraic formula containing several variables, rearrange the formula to solve for each variable.  (For
    example, if 2y = 3x +5, rearrange the formula to solve for x, and then rearrange it to solve for y.)
* Write a number both in scientific notation and in normal format.
*  Raise a number to an exponential power.

Grad students are expected to have a deeper understanding of stratigraphy (in particular glacial geologic stratigraphy); the geologic time scale; interpretation of geologic history of an area from geologic data such as maps, drillhole data, and outcrop descriptions; methods for constructing and reading geologic cross sections; use of geologic maps; construction and use of topographic maps; algebraic manipulation; use of logarithms; graphing; and basic calculus notation.

Outline of Topics

NOTE: Reading assignments listed here are for the Fetter textbook.

JAN 8    Course overview; hydrologic cycle, water budget, and hydrologic equation.
              Solving quantitative problems.  Read: Chapter 1.
JAN 10  Precipitation, evaporation, evapotranspiration, and stream flow.  Read: p. 24-42.
JAN 15  Lab #2: Topographic and geologic maps.  Homework: Assignment #1 is due.
JAN 17  Hydrographs.  Finding and interpreting stream flow data.  Properties of porous materials.  Read: p. 42-60.
JAN 22  Lab #3: Porosity, Specific Yield, and Specific Retention.  Read: p. 69-81.
JAN 24  Properties of porous materials, continued: hydraulic conductivity.  Hydrostratigraphy.  Read: p. 81-108.
JAN 29  EXAM #1.
JAN 31  Darcy’s Law.  Ground water flow. Read: Chapter 4
FEB 5    Lab #4: Darcy’s Law and hydraulic conductivity (permeameters).
FEB 7    Water levels; wells; piezometers; hydraulic head; gradient. Read: Chapter 4 and p. 297-300.
FEB 12  No class: Lincoln's Birthday Holiday
FEB 14  Lab #5: The NEIU Darcy tube and ground water Model.
FEB 19  Flow nets and ground water modeling.  Read: p. 132-138 and Chapter 13.
FEB 21  Lab #6: Hydrogeologic cross sections and maps.
FEB 26  Flow nets, cont’d.
FEB 28  Lab #7: Flow nets I.
MAR  5  Well hydraulics.  Read: Chapter 5.
MAR  7  EXAM #2
MAR 12  Well hydraulics, continued.
MAR 14  Lab #8: Flow nets II.
MAR 19  SPRING BREAK
MAR 21  SPRING BREAK
MAR 26  Regional ground water flow and ground water models.  Read: Chapter 7.
MAR 28  Lab #9:  Ground water modeling.
APR   2    Lab #10: Ground water modeling.
APR   4    Well hydraulics.  Read: Chapter 5.
APR   9    Lab #11: Aquifer Tests I: Slug tests.
APR 11  Ground water chemistry.  Read: Chapter 9.
APR 16  Lab #12: Aquifer Tests II: Pumping tests.
APR 18  Ground water contamination.  Read: Chapter 10 and p. 505-511.
APR 23  Lab #13: Ground water contamination.  Modeling projects due.
APR 25  Ground water contamination.  Read: Chapter 10.
APR 30  EXAM #3: 4:00 to 5:50 pm.  NOTE UNUSUAL TIME!

Course Assessments:  A list of course outcomes appears in this syllabus.  In addition to these, each class day you will receive a list of expected daily outcomes.  You also can find these from the outline of topics in this syllabus; just click on each date.  I want to learn how well certain concepts are getting across and how the class is feeling about the material and the course as we go along.  At the end of each class period, you will assess this, anonymously.  On these “green sheets”, assessment questions will help me find out how well the day’s outcomes were achieved.  This may be done in the form of an ungraded quiz-type question, a concept map, or survey-type questions.  This information will help me to determine the extent to which the course is meeting its goals.  To provide me with the most information so that I can make the course better, I ask that you give me your most thoughtful, honest feedback-- the more, the better.

Course Outcomes and Objectives  (also see the daily objectives linked to the outline of topics)

By the end of this course, you should be able to do the following:

Surface Water/Hydrologic Cycle
   * describe the processes in the hydrologic cycle and explain how rates of each are quantified
   * use a planimeter to measure a map area
   * given precipitation rates in length/time units, calculate the volume of precipitation over an area
   * given evaporation rates in length/time units, calculate volume of evaporation from a surface water body
   * construct a hydrologic budget for a drainage basin
   * use the internet to locate discharge data for a given stream gage
   * given stream discharge data, plot a hydrograph
   * list and describe the effects of factors that determine hydrograph shape

Properties of Porous Media
   * use lab and non-lab methods to estimate values of porosity, effective porosity, specific yield, specific retention, permeability, and hydraulic conductivity for any given type of porous medium
   * use these properties to predict and describe the water-bearing and water-yielding capacities of various rocks and sediments
   * describe a hydrogeologic setting in terms of aquifers, aquitards, and hydrostratigraphic units
   * using geologic cross sections, maps, and reports, identify hydrostratigraphic units in any given area

Ground Water Flow
   * use data from piezometers to measure hydraulic head
   * distinguish between wells and piezometers, and explain what determines water levels as measured by each
   * given measurements of hydraulic head, calculate hydraulic gradient within a porous medium
   * use Darcy’s Law to describe the interactions between ground water discharge, hydraulic conductivity, cross-sectional area of flow, and hydraulic gradient
   * use corollaries of Darcy’s Law to estimate velocity of ground water flow
   * draw plan view and cross-sectional flow nets based on boundary conditions and/or hydraulic head data
   * use water levels in wells/piezometers to predict the direction of ground water flow in an area

Well Hydraulics
   * sketch a diagram of a well illustrating and labeling the components
   * given the intended purpose of a well and the site geology, specify the depth to which the borehole should be drilled and the well intake installed
   * describe the flow of water to a well
   * use the Theis equation to predict the effects of changes in pumping rate, radius from the pumping well, hydraulic conductivity, aquifer saturated thickness, time since pumping began, and aquifer storativity on the drawdown within an aquifer
   * interpret pumping test data to estimate aquifer transmissivity and storativity

Ground Water Chemistry and Contamination
   * use mass/mass, mass/volume, and molar units of measurement to describe aqueous concentrations of water constituents
   * list common ground water contaminants (or contaminant groups) and their potential sources
   * describe how physical and chemical characteristics of a contaminant affect its behavior in the subsurface and influence selection of remediation strategies

Ground Water Modeling
   * use well logs, regional geologic data, surface water records, and other hydrogeologic data to construct hydrogeologic cross sections and maps for a given area
   * produce a numerical model of ground water conditions in a given area, including appropriate choice of boundaries and initial conditions
   * describe and evaluate the magnitude and effects of potential errors within the numerical model
   * write a scientific report describing and explaining the numerical model

Quantitative Skills
   * solve geomathematical problems involving varied and diverse units of measurement, and be able to convert between units
   * using quantitative terms, formulate mathematical expressions for and solutions to problems related to water flow rates, discharge rates, volumes, areas, and depths
   * apply the following quantitative skills: algebraic manipulation, use of scientific notation, use of exponents and logarithms, construction and interpretation of graphs, contouring, interpolation and extrapolation, and use of significant figures

Critical Thinking/ Non-Content-Based Skills
   * in the NEIU library, locate scientific journals that concern hydrogeology
   * evaluate the validity and reliability of disparate data sources, especially when they provide conflicting information
   * evaluate quantitative solutions to hydrogeological problems to determine if they fall within a reasonable range of values
   * evaluate quantitative solutions to hydrogeological problems to estimate sources of uncertainty and magnitude of error.

Hints for Solving Quantitative Problems

Solving numerical problems is a critical aspect of hydrogeologic work.  Your calculations must be neat and carefully done, and must be accompanied by explanations of the computations.  Here's how to do well on solving numerical problems:

   * Start with lots of clean scratch paper.
   * Write down information given; write what you need to find.
   * Solve the problem in a logical sequence of steps that take you from what you know to what you want to know.
   * Convert units as necessary.  For more on units, see p. 19-20 in the textbook.
   * At each step, write in words what process that step involves.
   * Check to be sure your answer is reasonable, that you included units of measurement, and that the answer is in a convenient unit and order of magnitude.
   *  Check the number of significant figures (digits) in the answer.  For more on significant figures, see p. 18-19 in the textbook.
   *  Then, copy your work onto a clean sheet of paper.
   *  Leave lots of blank space.
   *  Write no unexplained numbers or words on the paper.
   *  Put a box around the final answer.
   *  Start each problem on a new sheet of paper.
   * On every graph, label each axis, including units of measurement; give title & date, & write chapter & problem number.
   * Some answers are best given in tables. If your answer includes a table, make it neat.  Each column needs a heading; the heading must include units of measurement.  If applicable, show a sample calculation after the table.
   *  Write your name on every page.
   *  Staple or clip pages together.
   *  Trim ragged edges.
   *  You must write the units of measurement at every step in the solution.

© 2002 Laura L. Sanders.  Last updated January 7, 2002.

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