Challenge #3: Niagara Falls, Canada

You have traveled two segments of your journey to Niagara Falls. You need to travel one more segment to reach your goal and become a Master Survivor. The required daily data will be entered in your journal.

Daily Required Data (Remember to graph this information.)

Distance in ______ miles and _______ kilometers.

        Weather Click here or here to find the necessary information.
            Temperature ____F and ____C (Conversion formula: C=(F-32)/1.8) (F=1.8C+32))
            Conditions (cloudy/sunny/rain) ________________
            Precipitation is ________ inches and ________ centimeters

Ultraviolet Index is _____ and there are ____ minutes to skin damage. Click here to find real time UV data.

Latitude & Longitude is _______North & ______West. Click here to find this information for specific places

Activity: 1

The objective of this activity is to gather information about the historical background of Niagara Falls and practice surfing the Internet.

In this activity you will surf Thunder Alley,  the Niagara Falls website. Click here to find answers to the following questions. As you find your answers record them in your journal and share them with your classmates.
 

1.What does the name Niagara mean? Do you think it is a good name? Why? If you could rename the falls, what would you name them and why?

2. How long is the Niagara River? Find it on the map. What two large bodies of water does it join? How old is it? In what direction does it flow? Into which body of water does it deposit minerals and sediment?

3. Why would it be better to call the Niagara River a strait?

4. Name the bridge over the Niagara River between Buffalo and Fort Erie.

5.What is the most important regulator of the Niagara River? Why?

6. From Goat Island to Horseshoe Falls there is a series of rapids. What causes the rapids?

7.What is the speed of the Niagara River at the crest of the Horseshoe Falls?

8.What is the depth of the River at the base of the Horseshoe Falls?

9.What is the height of the Horseshoe Falls in meters and feet?

10.The levels of the Great Lakes, Lake Huron, Lake Erie and Lake Ontario are 50 to 65 centimeters lower than they were in April 1998. Lake Superior is 25 centimeters lower than it was a year ago and is at its lowest water level in 100 years. Why do you think the water levels are so low? What effect will water level have on hydro-electric generation? Will it effect boaters? Explain. Click here to look at the section of Thunder Alley that discusses hydro-electric power.

11. The height of the American Falls (Rainbow Falls) is 182 feet from the crestline to the river level. The talus at the base makes this very deceptive. Explain.

12. Niagara Falls is a treasure of natural and man made sights. Visit the many exciting attractions by journeying through the web site on your own.

The objective of this activity is to give an understanding of the vast amount of water that flows over the Horseshoe Falls in one second. You will integrate math as a tool for problem solving in science, and as a means of expressing or modeling scientific theories. You will practice finding the volume of an area you are familiar with and compare it to Niagara Falls.

The normal flow of water volume flowing over Horseshoe Falls is approximately 100,000 cubic feet per second. How many bathtubs could you fill with the amount of water that goes over the falls in 1 second...in 10 seconds?

Step 1. Measure the volume of your bathtub. To find the volume use this formula l x w x h= v
Volume equals length x width x height in cubic ft. or centimeters.

Step 2. Divide the amount of water flowing over Horseshoe Falls per second by the volume of water that your bathtub holds. (Use your calculator to compute.)

Step 3. Reflect : Do you think the amount of water flowing over the falls ever changes? What might make a difference. Do you think you could tell by looking at the falls? Record your reflections in your journal for homework.

The objective of this activity is to learn how to view a picture and respond thoughtfully and critically to it.

Look at the real cam picture for 2 minutes. (Click here to see the picture).

1. What changes do you see taking place as you watch this picture?
2. What do you think is causing the smoky looking plumes above the crest of the falls?
3. Do you think the volume of the water flow is related to the plumes?
4. Does this section of the river appear to be navigable?  Why? Why not?
5. For your homework write a poem or paragraph that describes the falls or create a short story that takes place at Niagara Falls. Share your responses with the class.

The objective of this activity is to create a mechanism to demonstrate that falling water is a source of energy. To do this you will need the following:

1. a steady source of water (ex. from a container.. glass, watering can, hose etc)
2. a container to collect the water
3. a lever or some device to measure amount of force
4. pencil / paper to record observations

Step 1.  Construct a device that transfers the energy of falling water to another object.  Below is an example of such a device. Using this device, to transfer energy, you would pour water on the left end of the seesaw. What do you think would happen to the weight on the right side of the seesaw? Why? How is this an example of transferring energy from falling water to another object?

Step 2. Try to create your own.

Step 3. Try pouring water from different heights.  Does this change the amount of energy produced?  How do you know?

Step 4.  Pour different volumes of water from different heights?  How does this change the amount of energy produced?  How do you know?   Does the difference in the height of a water fall effect the amount of energy created by the moving water?

Step 5.  What conclusions can you make from this experiment? What kind of energy is this experiment showing? Does the amount of water flowing effect the amount of energy produced?  How can you explain this?  (hydropower)

Step 6.  Think about the Paterson Falls and compare them with Niagara Falls. Do you think there is more possibility for energy production at Paterson Falls or Niagara Falls. Why? Write your reflections in your journal.