>
.c1.SQL Grantee: Dr. Gary Anderson, MS 41, ext. 2014
Department of Earth Sciences
Ground Water Quality and Flow
Beneath the SCSU Campus
A FINAL REPORT
1. Student Assessment:
Students in the Environmental Studies Program and the Earth Sciences
department have been pleased that there was an opportunity for hands on real
life
experiences. Many had not seen drilling equipment before, had not had the
opportunity to develop a well and had not had the opportunity to learn the
techniques necessary for the removal of a water sample and the measurement
of
ground water levels. Not only did they have the opportunity of these
activities,
they also worked with water samples and data collected from a location that
they
know well and for which they have a real interest. They talked about this
project
often and were academically excited about it.
2. Faculty Assessment:
Faculty have had many of the same experiences. This is the kind of
opportunity that would never have taken place without the Q-7 funds. This
ground water monitoring project will have lasting benefits for the ground
water
studies on this campus for years to come. This project also pointed out to the
administration, how important these facilities are and may well have facilitated
the availability of pre-existing monitoring wells on campus for long term
survival and use by our group.
3. On-Going Discussion:
The initiation of this project has initiated discussion between the
Environmental Studies program and the Earth Sciences department. This
discussion has been largely with the students of the Environmental Studies
program and the students and faculty of the Earth Sciences department. The
unfortunate illness of Sheree Cohn has reduced the amount of dialogue
between
Dr. Cohn and the Earth Sciences faculty. A dialogue has been developed
between the Earth Sciences chair and other geology, earth science and
geohydrology programs in the nation, although at this point only on an
informal
basis. There has been much interest in what we are doing.
4. Learning Affected:
In the short term, learning has been enhanced. Learning is always more
positive when hands-on situations are available. The methodology has been
altered to accommodate the ground water monitoring wells. The real impact
however, is in the long term. These wells will affect students and faculty in a
positive way for tens of years. For as long as the facilities will be available
there
will be enhanced learning. There is also the very strong probability that this
project will result in an enlargement of this facility. The contacts made with
the
city of St. Cloud would suggest that the city would be very willing to share
information which they have to continue this project across a larger
geographical
area. It is also very possible that the implementation of this project will allow
for
the development of another grant proposal to secure funds for an off-campus
source.
5. Objectives Affected:
The Earth Sciences department has been a very strong proponent of
hands-
on learning and problem solving higher division class activities. I am not
certain
of the Environmental Studies program. This project can only strengthen those
objectives and certainly provides an important series of new tools from which
to
continue this work. These materials and activities will enhance the bond
between
those in Earth Science who are using problem solving field based activities,
with
those individuals who are not yet certain how to proceed.
6. Collaborative Efforts:
In the External Review conducted by the Earth Sciences department in
1994, we were told that we should attempt more in the way of collaborative
activities. This proposal was a direct result of that comment. It was felt that
we
should develop positive ties with the Environmental Studies program because
we
have so much in common with that area. There are many areas of overlap
within
our two programs. One of the real benefits of collaborative effort of this sort
is
to learn to understand the people with which you are collaborating. This
effort
has been circumvented by the fact that Sheree Cohn has been on a medical
leave
since about October 1, 1995. It is anticipated that as a result of collaboration
with the Geography department, the project will save about $500.00 by having
the Surveying program in that department survey the topographical elevation
of
the wells. Survey costs would have been about $500.00.
7.1 Curriculum Design:
The outline of the curriculum for the Environmental Studies program
and
the Earth Sciences department is currently being developed. The
Environmental
Studies program is in considerable flux as a result of the health of the former
director. It is my understanding that a new director will be announced in the
near future. The interests and direction of that individual will determine the
thrust of that program. Furthermore, the Industrial Studies department,
which
houses the Environmental Studies program, is also in a state of flux. As a
result
of these two factors, it is difficult to assess what curriculum will develop
between
these two areas in the future. Certainly, the Earth Sciences department has an
interest in and a responsibility toward Environmental Studies activities on this
campus.
7.2 Areas of Learning:
The primary area of learning touched by this grant certainly was the
field
based analysis of complex scientific processes. While the data gathering is just
now getting started, there will be a wealth of information which will be
available
within one or two years regarding the ground water flow and quality beneath
the
SCSU campus. It should be stated that water quality in a ground water system
does not mean much if the flow regime is not understood. Similarly, students
in
the Earth Sciences need to have experience with water quality aspects while
they
work with ground water systems. Both groups are required at this time in
order
to see the integrated result. It is important for students to recognize the
importance of collaborative effort, this is perhaps one of the unexpected
results.
7.3 Continued Benefits:
Because of the status of the Environmental Studies program it is very
difficult to anticipate what will happen in this area. The Earth Science
department needs the water quality information which the Environmental
Studies
program can provide for the reasons suggested above.
7.4 Permanent Academic Exchange:
There is certainly a strong potential for permanent academic exchange
between the Environmental Studies program and the Earth Sciences
department.
Because of the status of the Environmental Studies program it is difficult to
know
what this exchange may be. The Earth Sciences department could be a very
strong player in the development of the Environmental Studies program. No
other department on campus has the scientific breadth that this program
contains
for the development of Environmental matters. The Environmental Studies
program is one of fundamental importance to this department. Academic
exchange could be very powerful.
7.5 Other Disciplines:
Certainly the Biology department could have been included in this
proposal. However, there are some important personnel problems that would
have made the involvement of that department difficult. They certainly do
have
water quality testing capabilities. It is also possible that the Geography
department could have been utilized in this proposal because of their GIS
capabilities and the need for Earth Sciences students to have a working
knowledge
of these techniques.
8. Budget:
1. Drilling Services:
Braun, Intertec, Professional Services (12-5-95)
$10,360.88
Braun, Intertec, Professional Services (1-11-96)
$3,482.88
2. Ground Water Modeling Software:
Waterloo Hydrogeologic
FLONET/TRANS (1-11-96)
$298.04
FLOW PATH (1-11-96)
$298.04
AQUITEST (1-11-96)
$164.84
VISUAL MOD FLOW MT 3D (1-11-96)
$631.04
Shipping (1-11-96)
$60.00
3. Downhole Pump:
Hazco Services
Grundfos Redi-flo 2 Pump (9-1-95)
$795.00
Grundfos Redi-flo 2 power converter (9-1-95)
$1,270.00
Grundfos stainless steel fitting (9-1-95)
$20.00
Pump and Motor circulation (10-14-95)
$45.00
Baster Scientific Products
Tygon laboratory tubing (9-22-95)
$136.91
4. Pressure Transducer:
The Water Log Company
Water log (1-10-96)
$1495.00
Vented cable (1-10-96)
$60.00
5. General Ground Water Monitoring Equipment
Ben Meadows Environmental
6 Timco Bailers (10-20-95)
$162.00
Suspension cord (10-20-95)
$108.50
Canvas carrying case (10-20-95)
$45.00
Envirotech Co.
Holding dog (10-20-95)
$69.00
Hand pump (10-6-95)
$408.00
Extension pipes (10-6-95)
$26.50
6. MPCA Manuals
Minnesota Pollution Control Agency
2 MPCA manuals (9-22-95)
$39.50
_________
Total
$19,976.13
Budget Narrative:
1. Eight ground water monitoring wells were installed on the SCSU
campus and adjacent properties by Braun Intertec Corporation at a total cost
of
$13,843.76. This was $252.24 below the budgeted cost. The wells were
installed
on 3 different visits between August 22, 1995 and January 5, 1996. These
expenses were the primary direction of the proposal. The installation of these
wells resulted in the availability of 3 other wells slightly to the south of the
wells
installed for this project. These wells have a value of about $5,000.00.
2. Waterloo Hydrogeologic, Inc. provided 4 software programs dealing
with ground water flow modeling programs so that students will be able to use
these items to model the ground water flow from the water level
measurements
which they will be making during the next several years. A total of $500.00
was
budgeted for this project, a total of $1451.96 was spent. The additional
$951.96
was spent on software since the expenditure of $2240.00 was not possible in
the
absence of Sheree Cohn. The software was not purchased until it was
absolutely
certain that Dr. Cohn would not be available for this activity. The writer of
this
report requested information about the status of Dr. Cohn on numerous
occasions
during the latter phases of this project. It was felt that additional software and
ground water monitoring well equipment would be a useful substitute.
3. Hazco Services, Inc. provided the Grundfus down hole pump for a
total
cost of $2266.91. The pump is used to remove water samples for water
quality
testing services. It was also used to develop the wells, a procedure which
purges
the wells of sediment, washes away clay and other materials from the screen
and
the aquifer and removed contaminants left in the well as a result of drilling
activities. Developing the 8 wells with this pump by the Earth Sciences faculty
and staff reduced the cost to the project by about $1500.00. This pump, in
conjunction with the pressure transducer, will also allow students to do pump
tests, recovery tests and other kinds of activities.
4. The Water Log Company provided a pressure transducer, a devise to
measure the water depth in the well, as measured at the bottom of the screen.
This item has a total cost of $1555.00. It can be used to determine pump tests,
slug tests as well as to monitor the level of the water table over an extended
period in any one well. Part of the cost of the pressure transducer was made
available as a result of not purchasing the $2240 worth of supplies.
5. Ben Meadows Environmental and the Envirotech Co. provided a
quantity of smaller items necessary to carry out routine activities with the
ground
water monitoring wells. A total of $819.00 was spent on these commodities.
These are items deemed useful in many different types of activities.
6. The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency provided 2 ground water
manuals to provide students with a source of information regarded Minnesota
regulations about ground water in Minnesota.
An additional cost saving factor in this project developed as a result of
not
having a survey done to locate the topographical elevation of each of the wells.
It
is anticipated that this will be done by a collaborative activity between the
Earth
Sciences department and the Geography department, where there is a graduate
level Surveying program. This resulted in an additional savings to the project
of
about $500.00
9. Chronological Account:
As of February 11, 1996, 8 ground water monitoring wells have been
completed on the SCSU campus (see attached map for locations). During the
week of August 22, 1995 four wells were drilled on the SCSU campus. One
well
about 50 feet in depth has been completed on the north side of the
International
Studies building, one well penetrating about 55 feet of glacial sediment has
been
drilled near the southeast corner of the Business building and two wells have
been
completed just north of Headly Hall. The shallower of these two wells is about
25
feet, the deeper well is set at about 50 feet. During the week of September 18,
two additional wells were drilled, one west of the Math Science building to a
depth of 55 feet, the other well just to the east of the Education buildings
drilled
to a depth of about 52 feet.
The last two wells which were drilled for this project using Q-7 money
were completed on property owned by the City of St. Cloud and required City
Council approval, which was granted at the September 25 meeting. The wells
are
located on the Beaver Islands Trail property adjacent to the 10 th St. dam. It
was
important that the drilling apparatus not damage the asphalt trailway or the
adjacent grass. For this reason drilling was not attempted until the week of
January 2, 1996 when it was felt that the ground would be frozen. To
facilitate
freezing, the SCSU Maintenance and Grounds personnel cleared the area of
snow
during the Christmas break.
Cleaning of the drilling debris was completed by the Maintenance and
Grounds personnel. Development of the wells began in late October after a
basic
hand pump for the removal of water from the bottom of the wells could be
initiated. Most development activity took place after the purchase of a down
hole
pump was available. This was in mid November. Because of the extremely
cold
weather and the lack of electrical power in the area, development of the two
wells
be the dam has not yet taken place.
The measurement of static water levels and the removal of water
samples
for testing began during Fall Quarter. This work was initiated by Sheree
Cohn.
Her illness beginning about the first of October and expected to continue until
the
middle or end of Spring Quarter has required that someone else take her place
in
this project. Jean Hoff of the Earth Sciences department has been responsible
for
her teaching activities in some areas during Fall and Spring Quarters.
During the Fall, 1995 Quarter, the ENV 400 -Ground Water Pollution class
conducted the first round of chemical testing of water from the wells. Tow
rounds of water collection and testing were completed during the quarter.
During each event, water was collected from seven campus wells.
Additionally,
field measurement of ground water levels, water temperature, and water
conductivity was conducted using salinometer, TDS/Conductivity meter, and
water level indicator instruments at each well. Later, in the Environmental
Quality Laboratory, each sample of well water was tested twice to determine
concentration of the following chemical parameters: atrazine, barium,
cadmium,
chlorine, chromium, copper, fluorine, iron, lead, manganese, nickel, nitrate,
oil,
phosphate, potassium, sodium, sulfate, and zinc. Additional water parameters
determined in the laboratory include alkalinity and hardness. Campus ground
water chemistry was compared to ground water from a private water supply
well
from outside of St. Cloud. Students interpreted the chemical results using
additional information obtained from geologic logs on the well construction
reports completed by Braun, Intertec.
Development of the new campus wells provided a laboratory activity
for
the Fall and Winter classes ESCI 455-Hydrogeology. Well development was
conducted by this class and is an activity a working hydrogeologist may
actually
supervise, particularly development of monitoring wells for use in ground
water
remediation. Collection of water level measurements using the slope indicator
probe was begun in this class and is being used to interpret the hydrogeologic
conditions beneath the campus. More elaborate testing using the campus wells,
including a full pump test, will be performed during Spring 1996 by students
in
the ESCI 455-Advanced Hydrology class and will form the focus of an
independent research project (ESCI 450).
While the drilling and development of the 8 ground water monitoring
wells
was taking place during the Fall and Winter Quarters, the removal of the old
Robel Meat Packing Plant was also taking place. This activity left 3 ground
water
monitoring wells which have been made available to the Earth Sciences
department and have been included into the Campus Ground Water
Monitoring
facility. These wells have a value of about $4000 and add considerably to the
overall thrust of this project.
10. Q-7 Steering Committee Report:
1. The goals for student learning were fine. It is however, difficult to
assess student learning in a developmental project like this one in such a short
time span. Some of the equipment was not purchased until very late in the
timetable because of the illness of one of the participants. This has made it
impossible to evaluate the final outcomes.
2. The projects will certainly enhance discussion of data and techniques.
This has been one of the very strong points of the Earth Science departmental
faculty. We have been discussing (arguing) earth science related concepts
forever.
3. Students are collecting on-going data for this project, and will be
doing
so hopefully 25 years from now with the same monitoring wells. It will be
perhaps several years before a meaningful report can be available about this
project.
4. Funds from this project made it possible to encourage the SCSU
administration to make available several other wells on campus which might
have
been lost without this program.
5. The timetable for this project was not appropriate for its completion.
The problem was made more difficult by the illness of one of the participants,
still, it is very difficult to do all of the development undertaken here in a
matter
of only a few months when there are so many other pressing matters required
at
this institution.
6. The institution was very helpful. The Buildings and Grounds people
were most capable. They provided considerable insight as to where to place
the
wells, they cleaned up around the drill sites after completion, they even
worked
on the city property when necessary. Finally, they have been most helpful in
the
acquisition
of three new wells. Their assistance should be greatly applauded.
.c1.SQL Grantee: Dr. Mohammed Bahauddin, ECC 152, ext. 2191
This project was done in collaboration with Academic Computing Services,
Randy Kolb. The grant amount of $ 3374 was spent on one course released
time.
A second course released time was funded with formerly unspent Q7 dollars
from FY 1995.
.c1.SQL Grantee: Dr. Richard Brundage, MS 324, ext. 2011
RBRUNDAGE@TIGGER.STCLOUD.MSUS.EDU
Q7 final report: Computer data acquisition and analysis for introductory
physics
PI: Prof. Richard Brundage, Physics, Astronomy and Engineering Science
how did students assess the experience
The project is still in the development stage. The student involved in the
project found it useful and interesting. He used the hardware and software
he developed to acquire and analyze data in an advanced lab experiment.
The new resources made quantitative analysis possible in a lab that had
been mostly qualitative.
Another student is currently doing an independent project to develop new
labs for the intro labs using the computers.
how did faculty assess the experience
The PI used the experience gained from the project to write a proposal to
the National Science Foundation (NSF) to fund a set of computers for the
introductory labs. Budget constraints have not allowed purchase of enough
computers to use the material in introductory classes yet, so the majority
of dept. faculty are not yet involved in the project.
on going discussion across disciplines and between institutions feasible or
desirable
Discussion across disciplines is desirable. The PI is part of a COST
faculty group working on a proposal to NSF to support sharing of new
teaching methods across disciplines. The tools used in this project will
be useful to other disciplines. The application of computers in
introductory physics can serve the needs of other departments by
introducing students to computerized data acquisition and analysis.
how was learning affected (method, didactic, and resources) in the long and
short terms
In the short term the project gives physics majors an opportunity to learn
how to design computer data acquisition systems and instructional lab
experiments. In the long term the project should lead to computer use in
lab by introductory level students, which will have a broad impact on
computer literacy in COST.
How were objectives of learning affected (concept building, abstraction)?
In the long term the project should allow students to take more data and
use more sophisticated analysis methods. This will lead to more focus on
student design of experiments and student ownership of the lab process.
challenges and benefits of collaborative efforts
The challenges are to find common ground among different departments
struggling to introduce computers into lab with limited resources and time.
The benefits include sharing of tools and reduction in duplicate effort.
outline improved design for curriculum of participating programs or
departments
Too early to speculate. The computers need to be used in classes and their
impact evaluated before we can go on to the next step of redesigning the
labs.
comments on areas of learning touched by their SQL grant that lend
themselves to cross disciplinary endeavors
The project involves the basic methods of science: experimental design,
data acquisition, and analysis. These are all areas that lend themselves
to cross disciplinary endeavors.
benefits of continued exchange of knowledge between departments and
disciplines
see benefits of collaborative efforts.
potential for permanent academic exchange between the parties to their project
Permanent academic exchange amongst the department faculty will be
guarantee when the computers are introduced into the labs.
disciplines that should have been included
The project is in the developmental stage so inclusion of other departments
would be premature.
budget and budget narrative
R. Brundage, 10 days, Summer 1995 (labor) 2724.35
student assistant, 15 days (labor) 720.00
Supplies:
Part # 044866007001 MS Mouse PS/2 style 49.00
Part #172-5001 IDC Flat cable, 50 conductor, 50' spool 64.90
Part #517-3425-7600 center-bumped closed end socket connector, 50 contact
49.35
Part #517-3448-3050 strain relief for 50 contact ribbon socket 2.03
Part #5174-13321 heat shrinkable tubing 3/32" dia expanded 13.60
Part #523-31-221-RFX front mount bulkhead receptacle BNC 27.40
Part #537-MDC-642-01 ALuminum modular desktop console, 6"x4"x2 1/4"
59.40
Part #565-5187-C-36 Minigrabber test clips to BNC male 140.60
total 3850.63
chronological account of activities, problems, changes, solutions
Work formally started July 1, 1995, but we did some preliminary work that
learning how to compile and transfer programs between the desktop and
laptop computers. Prof's Brundage and Schoenberger met in early June to
discuss labs in PHYS 236 best suited for computer use.
Chris Reyerson and Prof Brundage worked on data acquisition software one
or
two days a week during the summer. First a simple voltage vs. time program
was developed, this went quickly and was complete in the first two weeks.
We then tried a more challenging project - to design a program that
measured two voltages as a function of frequency while the user changed the
frequency over a wide range of values. This turned out to be harder than
we thought, but we were able to come up with a working program, though
there seem to be bugs in it still. Hardware for the interfaces was
purchased near the end of the summer and a prototype was assembled. Design
of the interfaces will continue as new experiments are developed.
additional information
.c1.SQL Grantees: Dr. Shelly Brundage, Dr. Margery Whites,
EBA216, ext. 4172
.c1.SQL Grantees:
.c1.SQL Grantees:
.c1.SQL Grantees:
.c1.SQL Grantees:
.c1.SQL Grantees:
.c1.SQL Grantees:
.c1.SQL Grantees:
.c1.SQL Grantees:
Return Q7RWC-outreach