Do as the Romans: Construct an Aqueduct!
Students work with specified materials to create aqueduct components that can transport two liters of water across a short distance in the classroom. The design challenge is to create an aqueduct that can supply Aqueductis, a (hypothetical) Roman city, with clean water for private homes, public baths and fountains as well as crop irrigation.
Students do as the Romans and construct aqueducts.Copyright 2007 Emanuele, Wikimedia Commons http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pont_du_Gard_Oct_2007.jpg
Aqueducts are majestic and graceful ancient structures and engineering marvels that survive to this day. Since water is scarce in many parts of the world, and populations continue to grow, civil and agricultural engineers design systems that deliver water, natural gas and other resources from far away to the people who need them. Some factors that engineers consider when designing water transport systems are the project cost oand whether it is efficient enough to get the job done without wasting resources.
After this activity, students should be able to:
- Understand the history of the Roman Empire.
- Identify building techniques that were used by the Romans.
- Apply creative design methods.