Instructions:

To begin with, you should read Chapter 9 in Essentials of Geology, 10th ed. (if you haven't already done so).

Now that you're up to speed on rivers go to Virtual River (produced by Cal State University and the National Science Foundation - yes, the same folks that brought you Virtual Dating and Virtual Earthquake!). Your assignment is to complete the modules "River Discharge" and "River Flooding". You may optionally print out and hand in the final page that displays your Virtual Hydrologist Certification for each exercise (2 certificates). The "due" date for this homework is Wednesday, 4/20/11 in class.

You will need to be working on a Java-enabled web browser. For more info on browser requirements read the System Requirements. The computer labs on campus should all have a copy of Internet Explorer that is equipped to handle this. (Personally, I encourage those of you working on your own computers to download and use a modern, open-source browser such as Mozilla/Firefox. No need to encourage Bill Gates' monopolistic tendencies.) Further note: Sorry Mac users - my understanding is that this exercise does not work in the Safari browser.

Warning: The exercise took me about an hour to complete the first time I did it. You may get it done quicker, but I'd advise that you leave yourself at least two hours to work through it. I've found that the Java applets that these modules use can be tempermental at times. Hopefully this will not be a problem for you, but be prepared for a little frustration. (You may find that you need to start over again.) Please e-mail me if you are experiencing significant technical difficulties.