Chapter OverviewWe begin the study of stocks and flows at the human scale with the study of urban storm water. Unlike later chapters, in this chapter we are not interested in the transformation of matter. Urban stormwater flows are important on the time scales of minutes, hours, days -- temporal scales that very much match the rhythms of human life.
Urban stormwater flows are also interesting because they reflect changes humans have made to landscapes. Understanding the nature and magnitude of human changes to the environment is also an important goal of the study of the science of the environment. The lab that we have designed to accompany this section is suited to our Maine winters, but we've also suggested some adaptations for warmer climates. In our lab, we ask the students to estimate the total amount of water held in the snow pak on a hill near campus. We arrange the students into teams of consultants and require them to bill for the hours they use making the estimate and the cost of the equipment they use (with instruments capable of more precise measurements generally "costing" more per hour than less precise but simpler instruments). Our goal in this exercise is to introduce students to the notion of estimation and to some basic statistical ideas.
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