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Mathematics Resource Guide - Flood Defences

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Abstract

Soil erosion can cost the world billions of dollars every year by washing pollutants into our streams and rivers and by causing the loss of farmland. What can you do about this problem? Help save the world (and some money!) with nothing more than a few plants!

Summary

Objective

Find out if plants can reduce the amount of soil that is eroded from a hill due to rainfall.

Introduction

You are surrounded by soil every time you step outside. It seems like the world has plenty of it, so why would we need to worry about conserving it? It turns out that soil erosion, or the washing away of soil by forces like wind and water, is actually a big problem. It can cause loss of farmland as soil in fields washes away, like in Figure 1. It can pollute waterways by washing pesticides and fertilizers into them. It can even cause damage to human life and property by contributing to mudslides and landslides. The total economic cost of soil erosion in the United States alone was estimated at about 38 billion dollars each year, and $400 billion for the whole world (Lang, 2006). So, soil erosion is definitely a problem; how can you help solve it?

Soil erosion is partially caused by runoff, or water that flows over the surface of the ground after the soil is saturated, or unable to absorb any more water. One way to help combat soil erosion is through the use of plants. Plants have extensive root systems that can help "grab on" to soil and keep the soil clumped together. You can see this if you have ever pulled a plant out of the ground, like the clump of grass in Figure 2. Plants also absorb some of the water in the soil. These effects make it harder for water to wash away the soil (note that plants can also help block wind, and therefore prevent wind erosion, but this project will test water erosion only). Using plants to prevent soil erosion is a form of economic botany, meaning the use of plants to make (or save) money.

In this project, you will set up a controlled experiment with "hillsides" made from small trays filled with dirt. Some of the trays will have seeds planted in them, and some will not. Once the plants are grown, you will simulate rain with a watering can. Do you think plants will help stop or reduce soil erosion? If so, by how much? Try this project to find out!

Terms and Concepts

Questions

What are some of the causes of soil erosion?

What are the different types of soil erosion?

What are some of the economic impacts and costs of soil erosion?

What are some methods to prevent soil erosion?

Materials and Equipment

Aluminum bread pans, approximately 8 × 3 × 3 inches (6)

Aluminum cake pans, approximately 12 × 8 × 1 inches (2)

Soil (enough to fill all six bread pans)

You can purchase potting soil from a hardware store or garden center.

If the soil in your area is good for growing a vegetable garden, you can just use dirt from outside.

Radish seeds (1 small bag); available at a hardware store or garden center

Ruler, metric

Sticky notes

Permanent marker

Scissors or sharp knife

Full-size watering can (not a "kiddie size" can or beach toy) with "rain" spout (versus a single-hole spout); available at a hardware store or garden center

Sunny windowsill for the plants; or, if the weather in your area is appropriate, you can put the plants outside

Short plastic container, or other object that can be used to prop up one edge of a bread pan to a height of roughly 3-5 cm. Do not use an object that you do not want to get wet, like a book.

Outdoor test area with a flat, level surface. If you must do the project inside, you will need to do it somewhere where it will be easy to clean up spilled water and a little dirt, like in a bathtub. You should set up and perform your trials in the bathtub if you are doing this inside.

Optional: Stopwatch

Kitchen scale; available from Amazon.com

Lab notebook

Experimental Procedure

Preparing Your Plants

Fill each of the six bread pans with soil, as shown in Figure 3. Leave a little bit of space at the top, so the soil is not flowing over the edges.

1. Plant radish seeds in three of the bread pans, slightly closer together than the package directions say to. For example, if the package says to plant the seeds 1 inch apart, you could plant them 1/2 inch apart. You can do this because you do not need the radish plants to be full grown for this project. Putting them closer together will allow you to more clearly see the effects of plant roots on the soil.

2. Use sticky notes to label each of your bread pans with a trial number and indicating whether or not the pan has seeds, as shown in Figure 4. You should have three bread pans with seeds and three without seeds, for a total of six.

Use scissors or a sharp knife to puncture holes along the bottom edge of the bread pans, as shown in Figure 5. These will serve as drainage holes to allow excess water to drain out of the pans.

Place the bread pans into the cake pans, as shown in Figure 6. This will allow the cake pans to collect any excess water that leaks out of the drain holes in the bread pans. You should be able to fit three bread pans into each cake pan: one cake pan for your bread pans with seeds, and one cake pan for the pans without seeds.

1. Place both cake pans near a sunny window (or outdoors, if the weather in your area is appropriate). Make sure the plants will receive as much direct sunlight as possible during the day. Ask an adult if you are not sure about putting the plants outside. If the weather is not right (if it is too hot and dry, or too wet and rainy) the plants might die, and you will have to start over.

2. For approximately the next 7-10 days, water the soil in the bread pans gently once per day. Once your plants are roughly 8-10 centimeters (cm) tall, you are ready to move on to the next section and conduct your experiment. How many days this takes may vary based on factors like temperature, exposure to sunlight, how much you water the plants, and the type of soil you used.

1. Water them gently so the force of the water pouring on the dirt does not push the seeds around. You will have to use your judgment when watering the plants. You want the soil to be wet, but not flooded. If water starts to collect in the cake pans, this means you may be over-watering. Drain the cake pans and reduce the amount of water you apply.

2. Make sure you water the bread pans with seeds and the bread pans without seeds. This will ensure that your experimental control (the bread pans without seeds) received the same amount of water throughout the experiment as the bread pans with seeds. This also simulates real-world rainfall conditions (a hill without plants would receive the same amount of rainfall as a hill with plants).

Testing Soil Erosion

Record Table 1 in your lab notebook so you can use it to write down your results.

1. Use your kitchen scale to record the mass of an empty cake pan, and write this value in your lab notebook. You will need it later.

2. Make two vertical cuts halfway down the short side of each bread pan, then fold down the top half of that side to expose the soil, as shown in Figure 7. This will allow soil to flow out of the pan for your erosion test.

Set up your test area.

1. Empty and dry out the cake pans, if necessary.

2. Place a shallow plastic container that is roughly 3-5 cm high (or use another object of similar height and that can get wet and dirty) next to one of the cake pans.

3. Place the cut end of a bread pan into the cake pan, with the other end propped up on the plastic container, as shown in Figure 8. Only the uncut end of your bread pan should be on the box. Putting your bread pan at an angle like this simulates a hill.

1. Fill up your watering can. It is important to have the same amount of water in the watering can at the start of each trial.

2. Use the watering can to simulate "rain" on the bread pan by carefully following these steps:

1. Hold the watering can up high enough that you can pour water onto the entire bread pan at once, as shown in Figure 9. This simulates even rainfall across the entire area. Note that this will result in some water landing outside of the pans, which is why you need to do the experiment outside or in a bathtub.

2. Do not hold the watering can too close to the bread pan so the water only hits a concentrated area, as shown in Figure 10. You want to make sure the water hits the entire bread pan at once.

3. Count to five slowly while pouring water onto the bread pan. Optionally, you can have a volunteer use a stopwatch to time you.

4. Pay close attention to how much you tilt the watering can, and how hard the water falls on the bread pan. You will need to use the exact same method for each of your trials.

1. Carefully lift the bread pan up, being careful not to spill out any additional dirt into the cake pan, and set it aside.

2. After the test, you should be left with a cake pan filled with soil and water, as shown in Figure 11.

Carefully drain the water out of the cake pan, without spilling any of the soil, so you are left with only the soil in the pan, as shown in Figure 12. This is the soil that was eroded from your "hillside" (the bread pan) by "rain" from your watering can. Note that a small amount of soil suspended in the water may also drain out of the pan, but it should be a small enough amount that it does not impact your results.

1. Use your kitchen scale to measure the mass of the cake pan and soil. Subtract the mass of an empty cake pan (which you should have measured earlier) from the combined mass of the soil and pan, to calculate the mass of the soil alone. Enter this value in your data table.

2. Repeat steps 4-10 for each of your remaining bread pans. Be sure to simulate rain for each pan as consistently as possible. Refill your watering can each time, even if you do not empty it all the way. This will allow you to apply consistent water flow for each trial.

3. Analyze your results.

1. Calculate an average value of the mass of the eroded soil for the pans with seeds and the pans with no seeds. Record the averages in your data table.

2. Make a bar graph of your results, with the type of pan (seeds or no seeds) on the x-axis (horizontal line), and the average mass of eroded soil on the y-axis (vertical line).

3. Looking at your data, would you conclude that plants helped reduce the amount of eroded soil due to rain?

4. How do you think plants can be used to help reduce erosion in the real world? How do you think real-world situations might be similar to, or different from, your experiment?

Ask an Expert

Global Connections

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDGs) are a blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all.

This project explores topics key to Zero Hunger: End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture.

Variations

Try the experiment with different types of plants, or let the radish seeds grow for longer. Are some plants better at reducing soil erosion than others?

Try the experiment with different types of soil. Are some types of soil more susceptible to erosion than others?

Try the experiment with mushrooms instead of plants. Can mushrooms help reduce soil erosion?

Do a larger-scale version of the experiment using larger containers, like plastic storage bins.

If possible, try doing the experiment outside on an actual hillside. You may need garden tools and help from an adult to do this. Clear any existing vegetation (like grass) from two equally sized patches of soil on a hillside. Leave one patch of bare dirt, and plant seeds in the other patch. Figure out a way to measure soil erosion; for example, by digging holes downhill from each patch of soil and placing a bucket or large bin in the hole to catch the eroded soil.

Use a video camera to record your experiments. Look up the different types of soil erosion due to water (sheet, rill, gully, and splash-see the references in the Bibliography). What type of erosion do you see during your experiment?

Do your results change depending on whether the soil is dry at the beginning of your experiment, or if it is already saturated?

Careers

If you like this project, you might enjoy exploring these related careers:

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Cite This Page

General citation information is provided here. Be sure to check the formatting, including capitalization, for the method you are using and update your citation, as needed.

MLA Style

Finio, Ben. "Can Plants Stop Soil Erosion?" Science Buddies, 29 Aug. 2023, https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/project-ideas/EnvEng_p037/environmental-engineering/can-plants-stop-soil-erosion. Accessed 29 Apr. 2024.

APA Style

Finio, B. (2023, August 29). Can Plants Stop Soil Erosion? Retrieved from https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/project-ideas/EnvEng_p037/environmental-engineering/can-plants-stop-soil-erosion

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Abstract

Earth is an amazing planet. It has everything that we need: food, shelter, and water. Sure, we need water to drink, but have you thought about using water to create energy? Moving water has a lot of energy and all we need to do is to harness it. Moving water made the Grand Canyon. That took a lot of energy! In this science fair project, you will demonstrate the power of water by converting the kinetic energy in moving water to mechanical energy, which will lift a small weight.

Objective

The goal of this science fair project is to understand hydropower. You will convert the energy in falling water to mechanical energy to lift a small weight.

Credits

Michelle Maranowski, PhD, Science Buddies

The template for the waterwheel and the idea for the project are derived from a lesson from the Railroad Commission of Texas:
Railroad Commission of Texas. (n.d.). Unit 1: Energy, Student lesson, Investigation: Water Wheel. Alternative Fuels Research & Education Division.

Cite This Page

General citation information is provided here. Be sure to check the formatting, including capitalization, for the method you are using and update your citation, as needed.

MLA Style

Science Buddies Staff. "Put Your Water to Work: Using Hydropower to Lift a Load." Science Buddies, 12 Jan. 2020, https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/project-ideas/Energy_p021/energy-power/using-hydropower-to-lift-a-load. Accessed 1 Mar. 2020.

APA Style

Science Buddies Staff. (2020, January 12). Put Your Water to Work: Using Hydropower to Lift a Load. Retrieved from https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/project-ideas/Energy_p021/energy-power/using-hydropower-to-lift-a-load

Last edit date: 2020-01-12

Introduction

About 70 percent of the Earth is covered with ocean water. 98 percent of the water on Earth is in the ocean and is undrinkable because it is salty. 2 percent of the water on Earth is freshwater and is drinkable. However, 1.6 percent of freshwater is frozen in the polar ice caps. But no matter where the water is, it is moving and it is part of the global water cycle. The water cycle is shown in Figure 1, below. The water cycle occurs when water evaporates from bodies of water on Earth, like oceans, and then condenses into clouds. Eventually, the clouds become too heavy and the water returns to Earth in the form of rain or snow, also called precipitation. When the water comes back to Earth, some of it flows back into the ocean. As water moves back to the ocean via rivers or waterfalls, it carries a lot of energy with it. We can harness this energy to make electricity or to power machines. This is called hydropower. Because water is constantly and endlessly moving through the water cycle, hydropower is a renewable form of energy, which means the energy can be obtained over and over through natural processes.

Figure 1. The water cycle.

Hydroelectricity is a type of hydropower. According to the United States Department of Energy, in the year 2005, hydropower accounted for 7 percent of the total U.S. electricity generation and 73 percent of generation from renewable energy sources. The advantages of hydropower are that it creates no pollution and it is available whenever it's needed. We create hydropower in hydropower plants. There are three kinds of hydropower plants: impoundment, diversion, and pumped storage. Some power plants have dams and some do not. In each type of power plant, flowing water pushes a turbine that generates electricity.

Figure 2. The Grand Coulee Dam.
Figure 3. The Hungry Horse Dam.

Humans have been using hydropower for centuries, harnessing the change from potential energy to kinetic energy of water. Potential energy is the energy stored in an object. For example, if you stretch a rubber band, it now has potential energy; it is ready to snap back to its original state. Kinetic energy is the energy of motion. Once you let go of the rubber band and it is moving through the air, it has kinetic energy. The potential energy stored in the stretched rubber band changes to kinetic energy as soon as you let go of it. The Greeks attached waterwheels to grinding wheels and used the kinetic energy in falling water to grind grain into flour. Waterwheels have also been used to saw logs in sawmills and to provide irrigation for farms along rivers. In this science fair project, you will extract energy from water. You will convert the kinetic energy from falling water into mechanical energy. See how falling water can lift a small weight. If just a little flow of water can lift a weight, imagine the amazing energy of the Niagara Falls!

Figure 4. The Niagara Falls.

Terms and Concepts

Water cycle

Condensation

Precipitation

Hydropower

Impoundment plant

Diversion plant

Pumped storage plant

Turbine

Potential energy

Kinetic energy

Mechanical energy

Energy

Power

Questions

What is hydropower?

What are the advantages of hydropower? Are there any disadvantages?

How many different kinds of hydropower plants are there? What are the differences between the different kinds of power plants?

Bibliography

The following websites are full of interesting information on hydropower. The Department of Energy website allows you to research many different kinds of renewable energy.

This website has facts on water:

United States Geological Survey. (2012, September 13). The USGS Water Science School. Retrieved September 21, 2012 from https://water.usgs.gov/edu/

Want to know the definitions of energy and power? This article will help you learn about these terms:

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Materials and Equipment

Aluminum pie plate, 9 inches; available at all grocery stores

Scissors

Permanent marker

Ruler

Drill with 3/8-inch drill bit or other bit size slightly larger than the dowel width; available at hardware stores
Optional (if you don't use a drill): hammer and 5/16-inch width nail; available at hardware stores

Nylon spacer, 3/8-inch inner diameter and 3/8 inch thick. The spacer must fit in the center of the waterwheel. These are available at hardware stores. See Figure 7, below, to see what a nylon spacer looks like.

Epoxy glue; available at hardware stores

Scotch® tape

Wood dowel, 5/16 inch wide and 2 feet long; available at craft stores

Plastic bucket with removable handle, 14 quarts

Cotton string, 30-inch-long piece

Metal nut or other small metal object that string can be tied to

Measuring cup, 2-cup is best

Stopwatch

Lab notebook

Put Your Water to Work: Using Hydropower to Lift a Load

PDF date: 2020-03-01

Experimental Procedure

1. Take your scissors and cut out the flat bottom part of the aluminum pie plate.

2. Cut the aluminum circle along the eight solid lines. End each cut at 2 cm from the center. These are the paddles of the waterwheel.

3. Drill a 5/16-inch hole through the middle of the waterwheel. Ask an adult to help you and always wear safety goggles when using power tools. You could also use a hammer and nail to make the ¼-inch hole in the middle. If you use a hammer and nail, clip off any sharp metal edges around the hole with the scissors.

4. Wait until the glue is fully dry before continuing. Consult the packaging of the epoxy for drying times.

5. After the glue dries, use thin strips of Scotch tape to secure the nylon spacer to the waterwheel. Make sure that the hole in the center is not covered with tape. Set the waterwheel aside.

6. Remove the handle from the bucket. Now ask an adult to drill two 3/8-inch holes where the ends of the handle use to be. Always wear safety goggles when using power tools. Make sure that the wood dowel can fit comfortably through the holes and spin freely. It should not be a tight fit.

Figure 8. The wood dowel fits comfortably through the two drilled holes.

7. Take the cotton string and tie one end to the metal nut. Tie the other end of the string to one end of the wood dowel, outside of the bucket. Tie the end such that when the dowel starts to turn, it immediately starts to wind up the string. You need to pay attention to how the waterwheel turns to do this; either clockwise or counterclockwise.

8. Wind some tape and make a little tab (by folding the end of the piece onto itself) on the dowel outside of the bucket on both ends so that the waterwheel and dowel don't move horizontally too much-you don't want the dowel slipping out of the holes. The waterwheel should be sitting in the middle of the bucket and should be able to turn freely, without hitting the bucket. Now you are ready to start converting the kinetic energy in falling water to mechanical energy.

9. To do these experiments you can use any source of moving water, like a sink or bathtub faucet, or an outdoor hose.
Pick a water source where the water comes out in a steady stream. Do not use a water source where the water is a wide, cone shaped spray it will lead to poor results. For example, a shower head would not be a good water source. If you are using a hose with several different nozzle settings choose the setting that is least like a shower and most like a steady stream.

Figure 10. Using the sink faucet to turn the waterwheel.
Figure 11. Using the garden hose to turn the waterwheel.

10. Using the measuring cup and the stopwatch, first calculate the flow rate of the water source you are using. You will do this by seeing how long it takes to fill 2 cups of water. Note this time down in your lab notebook in a data table like the one below.

1. Divide 2 cups by the number of seconds it took to fill 2 cups. This is the flow rate and its unit of measure is cups per second. Note down the flow rate in your lab notebook.

2. Do not turn off the water between measuring the flow rate and testing the waterwheel or else you will have to redo the flow rate calculation (you might turn the faucet on harder or softer the next time, which would negatively affect your results).

11. Make sure that the string and weight are unwound before you begin. Place the waterwheel under the flowing water. Measure the height of the flowing water with the ruler. Record this information in your lab notebook. Using the stopwatch, time how long it takes to wind the weight up. Note this time in your lab notebook.

1. Repeat this measurement two additional times at the same water height and record the information in your lab notebook.

2. One thing to keep in mind is to not let the bucket get too full of water or else the bucket water will get in the way of the waterwheel.

3. Once you've filled the bucket to the point where the waterwheel won't turn anymore, don't just waste it-you can use this water to water your garden or put it in your dog's water bowl.

4. Note: Make sure that the water hits the waterwheel in the same spot for every trial. The waterwheel should go either clockwise or counterclockwise each time. Record all information in your lab notebook.

12. Now you do want to change the flow rate of your water source, so adjust it and repeat steps 13 and 14. Make sure that the trials are all done at the same water height. Change the flow rate one more time and repeat steps 13 and 14 again. So you should have three trials each for three different flow rates.

13. Does the time it takes to wind the weight change? Is there a limit to this time?

14. Plot your data on a scatter plot. Plot the flow rate on the x-axis and the wind-up times and the average wind-up time on the y-axis. If you need help making scatter plots you can check out this website: Create a Graph

If you like this project, you might enjoy exploring these related careers:

Did you know that about 700,000 gallons of water flow over the famous Niagara Falls every second? Moving water is a great source of renewable energy, and two hydroelectric power plants built upstream from the Canadian side of the falls and one hydroelectric power plant built upstream from the U.S. side of the falls efficiently exploit the energy from all that water. Such hydroelectric plants use turbines, rotors, generators, and other complicated equipment to supply us with electricity for our homes and businesses 24 hours every day. Hydroelectric plant technicians monitor and control the activities associated with hydroelectric generation. They operate, maintain, and troubleshoot all plant equipment to ensure that the hydroelectric plant runs at peak performance. Read more

Mechanical engineers are part of your everyday life, designing the spoon you used to eat your breakfast, your breakfast's packaging, the flip-top cap on your toothpaste tube, the zipper on your jacket, the car, bike, or bus you took to school, the chair you sat in, the door handle you grasped and the hinges it opened on, and the ballpoint pen you used to take your test. Virtually every object that you see around you has passed through the hands of a mechanical engineer. Consequently, their skills are in demand to design millions of different products in almost every type of industry. Read more

Variations

Keep the flow rate the same and change the height between the water source and the waterwheel. How does the time to wind up the weight change?

Change the design of the waterwheel. Change the number of paddles or change the size of the bend in the paddles. How does this affect the time to wind up the weight?

Increase the weight and see how this changes the wind-up time.

Ask an Expert

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Put Your Water to Work: Using Hydropower to Lift a Load | Science Project

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Please ensure you have JavaScript enabled in your browser. If you leave JavaScript disabled, you will only access a portion of the content we are providing. Here's how. Earth is an amazing planet. It has everything that we need: food, shelter, and water.

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Students observe a model waterwheel to investigate the transformations of energy involved in turning the blades of a hydro-turbine. They work as engineers to create model waterwheels while considering resources such as time and materials, in their designs. Students also discuss and explore the chara…

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There are three types of hydropower facilities: impoundment, diversion, and pumped storage.

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Dollar Street - photos as data to kill country stereotypes

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Abstract

It is important to ensure that we all have good clean water to drink that is not contaminated by heavy metals or chemicals. One common pollutant in a water supply is lead in old pipes or paints that can leach into the water and cause lead poisoning. There are different kits available for testing the presence of lead and other contaminants in water. Test your water supply, and also the water in some local ponds, lakes or streams. The same contaminants that can harm you can also harm wildlife. Can you find any areas of concern? (Haman and Bottcher, 1986)

Bibliography

Haman, D.Z. and D.B. Bottcher, 1986. "Home Water Quality and Safety," Gainesville, FL: University of Florida, IFAS Extension. Retrieved March 1, 2006, from http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/AE009.

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This is our second activity that requires the use of a smartphone or tablet. Please let us know what you think. E-mail editors@sciam.com with feedback about the use of technology in this-and future-Bring Science Home activities.
Introduction
Did you know you can use a smartphone as a scientific instrument to explore the world around you? Smartphones contain many built-in electronic sensors that can measure phenomena such as sound, light, motion and more. In this activity you'll use the light sensor on a phone or a tablet to examine the brightness of light from different light sources and locations. How bright is the reading lamp in your living room compared with direct sunlight? Try this activity to find out!

Background
Measuring things around you, such as distance, is probably pretty familiar. Units of measurement, such as inches or centimeters, can describe the distance between one point and another. But there are many other qualities in the world around us that we can also turn into measurable quantities. For example, did you know you can measure light? You might describe light levels relative to other things, such as "dark as night" or "brighter than the sun," but you probably wouldn't use a number. But just as you might need a ruler to measure a distance, you can use a tool to measure precise units of light.

Light can be measured in different ways. One unit of measurement is called a lux, which describes how much light falls on a certain area. (This is different from a unit of lumens, which tells you the total amount of light emitted by a light source.) The number of lux gets smaller as you get farther away from a light source. This makes sense if you think about it: a light bulb looks much dimmer if you are standing 100 feet away from it instead of up close-even though it is still emitting the same total amount of light in lumens. Typical outdoor lux levels can range from less than 1/1,000 lux on a dark night to more than 30,000 lux in direct sunlight!

This is where a smartphone comes in handy. There have long been stand-alone lux meters (for use in photography, for example), devices with a light sensor and a screen that would display light levels in lux units. Current smartphones and tablets, however, generally contain built-in light sensors that are used to automatically adjust screen brightness based on light levels (for example, making the screen brighter and easier to see if you're using the device in direct sunlight but dimming the screen in darker environments so it's not too bright for your eyes). Many phones can run apps that will display the light reading in lux units. To learn more about light levels in the world around you, find a smartphone or tablet and start measuring!

Smartphone or tablet with internet access and permission to download and install an app

Adult (to help verify and download the app)

Different light sources (flashlight, lamp, ceiling light, etc.)

Different locations (dark closet, room with windows, outdoors, etc.)

Ruler (optional)

Ask an adult to help you search for a "lux meter" or "light meter" app on a smartphone or tablet. There are many free options available (note that some apps might have ads or in-app purchases enabled).

Get to know your lux meter app. Some apps will just display a number on the screen, whereas others will display a meter or a graph. Some will also let you record data. Make sure the app is working: move your phone from a dark room to a bright room, or hold it close to a light bulb (bulbs are also hot as well as bright, so be careful here), and you should see the numbers fluctuate.

Locate the light sensor on your device. It is usually near the top on the front of the phone (the side with the screen). You can do this by running your fingertip over the surface of the phone while your lux meter app is open. When your finger covers the light sensor the reading should drop. Make sure you do not accidentally cover the sensor while doing the activity.

Note: Some apps might display light levels in other units, such as "EV," which stands for "exposure value" and is used in photography to measure the amount of light hitting a camera. The concepts explained in this activity still apply, and you can still compare different light sources or how light levels change with distance from a light source. The numbers you measure in EV, however, will not be the same that you would measure in lux.

Test how lux readings change with distance from a fixed light source. For example, stand directly under a ceiling light, hold your phone with the screen facing up, and move the phone up and down. Alternatively hold the phone sideways and aim it toward a floor lamp as you walk closer to and farther away from the lamp. How do the readings change with distance?

Now compare different artificial light sources at the same distance. You can use a ruler for this or any convenient object (or a body part, such as your forearm) as a spacer. The exact distance doesn't matter as long as you keep it constant. How does a flashlight compare with a light bulb? What about the light from a TV or computer screen? What light source in your house is the brightest? The dimmest?

Finally measure ambient light levels in different locations. Turn off all sources of artificial light. How do light levels outside compare with light levels inside? What about in a room with window coverings closed versus the window coverings open? In the room where you sleep at night versus during the day? Which room in your house gets the most natural light? Which room gets the least?

Extra: Try tiltingyour phone relative to a light source, and watch how the readings change.

Observations and Results
You probably noticed how dramatically lux change with distance from a light source. You might only read a few tens or hundreds of lux when you are across the room from a light bulb, but if you hold your phone right up to the bulb, the reading could be in the thousands or even tens of thousands. This is because of a mathematical relationship called the inverse square law. As the light expands outward from the source, the amount of light hitting each area drops off very rapidly. The sun is so far away you might find it surprising that lux readings in direct sunlight are so high (in the tens of thousands of lux). This gives us a sense of just how very bright the sun itself is!

If you tried tilting your phone, you might have noticed that the readings decreased-even though your phone's distance from the light source didn't change. The angle of a surface relative to the light source also determines how much light hits it because light travels in a straight line. A surface that is perpendicular (at a 90-degree angle) to the light rays will collect the most light. This is why it's important for solar panels to be aimed directly at the sun-and why the earth's poles get less light (and are colder) than the equator.

Having a unit of measurement and a device to measure it can be useful for determining and comparing different environments more specifically. You might find, for example, that a specific range of lux is the most comfortable for you to read a book. These measurements can be used for designing buildings, such as schools, to ensure there is the right amount of light for different areas and activities.
This activity brought to you in partnership with Science Buddies
Depending on your phone or the app you used the range of values you were able to measure might have been limited. Some apps, for example, might not display decimal readings, making it difficult to measure light levels below 1 lux (in other words, even if the real reading is 0.4 lux, the app would display 0 lux). This would be most common in very dark locations, such as inside a closet or outside at night. The maximum reading could also be limited by the app or the phone's or tablet's hardware. You might, for example, only see a reading of 10,000 lux outside in direct sunlight-even if you expected a reading of 30,000 lux or more. This is useful to remember when using any measuring device. Just as the length of a ruler can't reflect the full length of a soccer field-or a kitchen thermometer couldn't tell us the temperature of the sun's surface-many digital measuring tools aren't able to provide a complete range of possible measurements.

More to Explore
Understanding Illuminance: What's in a Lux? from All About Circuits
Inverse Square Law, Light, from Hyperphysics at Georgia State University
Recommended Light Levels (Illuminance) for Outdoor and Indoor Venues ( pdf), from National Optical Astronomy Observatory
Science with a Smartphone: Decibel Meter, from Scientific American
STEM Activities for Kids, from Science Buddies

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Science with a Smartphone: Measure Light with Lux

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This is our second activity that requires the use of a smartphone or tablet. Please let us know what you think. E-mail editors@sciam.com with feedback about the use of technology in this-and future-Bring Science Home activities. Introduction Did you know you can use a smartphone as a scientific instrument to explore the world around you?

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Exploring Health and Well-being through Global Citizenship Education

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Exploring Health and Well-being through Global Citizenship Education

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Exploring Health and Wellbeing through GCE, Online CPD, Nov 23rd 2023 - WorldWise Global Schools

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This workshop will explore how we can critically explore the Health and Wellbeing Global Goal connecting local to global.