MURDER UNDER THE MICROSCOPE
As a part of our Murder under the Microscope investigation, we need to gather information to help
solve the environmental crime.
You need to use the Internet, books, your own knowledge or speak to an adult to find answers to
the following questions.
You can write your answers in your homework book, or on a separate piece of paper.
This is an important homework task, as ALL information collected in the class will be
important.
Your topic this week is:
RUNOFF
SECTION 1- Where does all the water go?
Question 1- What is runoff?
Question 2- Think about the place where you live, as well as your community. Where does all
the water go when it rains?
Question 3- What kind of things may the water pick up around your house as it flows away?
SECTION 2- What’s in the runoff?
Look at the three pictures below (airport, large city and farmland).
Question 1- Where do you think the water
goes in these three places (1 sentence for each
photo).
Question 2- If rain falls in these two places,
what kinds of things would the water pick up
as it goes away?
Question 3- What might happen to those
things that are picked up when it rains?
Question 4- What are some ways runoff
could be minimised (made less)?
SECTION 3- Research
Using the internet, newspapers or other sources of information see if you can find some
real-life events caused by excessive runoff.
You need to find at least two, and write a paragraph retelling the article/ event.
Here is one example to get you started.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/health-science/port-spoil-runoff-threat-to-greatbarrier-reef/story-e6frg8y6-1226286684578
SECTION 4- OPTIONAL EXPERIMENT
Experiment
Devise and run an experiment to show what happens:

When the rain is light (drizzle)

When there is a long period of heavy rain

When there is a short storm with heavy rain
Try to show the different kinds of rain on different surfaces. For example:

A soft surface such as sand

A surface with loose soil

A hard surface such as compacted clay
Hint: You could use a hose with a nozzle that has different spray settings.
Record the results of your experiment as a chart with the headings:
SURFACE
TYPE OF RAIN
EFFECT ON LANDSCAPE