While the creation of a dam provides many benefits, it can have negative impacts on local ecosystems. Students learn about the major environmental impacts of dams and the engineering solutions used to address them.

The Hoover Dame was viewed as an engineering feat, in the 1930s. This documentary examines the construction and engineering problems that occurred and the questions that arose about the economic and environmental impact this project...

[Free Registration/Login Required] An informational text about Shasta Dam in Northern California. A question sheet is available to help students build skills in reading comprehension.

What happens to a population when the environment changes? Students remove a dam that divides an ecosystem to illustrate the effects of environmental changes. Students observe and collect data as the grass and then the rabbit populations...

In this simulation, students build a dam in the middle of a field, dividing an ecosystem in half to illustrate the effects of environmental changes. They watch and collect data as the grass and then the rabbit populations in that region...

This video segment adapted from Last Oasis explores the use of new dams as a way to provide or store water. In the 1990s, the city of Denver was looking for a new source of water for its growing population, and its plan to build a new...

Site provides a database of over 90 Fresh Water Dams. Users are provided with an image of each dam as well as additional technical information.

Explore different types of dams and the forces that act upon them, then choose the design of dam that best fits the needs of a town.

Discover facts about dams on this site.

A wonderful, informative site on the Hoover Dam. Find out how the largest dam of its time came to be in this fascinating story.

This site is a collection of photographs of the Hoover Dam, both recent and historic. Visitors can browse modern views of the dam, views of the dam's generators and similar equipment, views of the dam during its construction period, or...

Informative site explaining the benefits of building a dam to help humans adapt to the environment.

After reading a brief history on the construction of the first Aswan Dam, you can view historical photos of its development.

Through this field activity, students will obtain hands-on experience by measuring stream flows and observing landform and stream processes of dams once before water freezes, and again after the weather deposition has occurred. Students...

This is a good site for information on the Yangtze River, lists articles and other link sites.

This page is an article entitled "Building the Dams," from "The History of the Panama Canal" by Ira E. Bennett, Historical Publishing Company, 1915. It gives a very detailed account of this important event in the history of the Panama...

Discover the unique engineering properties of a dam by contructing a model dam using popsicle sticks, pebbles and sand.

Explore environmental impact of building of a dam in China's Yangtze River on endangered fresh water dolphins. Observe the presence and effects of osmotic pressure, measure and compare sedimentation in a waterway and build a turbine.

For this lesson, students will learn about the Glen Canyon Dam on the Colorado River, the impact it has had on local ecology, and what happens when a dam is opened for controlled flooding. After researching the Glen Canyon Dam controlled...

Students are introduced to the basic biology behind Pacific salmon migration and the many engineered Columbia River dam structures that aid in their passage through the river's hydroelectric dams. Students apply what they learn about the...

[Free Registration/Login Required] A collection of five data sets from SEDAC (Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center) that look at road networks, reservoirs, and dams in countries around the world, with one set examining China's...

This article examines the impact of the Bonneville Dam and the Glen Canyon Dam, both in the American West, and examines how there has been a negative impact on the surrounding wildlife, peoples, and even Mexico. The article also...

Fontana Dam, the largest dam of the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) system, is located on the Little Tennessee River in Graham County. Completed in 1945, it is a gravity-type concrete structure 480 feet high, 2,365 feet long, and 376...

Article provides statistics and facts about the Hoover Dam, the powerplant, and Lake Mead.