Design Challenge: Build an Aqueduct 设计引水渠

Design an aqueduct that carries water from a hilltop spring to a city using only gravity: sketch, label and explain.

A town is 10 km from a spring in the hills. Design an aqueductaqueduct 引水渠A channel or bridge that carries water to a city.History Vocab ↗ that brings the water to the town, with no pumps: only gravity.

1. Plan

☐ The water channel goes downhill the whole way, gently
☐ Where the land dips (a valley), the channel goes over arches
☐ Where a hill is in the way, the channel goes through a tunnel or around it
☐ The channel is covered, to keep the water clean

2. Sketch your aqueduct

Draw the spring, the town, and your aqueduct between them. Label: spring, channel, arches, town, and the slope.

Side view: spring on the left, town on the right

3. Explain

a. Why must the channel slope down gently, not steeply?

b. Why did Romans build arches instead of a solid wall across a valley? (Think: stone, weight, water from rain.)

c. Name one thing a Roman city used aqueduct water for.

NoteAnswer key

a. Too steep and the water rushes, wears away the channel and can overflow; Roman channels often dropped only a few meters over many kilometers. b. Arches use much less stone, are lighter, and let rivers, rain and people pass underneath. c. Public baths, fountains, toilets, homes, farms, mills.