The prototype Plume Busters is a potentially Web-based, interactive educational software in which students use their knowledge of ground-water flow principles and contaminant transport to solve an environmental disaster. The current software version simulates movement of a plume from a pipeline break through a shallow alluvial aquifer towards a major river just upstream from a municipal water supply intake.

The student plays the role of an environmental consultant hired by the pipeline owner to locate and remediate the plume at a minimum cost and before the contamination reaches the river. In the plume-finding phase, the student places observation wells on the grid representing the study area and the simulation returns the contaminant concentrations at those locations on the appropriate sample dates.

Once the plume is located, the student is able to place pumping and injection wells on the study area grid to begin remediation. The simulation then computes the movement of particles to the pumping wells and returns the cumulative mass removed by the production remediation well. Supporting materials provide students with background on ground-water flow and transport principles, the contamination scenario simulated in the application and emphasize the potential ecological and economic impacts of the contamination.

Thus, the Tutor fosters in students the application of science to the solution of real-world problems through role-play. The software is appropriate for use in secondary and undergraduate level earth science, geology, hydrogeology, environmental technology, and environmental science classes as tool to supplement instruction.

File Number: 2004 FY 28 

Web site: http://www.kgs.ku.edu/

Other Information: *State of Development* Ongoing.