Teaching Fluid Flow with Video

The gross matter of the earth occurs in three different classical phases or states - solid, liquid, or gas (vapor). A number of important geological phenomena involve the movement of a fluid - think flood, lava flow, pyroclastic flow.

What is a fluid? What characteristics do fluids exhibit when they flow? How does the movement of a volume of fluid differ from the movement of a solid mass? These videos demonstrate fluid flow. Observing and interpreting fluid flow in these videos can help students to better understand some of the larger scale flows that occur on earth and elsewhere. Video tutorial documents may be downloaded for student use.

Similarities and analogies in fluid flow - sediment and pyroclastic flow.


Teaching Viscosity with Video

A critical property that controls how a fluid responds to a weight or force on its surface is viscosity. A brief definition of viscosity is the "resistance to flow". Videos may be profitably used to demonstrate fluids of different viscosity, and to stimulate student observation, discussion, and analysis. Here's one example that illustrates the contrast of a pool filled with water with one filled with oobleck.