Noria
Background: The Noria
Another ancient system still in use today is the noria. The system depends on the simple idea that if one drops a pot into the well and then winches it up using a wheel, a significant amount of water can be moved. These pumps vary in design.
This system has been used over the centuries including this 1000 year old example from Hama, Syria. Can you believe it is still working? There are may of these still in operation.
A working model of the noria can be assembled and tested as seen in the video below.
If you would like to build and test this model, see Moving Water: Noria Energy Transfer. This exploration has ample opportunity for measuring water flow, and energy transfer. Once again, this exploration is an excellent opportunity to help students collect information in an organized way and report their findings using data charts and mathematical operations tables.
If you are interested in pursuing this background exploration, see The Wheel as Simple Machine. There are opportunities here to review the wheel as a simple machine. This can be an excellent opportunity to help students learn or review how to create accurate data tables. Since the noria is a wheel, measurements of load, distance and force can be charted and relative efficiency can be calculated.
Noria Question sheet at: NORIA.DOCX