We introduce an applied approach to evapotranspiration (ET) instruction. In a laboratory experiment, students calculate ET using water balance and energy balance approaches for five urban land surface covers (gravel, soil, grass, asphalt, and mulch). The experiment is paired with an urban heat tour facilitated by thermal infrared cameras. The activities are adaptable for various contexts, ranging from undergraduate lab classes to demonstrations for pre-university classrooms and the public.

Teaching hydrological modeling is an important, but difficult, matter. It requires appropriate tools and teaching material. In this article, we present the airGRteaching package, which is an open-source software tool relying on widely used hydrological models. This tool proposes an interface and numerous hydrological modeling exercises representing a wide range of hydrological applications. We show how this tool can be applied to simple but real-life cases.