Off I Go!
This activity is a timed relay race where students run with a bucket of water to experience what it like for children in non-industrialized countries to fetch water and to realize that water does not always come from the tap!
Water in the World
Students pump water from various types of pumps and carry the water in traditional ways (with a pole or balanced on their heads).
Oil Slick
A small pool of water simulates a body of water. Students will learn about some of the effects of an oil spill in the local ecosystem, which has impacts similar to those of an oil tanker spill.
Well Sealed
This activity consists of two mock wells, which are used to illustrate how easily a well can become contaminated resulting in contaminated drinking water being extracted.
Wonderful Wetlands
This is a commercially prepared model that is designed to show the effect of water contamination on wetlands. The students should learn how to recognize different types of wetlands and understand what activities negatively affect wetlands and what activities can help to conserve wetlands. They will also see how constructed wetlands can help us better manage what we do on the land.
Runoff or Recharge
This activity illustrates how precipitation infiltrates the ground surface to contribute to groundwater and helps students gain an insight into some simple habit/routine changes to daily activities that could produce water saving techniques.
Erosion Busters
In this activity, participants will learn what a watershed is and how our actions ultimately affect the quality of the water in the watershed! This is a hands-on demonstration where students are actively involved in creating a watershed and seeing what happens when water is introduced. The second part of this activity involves “fixing up” the watershed using tolls similar to what we use in watershed management to help our water resources.
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No Water off a Duck's Back
Students observe feathers to see what it’s like to try to clean oil from birds. This educates them about the hazards of commercial oil spills (i.e. from tankers) and local problems for oil that reaches natural waterways due to household sources.
Amazing Aquifer
This activity features a working model of an aquifer, which is any soil through which groundwater moves easily. This model illustrates the subsurface (sand and gravel aquifers and aquitards) and its relation to surface water (lake and river). A pump can be used to change the amount of precipitation in the system. Water moves continuously through the model from higher to lower elevation (due to gravity). There are several wells to demonstrate the effect of pumping on an aquifer.
Septic Sights
At this activity center, students will use a model to trace the path of household wastes from their source to their place of disposal.
Porosity and Permeability
This activity illustrates the relative particle sizes of clay, sand, and gravel, and how these affect the flow of filtration of water as it moves through the pore spaces in earth materials. Using common objects and physical experiments, students are introduced to the concepts of porosity and permeability.
Water Cycle
The activity centre introduces the students to the water cycle model. The model and study cards show how the water “cycle” is a continuous repetition of like events – the movement of water molecules from bodies of water, the land, and living things on the land into the air and back again.
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The Water Festivals will be offered for one day at two outdoor environmental education sites— the 