Educating the Future

SOA Blog Posts
Jul 25, 2017 · 3 min read

Shaved ice snow cones, afternoons spent in the cool refreshing pool, and playing in the sprinkler are all things that remind me of water fun in my childhood summers. For as long as I can remember, adults have impressed upon me the importance of water as a vital resource. Going back to my days in elementary school, every year we would draw a picture about water conservation or here a presentation about ticks to save water at local 4-H meetings. As an adult who explain water conservation to people on a daily basis, the question arises: how do we educate our future generations and the youth of today about this important resource? Water conservation can get monotonous, adult centered, and a little to complicated, so how do we make water conservation fun? Here is a few ideas to start the conversation for the children in your life, about being conscious of water useage, so that they can become more aware of water useage, but also have some summer fun.

Being able to understanding the water cycle is as fundamental as learning your ABC’s if we are to be good stewards of it. Here are two crafts to visually show the water cycle.

Water Cycle in a bag:

Use a quart size ziploc bag. Fill with about and inch of water mixed with a drop or two of blue food coloring. With markers draw and label the water cycle as follows. Tape bag to a window with sunlight. Wait approximately 2 hours to observe evaporation in the cycle.

Water Cycle bracelet:

Cut yarn to desired length (with space for tying the ends together.) Place plastic pony beads on yarn as follows: 2 yellow beads to represent the sun which powers the the water cycle, 2 light blue beads to represent evaporation, 2 white beads to represent condensation, 2 dark blue beads to represent precipitation, 2 green beads to represent collection

For most people when you turn on a faucet or you shower water is guaranteed to come out. We take for granted even as adults how convenient our water is. For the minds of children understanding that water is a limited resource even though we are practically surrounded with it is a complicated concept. Educational books like these are great illustrations of and ways to promote conservation in children.

-Did a Dinosaur Drink This Water? by Robert E. Wells, Ages 6–10

-The Magic School Bus At The Waterworks, by Joanna Cole, Ages 4–10

-One Well: The Story of Water on Earth (CitizenKid), by Rochelle Strauss, Ages 8 and up

Stewardship starts at home. While school’s out, summer time in swing with water works all around, now is a great time to start the conversation with your child. After all our water is not just about what is in the present, it is a resource that we want many generations from now still using and stewarding. If you are interesting in finding other child friendly water conservation crafts, websites like pinterest are a great place to start. For more hands on learning contact your local groundwater district to schedule an educational presentation for your neighborhood children or club.

SOA Blog Posts

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SOA started as a response to the extensive problems associated with the diminishing water resources of the Great Plains. http://stewardingouraquifer.com/

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