Wednesday, February 19, 2020

It's Water-Wise Wednesdays with Frannie the Fish! {Video Learning Series: Groundwater Education Toolkit Training Videos}

This is the fourth blog in a series of video learning opportunities from the Groundwater Foundation. Click to see the previous blogs on the Groundwater Foundation, how the Awesome Aquifer Kits are made, and the Groundwater Guardian program.
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Groundwater education is so important in the process of protecting this precious resource. Integrating the Groundwater Foundation's educational tools is easier than ever with a new series of training videos.

Each video focuses on a different resource within the educator toolkit. The first video in the series outlines what groundwater is, why groundwater education in our classroom is so important, and sets up how the training videos will help educators bring groundwater models into their classroom.

The following three videos in the series focus on the Hydrogeology Challenge, an online groundwater model that presents users with a map of an area with wells and some well logs. Users walk through the same calculations that professional hydrogeologists use to calculate groundwater flow direction, slope, and speed. In the classroom, teachers can challenge their students even further with an Applied Knowledge Scenario, which asks the students to use the calculations to evaluate a potential threat to groundwater. The Hydrogeology Challenge and Applied Knowledge Scenarios is best used with upper level students to show them how algebra and geometry can be used with science to solve real-world problems.



The rest of the videos in the series shine a light on the many different activities that can be done with the Awesome Aquifer Kit. Faithful readers of Frannie's blog may remember the blog series she did a while ago, demonstrating everything from the connection between groundwater and surface water to how permeability affects groundwater's ability to flow within different soils. The videos provide top tips on how use the kits, maintain them, and make them a regular part of a teacher's water science unit.


You can watch each video on its own or watch them all in a playlist on the Groundwater Foundation's YouTube channel.

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