It's Water-Wise Wednesdays with Frannie the Fish! {Groundwater Week 2019 - Groundwater Foundation Scavenger Hunt!}

Frannie had an amazing time at Groundwater Week in Las Vegas, NV. She said hello to many of her old Groundwater Guardian friends at the Groundwater Foundation Symposium on Tuesday, but Wednesday and Thursday were dedicated to making new friends while doing the Groundwater Foundation Scavenger Hunt!

The Scavenger Hunt consisted of 17 companies or organizations who supported the Groundwater Foundation by donating money to help Frannie and Foundation staff do education and outreach activities.

Frannie first swam down aisle 1 to meet GICON and NAPCO Pipe & Fittings.

Then she dashed around to say hello to Cotey Chemical Corp, GEFCO, and Wyo-Ben. Wyo-Ben also donated an item to the Groundwater Foundation's silent auction fundraiser!

Next door on aisle 4, Frannie met representatives from International Pipe and National Driller.

Frannie made 3 friends on aisle 5, including A.O. Smith Water Systems, Boshart Industries, and Flomatic Valves!

She ran into some old friends at the Water Systems Council booth, who have happily supported the Foundation's education efforts for a long time.

Frannie is sorry that she missed the folks at Cascadian Water and Sun-Star Electric, Inc, but hopes to see them at Groundwater Week next year!

Frannie skipped a couple aisle to get to aisle 9, where she met friends from Simmons Manufacturing and Mount Sopris.

Frannie was getting kind of tired from swimming all over the exhibit hall, so she was happy to stop by and rest awhile at the CSI Water Treatment Systems booth.

At the far end of the hall, a nice representative from Milspec Industries welcomed Frannie and the Groundwater Foundation booth for a quick photo-op just before dinner.

Great job, Frannie! And a big Thank You to the sponsors of the Groundwater Foundation Scavenger Hunt for supporting the Groundwater Foundation's vision to protect our drinking water resources by connecting and inspiring individuals and communities to take action with the goal of having clean, sustainable groundwater.

It's Water-Wise Wednesdays with Frannie the Fish! {What-A-Cycle!}

See below for a special announcement!

***

A week ago, Frannie was in Cincinnati meeting with science educators and curriculum developers for the National Science Teaching Association regional conference. While she was there she met Dennis, a climate scientist from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), who was handing out a water cycle modeling activity called "What-A-Cycle"!

Frannie thought the idea was so clever but she knew she wouldn't have the time do it because she had to get ready for Groundwater Week. She reached out to her friends at the Groundwater Foundation, knowing we'd be excited to share this craft with you today.

WHAT-A-CYCLE Water Cycle Paper Craft
You'll need:

• Scissors
• Glue or Tape
• What-a-cycle paper craft worksheet
• Colored Pencils/crayons/markers (optional)

STEPS:

1. If you printed out a Black and White copy or an unlabeled copy of the What-a-cycle paper craft worksheet, you should first color it and label all the parts of the water cycle.

2. Cut out the atmospheric portion of the water cycle and then cut out the ground portion of the water cycle. You should now have 2 separate pieces.

3. Fold the lettered tabs and along the marked lines on the ground piece and start to form a 3-D version of the groundwater and runoff portions of the water cycle. Once you start to see how the flat version transforms into 3-D, glue or tape the tabs together to form the model.

4. Fold along the dotted line in the atmospheric portion of the water cycle so that the largest precipitation cloud is at a right angle to the rest of the background.

5. Glue or tape the 3-D groundwater portion of the model to the atmospheric section of the model to complete the activity.

Frannie has been blogging about the water cycle a lot these past couple months.Go back to review her water cycle blogs first, and then trace as many paths a water droplet can take as you can find. What parts of the water cycle deep dives are shown in this model? What parts are missing?

Let her know by email or through Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.

Special Announcement!!

Catch Frannie next week on Facebook in a very special addition of "Water-Wise Wednesdays" as she completes the Groundwater Foundation Scavenger Hunt in the Groundwater Week Exhibit Hall! Frannie is excited to introduce you to several companies who make it possible for her (and her friends at the Groundwater Foundation!) to share the importance of groundwater through education.

It's Water-Wise Wednesdays with Frannie the Fish! {Water Drop Scavenger Hunt}

If you were a tiny raindrop on top of the roof of the Groundwater Foundation, how would you get to the ground?

It may not be obvious, but the answer is right in front of you.  Do you see that pipe on the left side of the picture?  The pipe allows water to drain off the roof of the building onto the ground below.

When we draw the water cycle, we often forget to include the rain that gets stuck on rooftops or in parking lots. But a tiny droplet will travel to many unexpected places.  Look at the picture below and see if you can find one way that a water drop can travel from the sky to the ground and back again.

• Precipitation falls from the sky and can either get caught up in trees or rooftops or it might make it all the way to the ground.
• From the roof or trees, a drop of water can evaporate or flow down into the drainage pipes and run off into a collection point.
• Trees also are able to perform transpiration, which means that they can release water into the air through their leaves.
• A lawn might have a sprinkler system to keep it green and fresh.
• Any extra water that reaches the ground from precipitation or irrigation can either evaporate, run off into a collection point like a drainage system or body of water, or seep into the ground to restore soil moisture and recharge groundwater levels.

Now it’s your turn to try this at home! Take a picture somewhere in your community and try to find all the places where a water droplet could travel.  Bonus activity: on a rainy day, try following a water drop or two, or two hundred!  Good luck!