It's Water-Wise Wednesdays with Frannie the Fish! {TAPS Manual Part 4: Sinkholes}

Frannie's friends at the Groundwater Foundation recently published the second edition of the Training About Protecting the Source (TAPS) Manual. The manual guides users through hands-on activities that explore potential threats to groundwater and challenges them to think about what can be done to protect this key drinking water source.

This manual can be used inside the classroom and is aligned to the national Next Generation Science Standards, but Frannie loves just learning about groundwater, no matter where she is. For the next few weeks, you can join her as she works through the different activities. 

Frannie will be using the Groundwater Foundation's Awesome Aquifer Kit, but if you don't have one, you can follow along with materials that might be found around your home. This is the second part of Frannie's exploration of the TAPS Manual. You can follow the link to see what she learned about leaky underground storage tanks, improperly abandoned wells and the over-application of fertilizer.

Today's activity is....Sinkholes.

---

A sinkhole is a depression that is formed as underlying limestone or a similarly soft rock is dissolved by groundwater. Typically, sinkholes form slowly so that the top layer of land stays intact for a while after the rock below dissolves. Sinkholes vary greatly in area and depth and can be small and shallow or they may be very large. Sinkholes form a direct path to groundwater through which contaminants can easily enter.

For this activity, you will need:

• Awesome Aquifer Kit, OR
• Plastic box
• Gravel
• Sugar cubes (at least 12 cubes)
  
• 16 oz cup of water slightly above room temperature
• Small plastic toy or house (optional)

Activity Steps

1. Read through all the instructions first before you begin to build the model. Make sure you have all the needed materials and supplies.

 

2. Fill the plastic box with gravel until it is about ¼ full.

 

3. Add water so that half of the rocks are covered. (This will represent an aquifer.)

 

4. Place sugar cubes on the gravel, next to one side of the plastic box. The sugar cubes should be at least three cubes across, two cubes wide, and two layers deep. The sugar cubes simulate layers of limestone.

 5. Add more gravel on top to cover the sugar cubes completely. You can either create a hill over the sugar cubes or continue to add gravel so that surface of the model is level.

 

6. If you have a small plastic toy animal or house, place it on top of the gravel directly above the sugar cubes.

  

7. Pour or spray water (preferably warm water) over the buried sugar cubes to simulate rain. Watch and wait.

Frannie noticed that the warm water slowly dissolved the sugar cubes beneath the gravel. The surface of the gravel remained level for a little bit, but eventually it collapsed into the vacuum that was left by the sugar. Like sugar cubes, soluble geologic materials can dissolve over time due to natural causes or human impacts such as over-pumping and over development. Once a sinkhole appears, it can become a direct line for contaminants to enter the water below.

It's Water-Wise Wednesdays with Frannie the Fish! {Activities Library}

Frannie is always looking for new fun things to do in the summer. Luckily, the Groundwater Foundation has the Activities Library, a searchable database that features over 70 activities for any kind of setting. From wet-and-wild outdoor games to crosswords and coloring sheets, you can fill your long summer days with fun groundwater education!

You can search for activities by:

• Age
• Duration
• Key topic (i.e. - irrigation, water quality, climate/weather, etc.)
• Category (i.e.-outdoor, messy, arts and crafts, etc.)

You can also search for activities directly by name, such as "Growing with Groundwater." Results display an image of the activity, the activity name, a description and a link to a how-to video (if available), and a link to additional details and to download the instructions.

Check out this awesome tool and let us know what you think on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram!

It's Water-Wise Wednesdays with Frannie the Fish! {Safety First!}

Summer is almost here! Parks, pools, lakes, and beaches are starting to open up again as lockdown restrictions ease and Frannie can't wait to get out there and play in them.

It's important to remember how to be safe around open waters so that we can have good, safe fun all summer long. With these few tips, you can join Frannie and her friends in the water!

1. Use the buddy system. Stay near your buddy and be sure to let someone know if you or your buddy is lost or needs help. 
2. In the same track as using the buddy system, make sure you stick together and stay close to the beach or shore where family, friends, or other adults can help you if you need it.
3. Never drink the water from a stream, lake, river, or other water body you are playing in or investigating.  Even if it looks clean, it might not be healthy to drink.
4. When playing on the banks of rivers, streams, ponds, and lakes, make sure the ground is sturdy and won’t give way. Look for signs of erosion that might indicate loose ground.
5. Pay attention to your surroundings. Is the ground or the bottom of the lake or river rocky?  Is the current strong?  Is the water level high or low?  What is the forecast supposed to be today?  Are there any fast moving boats nearby? These are very important questions that only take a few minutes to think about but can make all the difference.
6. There’s no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothing. Wear socks, long sleeves, and pants for hiking out to your favorite river or lake spot. Hats can protect you from the sun and bugs. Closed toed shoes can prevent rocks from cutting your feet. Flip flops are okay for the pool, but leave them at home for outdoor adventures.
7. Know which plants are poisonous. Poison ivy, poison oak, and stinging nettles can all make you feel uncomfortable or make you really sick. Poison sumac and hemlock are not as common, but can also be a threat.
   
8. Certain insects, such as ticks, mosquitoes, flies, bees, and hornets, can also ruin your nature experience.  Dress properly and wear insect repellent.
9. Respect the environment. Remember that you are a guest. Take nothing but pictures and leave nothing but footprints.

Have fun and stay safe!

It's Water-Wise Wednesdays with Frannie the Fish! {Upcycled Reindeer}

Happy holidays to one and all!

Frannie loves making holiday crafts with her friends and this year, they decorated their homes with upcycled toilet paper roll reindeer. It's so simple that all you need is a toilet paper roll (or a paper towel roll cut in half), a pencil or pen, and a pair of scissors.

To make your reindeer extra fancy, you can also get a red button or cotton ball to be glued on as a nose, sticker or googly eyes, and crayons or markers. Be creative!

Start by squishing the toilet paper tube flat. Lightly draw lines, as seen below, that you will then cut along to form the antler and legs of the reindeer.

Cut out the legs completely, making sure you cut through both sides of the roll. Next, cut along the top line, making sure you cut through both sides of the roll. Separate your antlers by cutting the top of the tube along the crease, as shown below.

Now it's time to shape the antlers. First, take one of the antlers and make a twist inward so that the antler points forward. While holding the first twist in place, make a second twist so that the antler is now pointing towards the tail of the reindeer. Repeat with the second antler.

Fold the cut edges below the antlers down so that one side covers the other. Now that you've finished the body of the reindeer, you can decorate it any way you'd like! Frannie wanted to make Rudolph so she colored him in with brown crayons, drew on eyes, and gave him a nose with a bright red cotton ball.

Have a great holiday, everyone! See you in the new year!

It's Water-Wise Wednesdays with Frannie the Fish! {Water Inside Us}

Did you know that humans are made up of 60-70% water? Water helps blood flow easily, food digest in your body, and allows toxins to be filtered through your liver and kidneys before flushing them out as waste. People like you need to drink water and eat things with lots of water in them (like watermelon and strawberries and cucumbers and celery!) to keep our bodies happy and healthy.

Humans aren't the only living things made up of water - so are fish like Frannie! Fish, on average, have are made up of 78-85% water, just a little higher than humans.  Frannie has a fun activity you can do to illustrate just how much of your body contains water particles.

All you need is a few simple things:

• A large piece of paper, big enough for you to lay down on
• Markers/crayons/colored pencils
• Scissors
• A friend or family member to help

Steps:

1. Set the large piece of paper on the ground and lay on top of it.
2. Have your friend trace your outline onto the paper with a marker.
3. Measure the total height of the outline and multiply by 0.70 in order to find the height of 70% of your body. If you don't have a ruler, you can estimate 70% of your body by dividing your outline into quarter and drawing a line a bit below the 3/4 mark.
4. Using a blue marker or coloring utensil, color in 70% of your body.
5. You can color in the remaining 30% of your body with another color or leave it blank.
6. Cut out your outline and either hang it next to you on a wall or lay down beside it.

Look at how much of you contains water! It's in your bones, your blood, your skin, your belly, and even your eyes! Seeing how much of our bodies are made up of water helps us understand why always having a clean drinking water source is so important.

It's Water-Wise Wednesdays with Frannie the Fish! {The Water Cycle: Part 4 - Surface Water}

This is the fourth part of Frannie’s exploration of the water cycle. Please check out her previous blog on the overview of the water cycle and her deep dives into groundwater and discharge.

Welcome back to Frannie’s deep dive into the water cycle! Today’s focus is surface water. Frannie knows that groundwater refers to water under the ground, so surface water must refer to the bodies of water above the ground, on the surface of the earth. Streams, rivers, lakes, and oceans are all examples of surface water.

Frannie’s experiment with the Awesome Aquifer Kit and her deep dive into the discharge process taught her that surface water is connected to groundwater. Streams and rivers can exchange water droplets that flow with the main current with water droplets that make up the subsurface flow, or flow beneath the streambed.

While Frannie wasn’t surprised by her research into streams and lakes, she was surprised to find surface water hiding in wetlands and glaciers! Wetlands, like marshes and swamps and bogs, are very important locations for groundwater recharge, which Frannie will talk about more later.  Wetlands near the sea or ocean can be flooded and drained by tidal activity and become salt marshes. All kinds of wetlands are incredibly important to prevent flooding and protect water quality.

Frannie has never seen a glacier, but in her research, she learned that she could think of it as a large river of ice that flows downhill under its own weight. When areas have a lot of snowfall in the winter start to warm up, the snow begins to melt and compress itself. If an area receives more snow than it can melt away, the melting snow turns into ice and grows with more cycles of snowfall and partial melting, eventually forming a glacier. Glaciers have an enormous effect on the topography, or layout of the land, in a region as well as its quantity and quality of available water.

Join Frannie next time as she follows the water cycle from rivers, wetlands, and glaciers to the sky. See you then!

It's Water-Wise Wednesdays with Frannie the Fish! {#TBT: Let's Keep Winter Clean!}

It looks like winter is finally here to stay! Have fun, stay warm, and enjoy this post from last year on how to be a good steward of the earth while staying safe on the slippery sidewalks.

With so much snow and ice on the ground, it’s important that we stay safe on our way to work or school.  Many cities use big trucks carry loads of salt and sand to spread on the roads and sidewalks.  This mixture melts ice and prevents it from forming again so that we can travel around without slipping.

Once the ice is melted, though, the water mixes with the salt and the runoff can cause the groundwater and surface water to become contaminated.  Here’s some ways you can help limit contamination from your home this winter.

1. Shovel early and shovel often. Frannie thinks its fun to shovel snow when it's not too thick and heavy.

2. To limit salt pollution, don't use too much salt or ice-melt. You only need about a handful for each square yard of concrete and using more doesn't actually work better.

3. Sand and kitty litter can stop you from slipping, but they don't melt snow.  Too much of it can even clog sewers, so remember to sweep up and throw away any extra that is left after the ice is gone.

4. Try an eco-friendly alternative to ice-melt and sand such as cracked corn, alfalfa meal, or beet juice.  While you should still be careful not to over-use them, these ingredients are shown to be less harmful than traditional ice treatments.

We can have fun, stay safe, AND keep winter clean together!

It's Water-Wise Wednesdays with Frannie the Fish! {Upcycled Conservation Flowers}

Hooray! It's finally May! That means we've finally reached the time of year where the flowers, bushes, and trees are coming to life in beautiful and vibrant colors. This year, try planting some Upcycled Conservation Flowers to remind you of all the ways you can conserve water.

But wait a minute, Frannie: what in the world are Upcycled Conservation Flowers?

Upcycling is a fun trend that helps protect the environment by reusing items that may have previously been thrown away. Reusing an item keeps it from ending up in a landfill where it may take millions of years to decompose. Upcycled Conservation Flowers are made out of plastic water bottles and each petal represents an easy way to help conserve and protect groundwater! 

Find out how to make them below!

Students showing off their Upcycled Conservation Flowers!

Materials:

• Empty plastic water bottle
• 8 different colored acrylic paints
• Paint brush
• Hole punch
• String
• Wood stick (optional)
• Glue
• Sequins, beads, paper, glitter, or gems

Instructions:

1. Clean your plastic water bottle. Remove any plastic labeling from the outside.
2. Cut your water bottle in half. Recycle the bottom half of your bottle.
3. Cut eight petals by cutting from the middle of the bottle towards the cap. Make sure to cut all the way to the edge of the cap. Round the edges.
4. Press the petals out and flatten them to make your bottle look like a flower.
5. Paint each petal a different color to represent the different ways to protect and conserve groundwater. Add glitter for fun!
6. Cover the cap with beads, gems, sequins, paper, or paint to represent the pistil/stamen.
7. Use a paper hole punch and string to make your flower an ornament or use a wooden stick and glue to create a decorative flower for potted plants.

Ways to Protect and Conserve Groundwater:

Go Native
Use native plants in your landscape. They look great, and don't need much water or fertilizer.
Reduce Chemical Use
Use fewer chemicals around your home and yard, and make sure to dispose of them properly - don't dump them on the ground!
Don't Let It Run
Shut off the water when brushing your teeth, and don't let it run while waiting for it to get cold. Keep a pitcher of cold water in the fridge instead!
Fix the Drips
Check all the faucets, fixtures, toilets, and taps for leaks and fix them right away.
Shower Smarter
Limit yourself to just a five minute shower, and challenge your family members to do the same!
Water Wisely
Water plants during the coolest parts of the day and only when they truly need it. Make sure you, your family and neighbors obey any watering restrictions.
Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle
Reduce the amount of "stuff" you use and reuse what you can. Recycle paper, plastic, cardboard, glass, aluminum, and other materials.
Learn More!
Get involved in water education! Learn more about groundwater by checking out The Groundwater Foundation's website www.groundwater.org/get-informed/.

It's Water-Wise Wednesdays with Frannie the Fish! {Food Waste Part 1: Composting}

Food is an integral part of the water cycle.  Plants need water to grow.  Animals need plants to eat and water to drink.  The big trucks need water to keep their engines cool on the long interstate drives from the farm to the store to the table.  You even use water to clean and cook your food.

We know it’s important to Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle, but did you know you can do that with your food, too?

Food waste is the name for our leftovers after we’re done preparing, cooking, or eating our food.  In this mini-series, Frannie will look at different ways that we can reduce, reuse, and recycle food waste.

Composting is one of the easiest way to reuse food waste from fruits and vegetables.  It reduces the volume of trash we put into landfills while creating nutrient-rich soils we can use to grow beautiful, healthy plants.

It starts with a box. Or a bin. Or hole in the ground. Or even just a pile in the corner of your yard that is out of the way and people know not to step in.  Any way you have it, the important part of the pile is the worms and fungi and bugs, decomposers that will take whatever you put into your compost and turn it into the dirt you want at the end.

 

Once you have your compost pile or box or hole, you can start putting things in there.  But wait, you can’t put all of your food waste in the compost.  Only put plant-based items in your bin, such as nut shells, fruit and veggie peelings, grass clippings, and weeds.  Things you should not put in your compost include meat, dairy, oils, or fats because they might attract some pests you don’t want near your home.

Once you have added your first compostable materials, cover them with soil or some already completed compost.  This will kick-start the decomposing process by introducing the worms and microbes (little bacteria) to the fresh scraps.

Add a little water for moisture, turn or stir it once a week, and voila! Your composted soil should be completely done and ready to use in just a couple months! Of course you can always add to the top of the pile and scoop out the finished compost at the bottom to keep the process going.

Like Frannie said before, the finished product that comes out of a compost pile is a nutrient-rich soil that you can use to start new seedlings or spread on the top of your garden like a fertilizer.

Share pictures of your compost piles and gardens for a chance to be featured in an upcoming blog! Happy Gardening!

It’s Water-Wise Wednesdays with Frannie the Fish! {Awesome Aquifer Kit: Contamination Clues}

This week in Frannie’s exploration of the Awesome Aquifer Kit is all about how contamination can affect groundwater and surface water systems.

For this activity, you will need the clear container filled with gravel,
"clean" blue water, "contaminated" red water, 2 pumps, and an empty
cup to collect the "polluted" water.

There are many chemicals that we use every day that are helpful to our lives but, if we drank them, could really hurt us.  Farmers use pesticides and fertilizers to help their crops grow healthy and strong.  Cities and people at home use de-icers or sand to keep the roads safe to drive on in the winter.  When we are careful, the environment is safe.  If we make a mistake with those chemicals, we might pollute the area and affect the whole region around us.  Let’s see how that happens.

In our clear container with evenly spread gravel, we can add water until about half of the gravel is saturated.  Let’s make a lake in the middle of the container by scooping the gravel to the sides and on top of each hill, we’ll put one well.  One well will be a monitoring well, meaning we’ll only withdraw water samples from it.  The other well represents a functional well that provides water for drinking.

We’ll fill a small measuring cup with water and add 2-4 drops of food dye.  By doing this, we can clearly see which water is contaminated and which water is clean.  In a corner of our container, not too close to a well, we’ll slowly pour in our contaminant.  Watch as it infiltrates the system.

Top: Contaminated water infiltrates into the groundwater.
Bottom: Groundwater flow spreads the pollution through the
groundwater and even can affect surface water.

Now let’s start pumping the well that’s on the hill opposite of the contaminant.  That’s our drinking water well.  Can you see what’s happening to the contaminant?  When a contaminant spreads out away from its source, we call it a plume. The plume has started to move towards the drinking water well.  Collect this water in a separate container and save it.

Finally, let’s collect and save a water sample from our monitoring well (the one closest to the contaminant).  The color in this water is very different from what it was when we started.  We can easily see this water is contaminated.

Frannie compares the color of the water at the beginning
 to the color of the contaminated water.

BLOG: Have you been to a water festival?

by Jennifer Wemhoff, The Groundwater Foundation

This week I was digging through our photo archive (yes, we still have a print photo archive, complete with negatives!) looking at pictures of the Nebraska Children's Groundwater Festival. It's been about 12 years since The Groundwater Foundation organized this festival (the community of Grand Island has done a fantastic job since taking over the festival, and has made it their own) and while we participate as a presenter every year, we miss out on seeing the impact of the festival as a whole. 

Looking through the pictures reminded me of three things - the fun those kids had learning about groundwater, the effort it takes to put on a festival, and the amazing people we met along the way.

Enjoy this look back. And if you've never been part of a water festival, you're missing out! Consider getting one started in a local school or in your community

Wally and Wanda Water Drop were the festival's mascot in its early years.

Former Nebraska Governor Kay Orr and Groundwater Foundation founder Susan Seacrest. The festival often played host to a number of VIP attendees, including governors, senators, EPA and USGS directors, and local celebrities.

The festival included an exhibit hall, which was a student favorite.

Kids got to learn in a fun, hands-on environment.

A student poster contest was also part of the festival.

Willard Scott, weather guy for the Today show in the 80s/90s, paid a visit to the festival.

GW Gecko became the new mascot of the festival in the early 2000s.

Students participate in a festival "game show" with their peers.

Presenters were happy to wear goofy hats to help kids learn about groundwater!

The relationships with people like former Groundwater Foundation board member Marlene Rasmussen made organizing the festival more meaningful.

Kids just wanna have fun!

Former Governor and Senator Mike Johanns was a frequent festival guest.

Nebraska football legend Tom Osborne, and U.S. Senator at the time, Tom Osborne and his wife Nancy show off their festival t-shirts.

It's Water-Wise Wednesdays with Frannie the Fish! {Let's Keep Winter Clean!}

Brrrr!!!

With so much snow and ice on the ground, it’s important that we stay safe on our way to work or school.  Many cities use big trucks carry loads of salt and sand to spread on the roads and sidewalks.  This mixture melts ice and prevents it from forming again so that we can travel around without slipping.

Once the ice is melted, though, the water mixes with the salt and the runoff can cause the groundwater and surface water to become contaminated.  Here’s some ways you can help limit contamination from your home this winter.

1. Shovel early and shovel often. Frannie thinks its fun to shovel snow when it's not too thick and heavy.

2. To limit salt pollution, don't use too much salt or ice-melt. You only need about a handful for each square yard of concrete and using more doesn't actually work better.

3. Sand and kitty litter can stop you from slipping, but they don't melt snow.  Too much of it can even clog sewers, so remember to sweep up and throw away any extra that is left after the ice is gone.

4. Try an eco-friendly alternative to ice-melt and sand such as cracked corn, alfalfa meal, or beet juice.  While you should still be careful not to over-use them, these ingredients are shown to be less harmful than traditional ice treatments.

We can have fun, stay safe, AND keep winter clean together!