April showers bring May flowers and it's certainly been sprinkling around Frannie's pond! Rain gauges are an excellent way to measure how much precipitation your outdoor plants are receiving and help save you money so you only water your lawn and garden when needed.
Here's how you can make your own. To start, you'll need:
A plastic bottle with a flat bottom
Scissors
A ruler
A permanent marker
Stickers (optional)
Here's what you do: 1. Begin by removing all the labeling and cleaning the plastic bottle.
2. Take the scissors and the cut off approximately the top third of the bottle.
3. Flip the top third of the bottle upside down and insert it into the plastic bottle.
4. Using the ruler, mark 1/4", 1/2", and 1" increments starting from the bottom of the plastic bottle. For more fun, use stickers and markers to decorate your rain gauge.
5. Place your rain gauge outside. You can use twine to tie it to a post, bury it, or use another method to ensure it stays upright.
6. Check your rain gauge after a storm to see how much rain has fallen. Take a picture of your rain gauge and share it with Frannie at hydro@groundwater.org!
Water is an essential part of our everyday life. Water resource managers, city utility personnel, water well professionals, and more go to work every day to make sure we all maintain access to our clean water, even in uncertain circumstances. Sometimes they are faced with hard decisions: Should water use be restricted? Should a certain amount of water be allocated to certain people or to everyone? In the following activity, you will be provided scenarios and you get to decide who should get the water. You be the judge!
Here's what you need:
Pitcher filled with water
Cups for each participant
Water use cards - you can copy or print the cards found in the activity instructions or make posters representing different water uses
Scissors
Poster board (optional)
Markers (optional)
Here's what you do: 1. Fill a pitcher with water. Make sure there is a limited amount of water so that not all cups can be filled.
2. Give each participant a cup.
3. Pass around the pitcher so each participant can fill their cup. A full cup represents enough water for the participants to meet their water needs.
4.Sometimes there is not enough water available for everyone's needs - in times of drought for example. Ask the participants to express how they feel.
5. Ask what they could do to make sure they all get water.
6. Repeat steps 1-5, this time with water allocations. Choose one or combine both of the following options:
First in time, first in right. Have the participants arrange themselves in order by theirbirth date.
Use the water use cards found in the activity instructions to determine how the water is distributed. Randomly pass out the cards. Participants can use the information on the cards to discuss and campaign for more water or why others should get more and some should get less.
7. Discuss the results, other ways the water could be allocated, and what the participants learned about water use.
Those with more important uses get more. Who decides what's more important?
Equal shares: everyone gets some, but some will get less than what they need.
Frannie knows that the world is changing really fast right now and some of you may be out of school for one, two, maybe even eight weeks. But just because you're not at school doesn't mean that your groundwater education has to stop!
These are Frannie's top 5 educational tools and activities to help you continue to explore the wonderful world of groundwater.
Have you ever wondered what it was like to be a little droplet of water making your way through the water cycle? What would you see? How would it feel? Explore these questions and more by painting your way through the ground, surface, and sky in a fun activity that combines art with science.
Groundwater is the water that helps grow our food and flowers. See how plants are a part of the water cycle by building a mini-terrarium. Simply plant a few flower seeds in a clear container, water it, seal it tightly, leave it in sunshine, and there you go! A water cycle in a jar!
Did you know that the average American uses over 100 gallons of water each day? Find out how much you're using by marking how many times you fill your water glass, how long you take a shower, how many vegetables you wash, and much more. Challenge yourself to reduce your use by 30 gallons over the next month (just don't skimp on washing your hands!)
This one is a bit challenging (hence the name!) and you should know how to calculate slope using the y=mx+b formula. This online modeling tool walks you through how to use well information to calculate the direction and speed that groundwater is flowing. Real groundwater scientists use this information every day in order to figure out if a contaminant poses a threat to wells and communities downstream. Are you up for a bigger challenge? Email hydro@groundwater.org and receive a scenario in which you must use the information you calculated with the model to help a community protect its water source.
This is Frannie's favorite activity. You might remember the blog series she did using the Awesome Aquifer Kit a while ago. The Awesome Aquifer Kit can be used to show so many important concepts about groundwater, including how it moves between the surface and subsurface, how people can get access to groundwater, and how contamination spreads. You can get 20% off your very own Awesome Aquifer Kit using code GWAW20 if you order by March 31.
This is the fifth 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, educator toolkits, and the Groundwater Guardian program.
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Last week, Frannie shared the videos demonstrating some of the many educational resources that are offered as a part of the Groundwater Foundation's educator toolkits.
This week, Frannie is excited to share three brand new videos all about the activities included in the Awesome Aquifer Kit! The Awesome Aquifer Kit is one of the featured modeling tools included in the educator toolkits. The Awesome Aquifer Kit Guide includes a glossary of key groundwater terms and six activities, aligned to the Next Generation Science Standards, to demonstrate basic concepts of groundwater, how wells work, and the movement and treatment of contaminants within groundwater.
The new Awesome Aquifer Kit videos on the Groundwater Foundation's YouTube channel break down each activity step by step and provide tips on how to expand the lesson for more advanced students. Learn how the Awesome Aquifer Kits can help you "see" groundwater and consider getting your very own at AwesomeAquifer.com!
