ACTIVITY |
DESCRIPTION |
KEY MESSAGES |
DROP ZONE
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Students discover water towers not only store the water we need for our homes, schools and businesses but also provide the pressure necessary to get that water to us. Participants actively get involved in learning that the tower's size, shape and height will help determine what amount of pressure is available. Look out for the drop zone! |
- In many communities in Grey Bruce clean water is piped directly from the water tower into our homes, schools and businesses.
- It takes energy to pump the water up to the towers.
- Canadians waste a lot of water because it is so readily available. Imagine having to haul all of the water you use and perhaps you can begin to use less.
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SIMPLY DIVINE
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Meet our "Dowser", also known as a "Water Witch". What would 18th and 19th century settlers do if they were not living near a river or lake? How would they be able to find water below the surface of the ground? Students will see if they can successfully dowse for water. How do we find today? |
- Water is necessary for survival therefore locating water is crucial for health and prosperity.
- Water diviners are people who locate water using a forked stick or "divining rod."
- Water diviners have been known to be successful when other methods do not work for finding water however it is unknown how/why the practice really works.
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WATER MAIN BREAK!
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Students will have the opportunity to see how groundwater is pumped from the aquifer to a reservoir, treated (chlorinated) and piped through a distribution system to be delivered to homes and businesses in the community. This will emulate the systems currently in use in many communities that have municipal water systems in place. |
- Drinking water comes from two locations – 1) lakes and rivers and 2) groundwater aquifers.
- Watermain distribution systems are mainly located in built up areas such as villages, towns and cities and are used to transport water from a water towers/reservoirs to the houses, businesses and industries that are connected to it.
- The water in the watermains/pipes is under pressure and when a watermain break occurs, people using the water from that pipe notice that there is lower pressure in the water coming from their taps.
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ACTIVITY |
DESCRIPTION |
KEY MESSAGES |
WATER-GO-ROUND
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Students are led through a variety of experiments using an enviroscape model to demonstrate how water is used and recycled in our communities. Demonstrations and discussion include water treatment, distribution, wastewater collection, wastewater treatment and biosolids disposal/use. This activity ties in well with a number of other activities at the festival. |
- All water from a water treatment plant is treated so it is safe for drinking purposes.
- The same water is here now as was when dinosaurs roamed the earth.
- Everything we do on the land affects the water we depend on.
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WELL DRILL IT
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Students discover the importance of the water table as it exists underground, investigating how we access the water from aquifers. How do we get the water out of the ground once we've located an aquifer? Students "drill" their own wells, pump out water in models as well as use a hand pump to discover the work involved in getting water from underground. A model of a modern drilled well helps students to visualize the layers of different materials underfoot. |
- Not all water is easy to get to; there are many different layers beneath the earth's surface.
- The water table is the level of groundwater beneath the earth.
- An aquifer is a layer of porous material underground that is saturated with water.
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WHERE IT GOES... WHEN I GO
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Students discover for themselves the process that sewage and wastewater takes in a wastewater treatment plant before it is safely returned to our waterways. This hands-on activity takes them through the processes without leaving the premises. Photos of actual local treatment plants are included for relating to the working model. |
- Never pour things down the drain that are unsafe for the environment.
- Waste water needs to be treated before it can be returned to our waterways.
- Some types of bacteria can be used to do work for us.
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