“From sea to shining sea,” was the theme of 2002 Children’s Water Education Festival, held May 7^th and 8^th in Irvine, California. The purpose of the festival was to educate 3^rd and 4^th graders from Orange County schools on the importance of one of our nation’s natural resources—water.

The festival was sponsored by Orange County Water District, Disneyland_® Resort, Blue Planet Foundation, in addition to many other companies, city governments, organizations, and government agencies. Although, Disneyland_® Resort was one of the major sponsors, this was far from some Mickey Mouse_® event. Over eighty activity booths were available for teachers and their classes. Various organizations and agencies presented an educational and hands on learning experience at each booth.

The US Geological Survey was invited to participate in the event. Henry Miyashita from Sacramento and Isabel Pimentel from San Diego, organized and coordinated the activities for the USGS activity booth. The requirements for the education booths were:

1. The theme had to do with water
2. Be interesting and fun for 3^rd and 4^th graders
3. Make it a hands on experience
4. Have as many of the students participate in the presentation as possible.0

Henry and Isabel organized a participatory demonstration dealing with aquifer permeability. Originally submitted as “Permeability in an Aquifer,” the organizers of the event modified the title to “Molecules In Motion,” in keeping with requirement item 2. On both days, volunteers from Disneyland Resorts were assisted at the booth.  On the first day our volunteer was a young lady named Dimitra who worked as an industrial hygienist at Disneyland_® Resorts. The second day, another young lady named Kellie who worked as a claims analyst at Disneyland_® Resorts was the volunteer. Although we did not anticipate needing any additional help, their presence made the activities go smoothly as they helped to instruct the student volunteers from each class.

Since 30 minutes were allotted for each class and classes were expected one after another from 8:30 in the morning until 2:30 in the afternoon, the training aids were kept to a minimum with a quick recovery and set up time for each class.

Three 10 liter clear containers, each with a spigot, were filled with different sized grains representing an aquifer. One was filled with ¾” pebbles, another with gravel, and the third with washed sand. Three clear pitchers each containing equal amounts of water, which was dyed with blue food coloring, and three large funnels made up the remainder of the demonstration equipment.

The presentations began with the students yelling the name of their school out as loud as they could on the count of three. After a short introduction to aquifers and the sources of drinking water, the students were asked which of the 10 liter containers would hold the most water. As the presenter called off the various sized grains starting with coarse, then medium, and finally fine, the students would raise their hands to show which one they thought would hold the most water. Six volunteers were picked, two at each container. As one would pour the water into the container, the second student would watch the water as the level approached the top, and they measured which “aquifer” held the most water.  They found that the coarse “aquifer” held the most water, followed by the medium, and finally the fine.

The next part of the demonstration was to determine which aquifer would allow water to flow most freely through it. Once again, the students were asked to raise their hands as the presenter went from coarse to medium, and then to fine. Another group of 6 volunteers are selected. One was to open the spigot upon command and the other would hold the empty pitcher and funnel to catch the water. On the count of three, the spigots were opened. After several seconds, the command to stop was given. The students holding the pitchers were asked to hold the pitcher up high to allow the rest of the class to see the results. The results showed that the coarse grain aquifer had the most water flow through it, followed by the medium, and finally the fine.

It’s interesting to note that in both times when the students were asked which aquifer would hold the most water and which aquifer would flow more freely, that they answered fine.

Up to this point 12 students were able to participate in the presentation. To allow the remainder of the students to participate, one final event was conducted called the “Human Aquifer.” The students were gathered in front of the booth and were instructed to hold their hands out to represent coarse grains. They were to stand in a random pattern while not facing in any one direction. Two to three students were picked to become water molecules and were directed to walk through the aquifer. The “water molecule” students did this without much difficulty. Next the aquifer was told to place their hands on their hips and to move closer together to represent medium grains. The water molecules then proceeded through the aquifer, taking a little bit longer then the previous time. Finally, the aquifer was asked to place their hands down their sides and to move even closer together to represent fine grains. This time the water molecules were unable to pass through.

The students were again seated and congratulated for their participation. Questions were answered and the students were each given a goodie bag containing a pencil, sticker, and bookmarker. The teachers were also given a bag with a ground water poster, and other educational materials available from the USGS.

Don’t get too comfortable and complacent in your jobs. In a few years some of these students who attended this event may be competing for your positions.