Back to school is just around the corner, Frannie is looking forward to seeing all her fish friends and learning lots of interesting things this school year. Through her weekly blogs this summer, Frannie discovered so much about groundwater and ways to protect it. She is excited to take her knowledge and share it with her classmates and teachers! You can do the same at your school!
1. Frannie will talk to her teacher about including recycling bins in their classroom. Recycling items like paper means that fewer trees will be cut down to create new paper, this helps prevent erosion - the wearing down or washing away of soil and land surface. It also means that less water will be used in the production process of creating new paper.
2. Frannie is going to share Water1der and 30 by 30 with her teacher and classmates. Water1der will help her friends learn about groundwater and 30 by 30 will teach them how they can conserve and protect this resource!
3. Frannie and her classmates are going to create posters to hang around the school to show students ways they can conserve water and why it is important!
Frannie is excited to find other ways to be a water steward. She is going to bicycle to school instead of getting dropped off in a car. She is not only getting exercise, she is also cutting down on the emissions from cars. Air is closely connected to water, by helping keep air clean, you are helping keep water clean! Learn more about water and air's connection with the Let's Keep It Clean Cadette booklet.
Can you think of more ways to encourage your school to be groundwater-conscious? Share your ideas!
Frannie is so excited that one of her favorite apps - Water1der - has added new questions! Water1der is available for iOS devices.
Take the Water1der quizzes and see if you can answer the new questions! Frannie loves the different kinds of questions in Water1der - multiple choice, hangman, true/false and more. The new questions cover:
- the origin of water on Earth
- groundwater's role in growing the food we eat
- how much water people around the world use
- new hangman questions with groundwater vocabulary terms
- and more!
For Troop Leaders:
Water1der is a fun, interactive tool that your Girl Scouts can play to test their knowledge of water! Check out the user's guide for information on how to create a group for your troop to submit their scores and see who can get the highest score! Check out the educator's guide for background information on each category, answer keys, and hands-on activities to go even more in-depth into this precious resource
Don't have Water1der? Get it for free now!
The Groundwater Foundation is excited to introduce...
30 by 30
30 by 30 is a fun, free water-tracking app for Android and Apple users. Did you know the average American uses 100 gallons of water a day? We are asking you to be a part of the solution and reduce your direct water use by 30 gallons a day for 30 days!
Track your water use, learn ways to use less water, and see your monthly water usage. 30 by 30 makes tracking how much water you use simple; the app calculates your use, you just have to choose an activity.
Download 30 by 30 now:
Check out this flyer for more information!
Frannie is so excited to learn how she can make a big difference in conserving water resources through fun, easy tips.
Use 30 by 30 with your troop as a fun, educational tool to teach Girl Scouts about conserving water resources! 30 by 30 is perfect to create a friendly competition with your troop, or another troop, to see who can conserve the most water through the month of September.
Over 18 years old? Compete in the month of September to be entered to win cool prizes like an iPad 2, Beats headphones, and more! Check out 30 by 30's support page for more information.
Frannie is so excited to share this fun activity with you! Growing with Groundwater is a cool way to see the different parts of the water cycle while growing a plant in your very own terrarium! Plants are important because they provide food and shelter for animals and humans. Many of the products we use every day are made of plants. Can you think of a few examples of how we use plants?
Supplies:
- Plastic cup with a lid
- Plastic wrap and a rubber band (if a lid is not available)
- Gravel, with scoop
- Soil, with scoop
- Seeds
- Spray bottle of water
- Small jar filled with soil
- Small jar filled with air (an empty jar)
- Small jar filled with light (an empty jar)
- Small jar filled with water
The four elements in the jars are essential for not only plants, but for all of us, to live.
a. Soil is where plants grow. Soil is made of rock broken down by weathering (physically - by wind, water, the sun, or ice; or chemically - by chemical processes that either destroy or create minerals) and organic matter from decomposed plants and animals. Soil has nutrients and minerals in it that plants use to grow. Soil also helps plant roots receive water. Sometimes water - river, floods, and heavy rains - wash away the rich soils that plants need to grow. This is called erosion.
b. Air is a mixture of gases in the Earth's atmosphere. Oxygen, carbon dioxides, nitrogen, hydrogen, argon, neon, and helium. These gases are necessary for plants (and us!) to breathe!
c. Sunlight is a source of energy known as solar energy. Sunlight keeps the Earth's surface warm. The temperature of the Earth's surface is dependent on how much sunlight is able to reach the Earth. Plants use this energy from the sun, combined with carbon dioxide in the air, and water to create sugar. This process is called photosynthesis, and it helps plants grow.
d. Water travels in a cycle called the water cycle. Water can be found in this cycle in three forms: a liquid (like the pond Frannie lives in), a solid (ice and snow, brr!), and a gas (water vapor - the clouds). Water is vital to all life on Earth - plants, animals, humans, and especially fish like Frannie! Can you think of a few examples of how plants, animals, and people use water?
Instructions:
1. Fill your plastic cup with about an inch of gravel.
2. Add a little water to your gravel - you have just created a model aquifer! The gravel represents the fractured rock and soil under our feet and the water that fills the spaces in between the gravel represents groundwater.
3. Cover the gravel with soil so the cup is about 3/4 full.
4. Plant your seeds. Read your seed packet for planting instructions, typically seeds do not need to be planted deep.
5. Water your seeds. As you add more water, watch how the water moves through the soil, this is how rain and snow recharge aquifers.
6. Cover your cup with a lid or rubber band plastic wrap around the top.
7. Place your cup in a sunny location.
8. Over the next few days, watch as the sides of the cup become foggy, this is condensation. Heat from the sun causes water to evaporate from the soil and become water vapor, then it cools as it touches the sides of the cup and condenses to become liquid again.
As the water on the sides of the cup becomes heavy, it will fall back to the soil, as "rain," and will water the seeds. Some of the water will move deeper into the soil and reach the gravel layer in the cup, becoming groundwater.
This is the same process as the water cycle. Water on the surface evaporates and moves into the atmosphere. When it cools, it forms clouds and eventually falls as precipitation (rain, snow, sleet, hail). The water then either runs off to surface water (streams, rivers, lakes, oceans) or soaks into the ground and might eventually become groundwater.
Be sure to share pictures of you creating your own terrarium!
