It’s Water-Wise Wednesday with Frannie the Fish! {Girl Scout Meeting}

This week Frannie has had so much fun working with Brownie Scouts to earn their "Ask Me About Groundwater" patch!  These girls followed Frannie along on her adventure and discovered how important clean water is for our aquatic friends!  The contaminants Frannie encountered on her adventure made it hard for her to breathe or hard for her to get food.  But these Brownie Scouts found out there are many ways they can help keep Frannie's home clean!  Here are a few ideas the girls came up with:

• Put your garbage in recycle bins and trash bins to prevent litter from ending up in water.
• Talk to your parents/guardians about applying the recommended amount of fertilizer to your lawn.
• Clean up your pet's waste.

These Girl Scouts also made a model in a cup to learn about groundwater geology and vocabulary.  The gravel and water in the cup represents an aquifer - an underground geological formation of sand, soil, gravel and rock able to store and yield water.

They also learned how a well works and the effects on groundwater!  As the Girl Scouts pumped their wells, their aquifers were depleted - when water is used faster than it is replaced.  The groundwater in their aquifers was replenished when it rained, this is called recharge.


Frannie had a great time with these Girl Scouts!  Find out how you can do these activities with your troop and earn a Let's Keep It Clean groundwater patch here!

It's Water-Wise Wednesday with Frannie the Fish {National Conference}

Frannie is at The Groundwater Foundation's National Conference this week learning new things to share with you about groundwater.

Check back in next week for a new, fun blog!

It’s Water-Wise Wednesday with Frannie the Fish! {Water Works}

Frannie wants to tell you about Conservation this week!  Conservation is the use of water-saving methods to reduce the amount of water needed for homes, lawns, farming, and industry, and thus increasing water supplies for the best long-term economic and social benefits.  Essentially conservation is not be wasteful and using something wisely.  Conservation is very important to the future of groundwater.  Without practicing intelligent groundwater conservation methods, groundwater supplies will run out very quickly.

Supplies

• Four large buckets or containers
• Two rulers
• Two ladles
• Two bowls
• Two cups
• Two soda bottles with holes punched in the bottom (Frannie is using 20 ounce bottles this week, but feel free to use 2 liter bottles if you are using extra large buckets or containers)
• Stopwatch

Instructions

 In advance:

1. Take a nail or other sharp object and carefully poke 4-5 holes in the bottom of each soda bottle. Cut the neck off the soda bottles to make a larger opening. 

2. Find a large open area. Place two large containers on one end of the open area and fill them with water. Place the other two large containers at the opposite end . At the end of the game, the water level in the second set of containers will be measured with the rulers to determine the winning team.

3. Put one soda bottle, one cup, one bowl, and one ladle in front of each container of water.

Activity:

1. Divide your troop equally into two teams.  Have each team form a line behind the containers filled with water. 

2. Give the teams five minutes to move as much water from the containers filled with water to the containers with rulers using the items provided. Only one person from each team may compete at any one time. They may not use the same item as the person in front of them used. 

3. A whistle blow will signify the start and end of the race. At the end of five minutes, the team that has the most water moved wins. If they are close, measure the water levels using the rulers.

Discuss which tool was the best for conserving water as it was transported.  Find out how you can conserve water every day with The Groundwater Foundation’s free app 30 by 30!

Share your experiences with 30 by 30 and the Let's Keep It Clean! Program.

It’s Water-Wise Wednesday with Frannie the Fish! {Recognizing Leaders}

This is a very special edition of Water-Wise Wednesday with Frannie the Fish.  This week Frannie is featuring a Nebraska-based troop of 6th grade Cadettes that showed great leadership in teaching a Brownie troop about surface water (water above the surface of the land, including lakes, rivers, streams, ponds, floodwater, and runoff) contamination and how it can affect wildlife.

Makayla, Jaelynn, and Emily present Frannie the Fish's Story.

These girls showcased Frannie the Fish's Story and taught younger Girl Scouts how they can prevent water contamination and protect wildlife.  From recycling and throwing away items when you are done using them to talking to your parents and guardians about using the correct amount of fertilizers, there are small actions we can all take to protect water quality!

The green powder represents fertilizer.  If too much fertilizer is applied, the plants can't absorb it all and some can runoff into surface water.

"We had a lot of fun presenting Frannie the Fish to the 3rd grade Brownie Troop!  What a great way to show both my 6th grade Cadettes and the younger girls how important it is to take care of the Earth and especially our water!" said Carrie Mathison, troop leader.

Would you want to swim in this water?  Fish like Frannie don't want to either!

Congratulations Troop 44404!

Keep up the great work!  Fish like Frannie need friends like you to be water stewards and educate others on how to protect and conserve water!

Have you participated in a Let's Keep It Clean! activity that you would like to share?  Click here!