It’s Water-Wise Wednesday with Frannie the Fish! {The Hydrogeology Challenge}

Frannie is so excited to share this fun, online tool with high school aged Girl Scouts - The Hydrogeology Challenge!  You can use it to learn basic groundwater computer modeling concepts.

The Hydrogeology Challenge offers you the chance to learn about groundwater through a computer simulation.  It challenges you to design and conduct a scientific investigation and evaluate solutions to complex real-world problems.

What you'll need:

• A computer or tablet with internet access
• A calculator

Additional Resources:

• Video walk-through: this walks you through how to use the computer model.

Steps:
Before you start using the model, Frannie suggests you get to know a few groundwater basics:

1.  Know the basics
     a.  What is groundwater?
     b.  How does groundwater move?
     Groundwater is part of the hydrologic cycle - water is recharged to the groundwater system by rainwater, melting snow and streams, lakes, or rivers.  Check out the image below!  Groundwater can flow into surface water and surface water can contribute to groundwater recharge.

     c.  What do you need to know in order to model the movement of groundwater?  Using the Hydrogeology Challenge, you will calculate:

• Flow direction - Which way the groundwater is flowing.
• Gradient - You will be given the location of three wells, the water table elevation of each well, and the distance between the wells to determine the slope of the water table.
• Horizontal Velocity - The soil porosity (the amount of empty space in the soil, measured as a percentage) and the hydraulic conductivity (describes the ease with which water can move through pore spaces or fractures.  This is dependent on what the soil is made of - if the soil is sandy, it will allow water to move through it more easily, water does not move very easily in soil made mostly of clay).

2.  Run the model!

Follow the directions - the model is created as a learning tool, so it will walk you through each step.  First you will choose three wells.  And don't worry if you miss an answer, you can use check answer and show solution buttons to help you along!

Here are a couple of tips from Frannie:  

1.  Read the directions carefully. 
2.  If you want you can further learn about the assumptions that were made in creating the Hydrogeology model.  To do this, click on the "Reality Check" arrow as you work through the three steps.

3.  If you want to do it again:

• Choose different wells
• Turn pumping on
• Choose a different map

 
4.  Remember, if you need more help watch the video walk-through.
5.  Get your school involved with Science Olympiad and compete in the Hydrogeology Challenge!

It’s Water-Wise Wednesday with Frannie the Fish {America Recycles Day}

November 15, 2015 is America Recycles Day!

Frannie has taken the pledge to recycle more in honor of Keep America Beautiful's recycling initiative and has found a recycling event to participate in this coming Sunday!  Find an event near you to participate in!  America Recycles Day happens every year and helps educate people about recycling and promotes recycling all across the country.

Frannie found a fun activity to do in honor of America Recycles Day.  You can do it too!  The goal of the activity is to match the correct fun fact with the corresponding recyclable product.

Frannie printed off the instructions for this activity and gathered the supplies she needs, including:

• An aluminum soda can
• A glass bottle
• A piece of paper
• A plastic bottle
• A steel food can
• Scissors

Follow these steps with Frannie to do this activity!
1.  Print the fun facts from the website above (and the images of the items if you don't have the actual items).  Cut out the fun facts.

2.  Try to match up the correct fun fact with the corresponding item!

3.   Use the last page of the activity guide to see what the correct answers are.  Are you surprised by any of the facts?

Don't forget to recycle!

Share what you will be doing on America Recycles Day and you could be featured on Frannie's blog!

It’s Water-Wise Wednesday with Frannie the Fish! {The Groundwater Foundation’s National Conference}

Frannie had such a great time at The Groundwater Foundation's 2015 National Conference October 20-22!  Frannie and some of her Girl Scout friends shared the Let's Keep It Clean patch program at the Soak It All Up! Workshop on Tuesday, October 20.  These Girl Scout leaders showcased their groundwater knowledge and demonstrated activities that other Girl Scouts across the country can do to earn their groundwater patches and learn how to be water stewards!  These activities are fun and easy to implement with the extensive resources available for Girl Scout troop leaders!  The knowledge and hard work of these Girl Scouts made for a very successful workshop!

Girl Scout Cadettes share Frannie the Fish's Story at the Soak It All Up! Workshop.

Girl Scout Cadettes lead Soak It All Up! Workshop participants in the Awesome Aquifer activity.

Frannie also had a great time at the National Conference celebrating The Groundwater Foundation's 30th anniversary, hearing from expert speakers, and recharging her enthusiasm to protect and conserve groundwater!

Want to learn more about The Groundwater Foundation's Girl Scout patch program or the resources available to make leading your troop through groundwater activities a breeze?  E-mail girlscouts@groundwater.org. 

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!