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To the side of the Pinal Little League Complex in Claypool, students piled ice cubes on the tops of plastic mountains, illustrating how water travels through a watershed, starting from mountain tops. At the neighboring water conservation station, students raced each other to fill buckets of water from one bin and transport them to another. Their mission was to not only to work fast, but to spill as little water as possible.
For the very first time, the Southern Gila County Water Festival was held yesterday morning at the Pinal Little League Complex in Claypool.
“It’s a fun way for students to learn about water,” said Pam Justice, one of the Project WET employees who were in attendance.
Students from the Inspired Learning Academy, along with students from Lee Kornegay Intermediate, Rice Elementary, and Winkelman, attended. In total, there were roughly 120 students, and approximately 70 local and regional volunteers who helped facilitate the activities.
At the groundwater station, students crowded around a table, where two plastic tubes were suspended. As one of them watched a timer, the rest watched water pass through each tube, waiting to see which tube the water passed through faster.
At the next station, students took part in the Incredible Journey.
“This is one of Project WET’s lead activities,” Justice said. “The students become water molecules and travel to the nine different locations you would find water in the natural system.”
To convey the experience of a water molecule, students moved to different bead trays spread around the station. Different bead colors represented the ocean, lakes, rivers and clouds. Students threaded the different colored beads onto pipe cleaners, representing water molecules.
“This kind of learning does work,” said ILA administrative assistant Noelle Anderson as she watched from the sidelines.
Jenn Walker began writing for Globe Miami Times in 2012 and has been a contributor ever since. Her work has also appeared in Submerge Magazine, Sacramento Press, Sacramento News & Review and California Health Report. She currently teaches Honors English at High Desert Middle School and mentors Globe School District’s robotics team.
