UWA hosts annual water festival
By Staff
special to The Star
Oct. 23, 2004
LIVINGSTON, Ala. The University of West Alabama will host the 2nd Annual Sumter-Marengo County Water Festival on the UWA campus on Tuesday. Some 650 fourth-grade students from local area schools are scheduled attend.
The purpose of the festival is to educate children about all aspects of groundwater and other related natural resources like surface waters, wetlands, forestry and wildlife, and to instill in them a general environmental awareness and stewardship ethic.
At the festival, students learn where their drinking water comes from and learn how to protect it and keep it clean for themselves and future generations.
Fun activities are intermingled into the children's scheduled day of classroom sessions, allowing them to participate in water-related experiments, activities and entertainment.
Numerous water educators and enthusiasts from around the state will team up for an interactive day of learning for students and teachers.
Students also will participate in hands-on learning activities focusing on the concept of groundwater, the importance of water to all life, the hydrologic cycle and groundwater's role in the hydrologic cycle. They will learn about the relationships between plants, wildlife, soil, water, the effect of human actions on water and all nature and the need for responsible conservation of our natural resources. Three hands-on groundwater activities will help students grasp these concepts.
The classroom sessions will be followed by a magic show conducted by kid comedian and "rockin' eco-hero" Steve Trash. It is a blend of entertainment and education, tailored to the age of the students. Trash has traveled to Japan, Australia, Canada and Greenland performing magic tricks with garbage and teaching kids about ecology.
Volunteers from the UWA College of Education, the Sumter and Marengo Soil and Water Conservation Districts and other local groups will be on hand as tour guides to ferry students from one activity to the next. Each student, volunteer and teacher will receive a free Water Festival T-shirt.
A T-shirt design contest, open to all of the fourth graders, was conducted prior to the festival. The winning entry's design will appear on the printed shirts, and the winning student and his or her teacher will each receive a prize of $50. In addition, each teacher will receive a bag filled with free posters, booklets and other environmental education materials.
To learn more about conducting a Water Festival in your area, contact UWA's Alabama Onsite Wastewater Association Training Center at (205) 652-3803.
