Educating the Public from K-12 to Adults on the Importance of Water Resource Management using Hands-on Activities

Water resource education occurs at many different levels. This ranges from K‐12 education to teachers to adults. At the University of Georgia (UGA), the authors have been working for years to educate the public on water issues ranging from the water cycle to soil erosion and deposition to improving soils for water resource management. The water cycle is one of the standards at the elementary school level. The authors have use an 8X10 foot display of the water cycle to teach students the different phases of the cycle, how they interact and how they are connected. Not only are the different parts of the cycle explained, but the facilitators also play a game with the students to help them better connect everyday items with the water cycle. In the middle school, soil erosion and deposition is an important standard. The authors have developed and presented a complimentary presentation with some examples and slides to the 6th grade students to help reinforce what the teachers were teaching. To better provide the teachers with water resource materials and ideas, the authors have worked with the regional educational service agency (RESA) to conduct water resource trainings which includes hands‐on activities to provide the teachers with activities they can use to help the students better understand water resource concepts as well as contribute to their STEAM courses. Adult education consist of water festivals where the authors have used hands‐on activities to explain the causes and effects of pollution on water resources. Rainfall simulators have been used at farmer based meetings to show and explain the effects of cover crops and groundcover on the reduction of erosion and water infiltration. On this poster you can see some of the different ways we use at UGA to connect people from students to adults with water resources