A Two Week Program Lets Kids get "Down and Dirty" with Science
WILLIAMSBURG -- Singing songs, playing with puppets, digging in the dirt, taking a peek into the septic tank at your school... Sound like fun? These are just some of the activities planned in the next two weeks to teach kids about water conservation.
The program is called, "All the Water There Ever Will Be Goes Through You and Goes Through Me" and is organized by Onsite Wastewater of Northern Michigan. Water and environmental experts, representatives from the health department, a professional song-writer, and a puppeteer will be among the guests at Mill Creek Elementary School in Williamsburg.
The fourth and fifth grade students will learn about the basics of the water cycle this week. They will explore where water comes from, how it gets to the school, how the kids use the water, and where it goes from there. Yes, there are bodily functions involved in the discussion, which Dendra Best of Onsite Wastewater says gets the kids giggling, saying "eeeew!" and having fun while they're learning. Conserving and preserving water will be an important focus.
Next week, songwriter Dan Hall and puppeteer Joanne Schroeder will turn the kids' science lesson into a song and a performance. The kids will choose the theme as they write their own Mill Creek water story.
The program was made possible through a grant from the Elk Rapids Community Education Fund administered through the Grand Traverse Regional Community Foundation. Best says this is the first intensive program of its kind and has been designed to apply to any school in any area on a shoestring budget.
