Teachers, parents, and other educators:

Happy spring! As the snow melts and we get closer to April showers, it’s a great time for water education. If you have water themes coming up in your curriculum, don’t forget to check out our virtual Metro Area Children’s Water Festival resources. The festival took place last September, but all of the resources are still available online.

Visit www.metrocwf.org/virtual or follow the links below.

Recordings of live classes

Live classes were recorded on a number of water topics. Presenters were local water professionals. In these classes, students can learn about mosquitoes, what causes water pollution, the mystery of the disappearing waterfall that used to be in Minneapolis/St. Paul, and more. Recordings of these classes can be found on our Metro Children’s Water Festival live classes site and our YouTube site.  

Videos

A number of videos are available for use. Watch a rainfall simulator, learn about aquatic bugs or why fish in Minnesota lakes get mercury resulting in health guidelines for eating them. View videos and associated links and lessons plans for these topics.

Lesson plans

Want to have the class act out a day in the court of a water trial? Or learn about water scarcity and the global water crises? Or do a fun experience showing how roots absorb water? Download these and other lesson plans for classroom use.  

As we move forward in this new year, the planning committee has decided that due to the uncertainty remaining around larger gatherings, the 2021 festival will also be virtual. We will be exploring different options for this year’s virtual festival that may involve new topics, new methods of delivering education, etc. Stay tuned!

Whether you participated in the 2020 virtual festival or not, we’d like to know what you would like us to incorporate into the 2021 virtual festival to make it worthwhile to you and your students. If you have thoughts and ideas, please fill out this survey.