‘Same water the dinosaurs used’

Per-co-la-tion

Second-graders clapped along as they sounded out the new word phonetically, sitting cross-legged on the floor of the multipurpose room while a map, a jug of water and different containers filled with sand, rocks and clay sat mysteriously on the table in front of them.

The students were the first group of the day at Robert Gisler Elementary School in Fountain Valley to see a special assembly on water.

The presentation was put on for free by the Municipal Water District of Orange County and the Discovery Science Center to teach students in kindergarten through fifth grade about water and conserving it.

Each assembly is grade-level specific and meets state standards, said Principal Jennifer Perkins. Through the years, the assemblies build on each other, but they are also fun and a favorite of both teachers and students, said Susan Davis, the vice president of the Parent Teacher Organization.

Magaly Hayes, an educational representative for the water district, stood in front of the students in a red button-up shirt and a hands-free microphone and explained the ways of water.

“It’s the same water the dinosaurs used,” Hayes said.

Learning about how the earth filters water, the students tested clean and unclean water with pH strips and then ran undrinkable water through a sand filter.

As a student pulled the filter strip out of the container and it turned yellow, which indicates clean water, the students cheered.

After students learned where water comes from and how it is naturally cleaned, Hayes taught them how to conserve it.

“We cannot live here with just our ground water because we don’t get a lot of precipitation and we have a lot of people [living here],” Hayes said.

Turning off the tap when brushing, taking five-minute showers and using a spray nozzle when watering plants or washing a car are easy ways to conserve water, Hayes said.

“We should never, ever waste water. You can do more with less,” she said. “I want you to think of all the ways you can save water at home, at school and everywhere you use it.”

By the end of the assembly, 7-year-old Rosalyn Smith said she wanted to become a Water Hero, a program through the water district where students pledge to conserve 20 gallons of water a day.

You Drink It, But Do You Know Anything About It?

Percolation: The movement of water in the soil or rocks

Evaporation: When water changes into vapor

Transpiration: When water leaves a plant

Aquifer: A natural water container in the earth

Precipitation: Water falling from the sky