CCS students enjoy Water Festival
Published 2:23 pm Friday, March 15, 2019
Verbena student Ethan Carter displays his nearly completed bracelet. (JOYANNA LOVE/ ADVERTISER)
Verbena student Lakeyn Cleckler, Chloe Williams, Brooklyn Sazera and Kaley Cochrane finish their bracelets. (JOYANNA LOVE/ ADVERTISER)
Chilton County Master Gardeners Betsy Smith and Pat Farmer presented the water cycle portion of activities. (JOYANNA LOVE/ ADVERTISER)
Verbena student Emma Bice helps Martina Pena put on her bracelet. (JOYANNA LOVE/ ADVERTISER)
Clanton Intermediate Arleth Ventura works on her water cycle bracelet. (JOYANNA LOVE/ ADVERTISER)
Clanton Intermediate students work on their water cycle bracelets. (JOYANNA LOVE/ ADVERTISER)
By JOYANNA LOVE/ Senior Staff Writer
It was a day of hands-on learning for Chilton County Schools fourth-grade students at the 2019 Water Festival.
The annual event is held through a partnership of the Chilton County Extension Office, Chilton County Master Gardeners, the Chilton Natural Resource Council and the Alabama Forestry Commission at the Jefferson State Community College Chilton-Clanton campus.
Three different activities highlighted elements of water.
Students learned about the water cycle while making bracelets. Each bead represented a different phase of the cycle.
Verbena student Emma Bice said she liked making the bracelet.
“The blue stands for precipitation,” Emma said. “The brown stands for infiltration, the green one stands for transpiration. The yellow one stands for the sun and how it heats up. The white one stands for condensation.”
Beads representing each step were put in order, with a bead shaped like a fish strung in between two sets of the five colored beads.
Verbena fourth-grade teacher Megan Dale said the class studies the water cycle each year before coming to the event.
Emma said she was looking forward to eating ice cream during Edible Aquifers. Edible Aquifers focused on how water towers work. Students created their own aquifers with ice cream, candy and soda.
Verbena students Ethan Carter said he enjoyed “learning about the water cycle and how it all works and how water is so useful to us.”
Chilton County Master Gardener Pat Farmer and Master Gardener in training Betsy Smith led the water cycle activity.
“It’s just fun to work with the kids and see how much they know and to teach them about the water cycle,” Farmer said.
She said the activities are “wonderful programs to teach kids about our water and conserving our water.”
Farmer incorporated information about how much water can be wasted if students do not turn off the water while brushing their teeth. If the water is left running, it would use two gallons.
Smith said she liked that the event gave students a hands-on activity as a way to remember the information better.
Clanton Intermediate student Kailey Houston said she had looked forward to the opportunity to “experience some cool things” at the event.
“I liked making the bracelets and how we talked about the water cycle,” Houston said
Presenters also tested students’ knowledge about water.
During the Fantastic Filtration presentation, students mixed dirt, paper and vinegar (which represented oil) with water, then tried to filter it out.
