Classroom Water Education Programs Offered by the City of Carrollton
All programs (including materials) are FREE of charge
To schedule a presentation for your school, please contact:
Andie McClure (972) 466-3035
Andrea.mcclure@cityofcarrollton.com
Ethan Harrison-Weil (972) 466-7005 Ethan.harrison-weil@cityofcarrollton.com
TEKS available on request! Demonstration videos also available for some programs.
Lesson Summary Grades
Custom Presentations
Freddy the Fish
If you do not see a program listed that fits your classroom needs, please contact our offices about creating a custom presentation just for your class! We are always happy to work with you to give your students the best educational presentations possible.
The story of Freddy the Fish is a good visual that shows students how various sources of pollution affect clear streams and eventually render the habitat unlivable for aquatic life. With this activity, the presenter sets up a fishbowl of water with a toy fish. A small amount of water and a variety of “pollutants” are added to Freddie’s environment to show how pollution affects wildlife. Safe, food grade materials are used to simulate pollutants.
All age groups
Water Wonderful
This activity focuses on basic water knowledge and understanding by answering questions such as “who needs water?” and “Where does drinking water come from?”. With eight science-related activities, your class can dive into multiple concepts. Limited Quantities Available.
1st – 3rd
1st - 3rd
The Incredible Water Journey
This a fun, interactive game that helps students better understand the movement of water through the water cycle. The game consists of 9 round spinners, each representing a location where water can be found (clouds, oceans, glaciers, etc.). As the students spin to see where the water molecule will go next, they collect a corresponding-colored bead to place on a string to remind them of their “incredible water journey”. Great fun and a great learning experience.
Crumpled Watershed
Enviroscape® Watershed Model
The crumpled watershed is a great hands-on visual that shows students how various sources of pollution affect streams. With this activity, the presenter gives all students a sheet of paper and washable markers. The students crumple the paper to create the topography for a watershed and follow the presenter’s instructions on what to draw (a waterway and sources of pollutants). At the end the presenter will make a “rain” event occur by spraying water on the student’s drawings, allowing the pollution sources to flow into the waterway.
This interactive lesson makes use of a model town that shows students how our daily habits impact the environment and disturb the natural balance of the urban water cycle. Students will gain knowledge of the combined effects that pollution from many small sources can have on our watershed and our lives.
2nd - 6th
1st – 5th
3rd – 5th
Drinking Water & Wastewater Treatment Model
The 3D EnviroScape Drinking Water/Wastewater model traces the path water in our community. Natural water is drawn from the river and enters the water treatment plant processes -- clean water is deliveredwastewater is sent for treatment treated water is returned to the river. There is even a section on biosolids, septic tanks and stormwater. You can choose to focus on one of these areas or do all three demonstrations.
Water Drops on a Penny
Where in the World is Water?
The focus of this lesson is on the special properties of water; in this case, we demonstrate the surface tension of water. Using an eye dropper, the participants count how many drops of water they can place on the top of a penny. As the water forms mounds and then hugs the edge of the penny, the amazing surface tension of water is revealed!
Over two-thirds of the Earth is covered by water! However, the vast majority of this is in the form of saltwater located in the world’s oceans and cannot be used to support life on land. This activity will help provide students with a general understanding of global distribution of water. This program can lead to subsequent activities that explore the water cycle and the distribution of saltwater and freshwater in more detail (see programs H20 by the numbers and Can You Make It Rain?).
H20 By the Numbers Water is found in different forms and in different places on the Earth. This activity will help students understand the distribution of water globally by challenging them to identify different sources of water and calculate percentages for each source based on a simulation of the Earth’s total supply of water.
3rd – 5th
All age groups
6th - 8th
6th - 8th
Can You Make It Rain?
Population Growth and the Changing Face of the Urban/Rural Interface: 2010 -> 2025
Water is integral to life on earth and moves in a cycle between the earth and the atmosphere. Through the development and exploration of their own ideas, students will simulate an abbreviated version of the water cycle by making evaporated water condense to form “rain” drops.
With increase in human population, there is a rising demand for clean and available water in both urban and agricultural environments. In this activity, youth will simulate population growth in both urban and agricultural settings requiring intensification agriculture and resulting in a higher demand for water. Youth will explore and discuss ways that human uses of water can affect both water quantity and quality.
The Earth’s Water: Streams, Lakes, Oceans & More!
How Much Water Do We Use?
Over two-thirds of the Earth is covered by water! However, the vast majority of this is in the form of saltwater located in the world’s oceans and cannot be used to support life on land. This activity will help provide youth with a general understanding of global distribution of water and will lead to subsequent activities that explore the water cycle and distribution of saltwater and freshwater in more detail.
The demand for water use continues to grow as the world’s population increases. The average U.S. citizen uses over 100 gallons of water each day. Do you know how much water you used today? This activity will help youth understand the amount of water we use and will challenge youth to think of ways to conserve this resource.
6th - 8th
9th - 12th
9th - 12th
9th - 12th