The Yahara Watershed Fair is an opportunity for students and educators to share the results of their study of watersheds, land use, water quality, wetlands, and aquatic ecosystems with each other and with the public, and to engage in hands-on workshop activities in these areas.
The theme is "watersheds" broadly interpreted, including anything related to biotic diversity, land use, water quality, and local culture. Educators and students who have done some project on or study of watersheds are invited to share their results through talks, displays, posters, models, demonstrations, or any other type of informal presentation.
We will also have hands-on activities that will allow students and teachers to explore specific aspects of watershed ecology (e.g., water chemistry; plankton ecology; fish population ecology; groundwater movement and contamination; geographic information systems).
We expect close to 200 students, mostly grades 4-6, but some younger and older ones as well.
As in past years, we will divide the day into three parts: Presentations; Watershed Exploratorium, and Afternoon Activities. (See Fair Agenda)
We are currently looking for:
1. Presenters during the morning "Concurrent Presentations" to give 10-20 minute talks summarizing some research or study you are involved in; they can be aimed at elementary, middle, or high school students (or all three), as well as to adults (teachers and other resource specialists).
2. Exhibitors for the Watershed Exploratorium. Exhibits of any type are good (we need lots!), those that actively involve students in some way (for 5-10 minutes) are best.
3. Leaders for Afternoon Activities, which will engage 10-40 students for 2 hours; you can propose your own, or help with activities that are already planned (e.g., sampling and identification of aquatic life in the Mazzuchelli lab). (Help is available for planning and logistics, and other adults will be available to help supervise.)
For more information, contact: Jim Lorman