Water We Drink - Day 1

"Water Journey Camps: Drink" has begun! This camp is about the "water we drink," in particular, for campers, the water that comes out of the drinking fountain at the Institute on the Environment at the University of Minnesota, where the camp is held.

Camp launched with a full day of activities:

• Campers gathered at the drinking fountain, where lead teacher, Kate, recited a poem to launch the journey
• Campers each got a water bottle to travel with them on their journey, and poured the water into a common vessel, then refilled it at the drinking fountain
• We loaded a bus headed to Brooklyn Center, where campers learned about the cameras they would be using throughout the week
• Then campers met Susan Nelson, an educator for the West Mississippi Watershed Management Commission, who guided them to explore the prairie planting at River Park that helps rain soak into the land, and makes the water cleaner that does flow into the Mississippi River next to the park. The flowers here also provide habitat for wildlife as well as beauty for visitors.

• At the edge of the Mississippi River, campers collected water and met Justine Roe and Jodi Wallin of St. Paul Regional Water Services who revealed what goes on inside the white building across the river where the river is pumped into pipes.
• Campers lunched at a park, and generated questions about the lakes the water travels through for Nick Voss, a watershed educator for Vadnais Lake Area Watershed Management Organization. 

• Finally, campers met Justine and Jodi again at the St. Paul Regional Water Services McCarron's Water Treatment Plant which transforms the water into delicious drinking water. 

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/e1hrt1lk591wxso/AADISf3zzMuE2pRFT1NzGkqoa?dl=0