Education

Annual Poster Contest

Each year, EVMWD hosts the “Water Is Life – Use It Wisely” poster contest for K-5 students. Winners (and their teachers) are honored at a special ceremony at EVMWD headquarters and receive special prizes. Students also have the chance for their artwork to be featured in the BeWaterWise.com calendar and to attend an award ceremony at Metropolitan Water District of Southern California.

The 2024-2025 contest will be hosted in Fall 2024.

STEM in Public Utilities Learning Labs

EVMWD has partnered with Riverside Public Utilities, the Science and Technology Education Partnership, and other great organizations to provide a week-long program for high school students! Students get an in-depth view of STEM knowledge and application within the context of public utilities, as well as career possibilities within the industry. The STEM PULL program includes live presentations, simulations, tours, hands-on activities, and a group design challenge. As an extra bonus, students compete in teams for a $1,000 prize.

STEM PULL is open to all high school students in EVMWD’s service area at no cost. Interested in taking part? Let us know for the 2023 Summer. Fill out this form and we’ll keep you up to date!

Classroom Presentations
Elementary students in grades K-5 can learn about our water, where it comes from, and why it is so  important to conserve and preserve it in a new interactive presentation hosted by EVMWD, Western Municipal Water District and the Discovery Science Center. The presentations contain skillfully embedded California Science Content Standards, are FREE for schools, and have proven results. This year, Discovery Cube will be offering both in-person and virtual presentations to meet the unique needs of teachers

Spots are limited, so reserve your space today! For more information or to book the program at your school, please contact Discovery Cube’s Group Bookings Department at 714.913.5030.

Careers in the Water Industry
For grades 6-12, career presentations are available! EVMWD’s career unit highlights the many possibilities found within the water industry, covering a wide range of experience, interest, and education. EVMWD staff is available for virtual or in-class career presentations, as well as career fairs.

Krieger Water Project Grant for Educators
This program is open to all grade levels and is co-sponsored by EVMWD and funded by Western Municipal Water District. Designed to fund classroom or school projects that further a better understanding of water and the vital role it plays in our community, the mini-grant program awards thousands of dollars to instructors each year. Grant program summary:

Grant Amount: Up to $1,000

Goal: To enable primary and secondary educators to develop original water education lessons, experiments or projects for K-12 students.

Entry Qualifications: Individual instructors, teams, or school sites may apply.

Visit Western MWD website for the most current information and entry guidelines.

Education Bundles
An array of materials for grades K-8 featuring the water cycle, water conservation, and the water history of Southern California tailored to primary and secondary grade levels. Instruction booklets, teacher guides, posters and stickers tie directly into the science, history and social science curriculum frameworks.

Water Quality Materials
Through free curriculum and testing supplies, grades 7-12 can explore water quality with a hands-on, inquiry-based approach. The materials highlight a number of water attributes including pH, total dissolved solids, turbidity, hardness, and contaminants. Order online or email ElsinoreEddie@evmwd.net for more information.

Virtual Tours
Students can tour EVMWD’s water quality laboratory and wastewater treatment plant from the comfort of home or the classroom. This online tour give students an inside look at how water is monitored from source to tap and how wastewater is treated and returned to the environment. Teachers can request a live Q&A session to accompany the virtual tour, if desired. A 360 degree tour of EVMWD’s conservation garden is available as well.

EVMWD also partners with Metropolitan Water District (MWD) for tours of Diamond Valley Lake. For additional information, contact Blanca Biller at bbiller@mwdh2o.com or visit www.mwdh2o.com.

Scouts
The H2O Explorer Badge Program is a free program for children attending private and home schools, boy and girls scout troops, YMCA and YWCA groups. Explorers will earn a badge after completing several special activities at EVMWD’s virtual Splash Into Spring event. Click here to begin!

For all online education orders, click here.

Resource Guides
Fall 2022 Resource Guide
Spring 2022 Resource Guide
Fall 2021 Resource Guide

2022 Comic Contest

To celebrate Drinking Water Week 2022, EVMWD hosted its first-ever comic contest for grades 6-12. Students were tasked with creatively illustrating the importance of safe drinking water.

Check out the winning entries below!

1st Place

Eli Camarena (Download Here)

Runners Up

Miguel Lopez (View Here)

Nancilee Tibbetts (View Here)

Creative Writing Contest

To celebrate Drinking Water Week 2021, EVMWD hosted a creative writing contest for K-12 students . Students were invited to write a short story, essay, or poem illustrating the importance of safe drinking water.

Check out winning entries from 2020 and 2021 below!

2021 Winners

Chad Milner – 1st Grade at Luiseno School

Safe drinking water is very important. First, water is healthy for your body. Next, drinking water gives you more energy. Last, our body needs plenty of water every day. Drinking water is good for you and tastes yummy.

Chloe Muller – 5th Grade at Donald Graham Elementary School

The faucet leaks, drip drop
Please, oh, please make it stop!

A cup of water, almost as important as
the oxygen you breathe and let pass,

Water, you can always count on
and no, I answer, this is not a con,

Water conservation is an important thing
It is so good that I want to sing!

Everyone needs it, so does an otter
So please, help us save our water!

2020 Winners

Jeremiah Alatorre – 11th Grade at Mountainside Academy

In Quenched, Jeremiah tells the story of a young, impoverished boy who is desperate for water. Jeremiah’s vivid descriptions transport readers to an arid desert, where access to clean water is the difference between life and death for the boy and his family. Read Quenched here.

Chelsea Chavez – 3rd Grade at Inspire School

In Lil Drop’s Big Adventure, Chelsea provides engaging insight into the water cycle from the perspective of a little drop. The story contains important lessons, adorable characters, and informative dialogue. Click here to read Chelsea’s work!

Lillian Sappenfield – 1st Grade at Eisenhower Elementary School

For her project, Lillian wrote a song about the importance of water to the tune of “Itsy Bitsy Spider”. She went above and beyond by even decorating her lyrics; great job, Lillian!

Elsinore Valley Municipal Water District (EVMWD) is excited to launch a water bottle fill station program for schools within our service area!

Schools can promote the value of tap water by replacing an existing drinking fountain with a water bottle fill station. By providing these fill stations for qualifying schools at no cost, EVMWD ensures that students have easy access to cool, clean, and affordable drinking water. Students can stay hydrated and reduce waste by using refillable water bottles.

The program will be offered on a lottery-based system to four (4) new school sites per year. Each school site is eligible for one (1) fill station.

To qualify, schools must:

• Be located in EVMWD’s service area.
• Identify a location for the fill station in a highly visible public space.
• Agree to place co-branded signage, provided by EVMWD, near the fill station.
• Install the station using qualified staff or a licensed contractor.
• Maintain the fill station and signage for a minimum of five (5) years.

EVMWD will:

• Coordinate an agreement of terms and conditions for two-party signature.
• Approve the proposed location for the water bottle fill station.
• Provide co-branded signage, as approved by both parties.
• Coordinate purchase and shipping of the station.
• Promote the water bottle fill station location on EVMWD’s website.

School administrators can apply online to be considered for the program. For additional details, view our flyer here.

Questions? Contact EVMWD’s Community Affairs team at (951) 674-3146.

Featured Station: Tovashal Elementary School

EVMWD hosted a ribbon cutting ceremony at Tovashal Elementary School to celebrate the installation of their new water bottle fill station.

Photo (left to right): MVUSD Board President Linda Lunn, Raul Esteves, EVMWD Director Andy Morris, Principal Kathy Dixon, MVUSD Superintendent Patrick Kelley, Liam Chavez, Landen Chavez, and EVMWD General Manager Greg Thomas.

Participating Schools

EVMWD is grateful to partner with the following schools for the pilot program:

• Shivela Middle School
• Tovashal Elementary School

Virtual Tour: Colorado River Aqueduct (Grades 4 – College)

Follow the journey of water to Southern California via Metropolitan’s Colorado River Aqueduct. You may watch the tour as a 360 degree video in English or Spanish with or without a headset. View the virtual tour worksheet.

*Courtesy of Metropolitan Water District of Southern California

Virtual Tour: State Water Project (Grades 4 – College)
Immerse your students in the State Water Project system and discover the 444-mile journey that water makes to Southern California. Students will virtually visit the Bay Delta, Banks Pumping Plant, the California Aqueduct, Chrisman Pumping Plant, and Lake Perris. Students will also have the opportunity to view 360-degree photos of seven sites at Lake Oroville and the San Luis Reservoir. The tour can be viewed without VR goggles on YouTube as a narrated 360-degree fly through in English, Spanish, and Mandarin Chinese. View the virtual tour worksheet.

*Courtesy of Metropolitan Water District of Southern California

Smithsonian Science Education Center

The Smithsonian has developed a multitude of STEM resources to support distance learning needs for students in grades K-8. This site is designed with students, teachers, and caregivers in mind. It includes standards-aligned educational games, simulations, videos, eBooks, and hands-on lessons that require simple materials found at home. Visit https://ssec.si.edu/distancelearning to take advantage of these great resources!

Discovery Cube Connect

Discovery Cube has recently launched an interactive educational STEM portal called Discovery Cube Connect! A digital extension to Discovery Cube’s family of science centers, this new platform connects our community to the best hands-on STEM resources on the web for free. Click here to create your free account.

Water – Use It Wisely

Visit wateruseitwisely.com/kids/games/ to enjoy word scrambles, memory card challenges, and more. Kids learn the value of using water wisely through a series of fun games!

Project WET

DiscoverWater.org, sponsored by the Project WET Foundation, is an interactive site that helps students discover the role of water in their lives. Through online games and activities, students learn about conservation, the water cycle, our ocean, and more.

CA Department of Water Resources

California’s Department of Water Resources provides free education materials including worksheets, activity books, posters, and more. Many of these materials can be downloaded online for immediate use! Click here to view these great resources.

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Activities

The EPA provides learning activities for teachers and students of all ages. Trivia facts, card games, and action steps provide students with a diverse range of opportunities! Click here to access.

What’s Amazing About Water?

Have you ever thought about experimenting with water? EVMWD recognizes students with water-based science fair projects each year at the LEUSD District Science Fair. There are dozens of experiments you can do at home with water. Consider these amazing facts about water:

• Water is all around us and is easily available for observation and testing.
• Water is non-toxic, non-explosive and noncorrosive – a SAFE substance to work with!
• Water is unique in that it is the only natural substance that is found in all three physical states—solid (ice), liquid (water), and gas (steam)!
• Water is unusual in that the solid form (ice) is less dense than the liquid form, which is why ice floats.
• Water is called the “universal solvent” because it dissolves more substances than any other liquid.
• The water molecule is highly cohesive – it is very sticky. Water is the most cohesive among the non-metallic liquids.
• Water has a very high surface tension. In other words, water is sticky and elastic, and tends to clump together in drops rather than spread out in a thin film, like rubbing alcohol.
• Air pressure affects the boiling point of water, which is why it takes longer to boil an egg in the mountains than at the beach.

Resources

There are many resources online that can help you choose your next science project. Curiosity is your key to coming up with an amazing project! Find inspiration at these websites:

• Aquapedia: The Water Education Foundation’s California Water Encyclopedia
• Environmental Protection Agency
• The Water Project
• Science for Kids
• Environmental Education for Kids
• Explore the Earth (USGS)
• Water Education Foundation
• Water Glossary

Floating & Sinking

Why do heavy things like soap float but small objects sink in the water? It depends upon how much water an object pushes out of the way or displaces.

• Small ball of clay
• 4-5 marbles
• A clear container to hold water

Drop the marbles into the water. They sink to the bottom. Now drop the ball of clay into the water. The clay also sinks. Neither the marbles nor the ball pushes much water out of the way. Remove the marbles and the clay from the water. Shape the clay into a boat. Add the cargo of marbles. The boat sinks a little on the top of the water, but it floats. The boat is now larger than the ball, so it pushes more water out of the way. It receives a strong upward push from the water underneath. The same concept is used for large boats.

Variation: Try other objects. Experiment with the water at different temperatures.

Liquid & Floating

When you pour two liquids together, do they always mix? Certain liquids float or sink in other liquids. Do objects float or sink in liquids other than water? Test some to find out.

• Tall, clear container
• Syrup
• Cooking oil
• Water
• Cork
• Grape
• Plastic building block

Pour the syrup into the container. Pour in the same amount of oil. It floats on the syrup. Add the same amount of cold water. The water will sink through the oil and float on the syrup. Pour all slowly. Now put in the cork, plastic block, and the grape. The objects float at different levels because they have different densities. This demonstration shows how oil that spills from tankers on the ocean floats because oil is lighter or less dense than ocean water. That is why much of the oil is washed onto beaches.

Variation: Try other liquids and objects. Heat one or more of the liquids to a different temperature.

Water Volcano
Did you know that hot water floats on top of cold water? You can see this for yourself by making a volcano erupt under water.

• Glass bowl or tank
• Water
• Food Coloring
• Small bottle with cap

Pour cold water into the tank until it is about ¾ full. Fill the small bottle with hot tap water. Add a few drops of food coloring to the bottle with the hot water. Screw the cap back on the bottle and shake it well. Place the bottle on the bottom of the glass bowl and unscrew the cap. The hot water from the bottle is lighter or less dense than the cold, so it shoots to the top of the tank. The colored hot water forms a layer on top of the cold water. As it cools the colored water mixes with the cold water.

Variation: Try reversing the temperatures to see what happens.

Vanishing Water

What happens to the water in wet clothes when they are hung up to dry? This experiment will show you how water evaporates into thin air.

• Saucer or dish
• Water
• Glass Bowl
• Pen
• Small glass

Draw a line on the glass with the pen. Pour water into the glass up to the line. Pour the water from the glass into the dish or saucer. Fill the glass with the water to the line again. Cover the glass with the bowl. Leave both the saucer and the covered glass in a warm place for several hours. The water in the saucer eventually vanishes. Water that is open to the air forms water vapor, which is invisible. This vapor mixes with the air and is carried away. This is how the water in wet clothes changes into invisible water vapor and mixes with the air (evaporation).

Variation: Try using different liquids, vary the temperature of the liquids. Add salt or sugar to the dish. Add a little food coloring to the water to see if a residue is left in the dish.

Make A Refrigerator

One way to keep things cool is to cover them with a clay pot (such as a flower pot) which you have soaked in water. As water evaporates from the clay pot, it takes heat away so that the object underneath will remain cool.

• Clay pot
• Water
• Small rock to cover the hole on the bottom of the pot
• Dish to go under the pot
• Small item to cool

Soak the pot overnight in water. Put your cooling item under the pot on top of a dish (not paper) and place a rock on the top to cover the hole in the pot. Measure the temperature once an hour for several hours.

Variation: Try cooling different items such as a can of soda, glass of water, or even a few ice cubes. Try adding water to the dish under the pot, so the water cools the pot longer.

Make Water Flow Uphill 

This shows you how to make water defy the law of gravity and flow upward.

• 2 large bowls
• Plastic Tubing

Place one empty bowl on a surface that is lower than another bowl of the same size. Books can be used to elevate the higher bowl. Fill the higher bowl with water (don’t fill it too much or it might spill on the books). Put a finger over the one end of the plastic tube and till it with water. Put the end with your finger under the surface of the water in the higher bowl and place the other end in the empty bowl. When you take your finger away, you should see the water flow up the tube, out of the higher bowl and down into the other bowl. The tube forms a siphon, which works because air presses on the surface of the water in the higher bowl and forces water up the tube.

Stretching the Skin

What happens when the pull of the water’s surface tension is weakened? How stretchy is water’s skin?

• Large, clean plate
• Water
• Talcum powder
• Soap

Fill the plate with water and wait until the surface is smooth and still. Then sprinkle talcum powder over the surface. Wet one finger and rub it over a piece of soap. Then dip your finger at one side of the plate. All the talcum will be drawn to the other side of the plate. Soap weakens the pull of surface tension in the water around your finger. The pull from the opposite side of the plate is stronger and the talcum powder is drawn over there.

Variations: Try adding salt or sugar to the water first. Try dipping your finger in oil instead of soap.

Keep the Water Out

• Jar
• Water
• Handkerchief
• Rubber band

Hey kids! Want to learn even more about water? Check out these fun games and resources below:

Water Properties Quiz

Water Use Calculator 

Water Waste Calculator

Groundwater Quiz

Water Cycle

Water Conservation Activity Book