Middle Rio Grande
Children's Water Festival 2002
Program of Activities
Weather or Not
Students analyze meteorological and hydrological data to determine if a
flash flood might occur, issue warnings and monitor the flood event.
National Weather Service
Presented by Deirdre Kann, Phone 505-243-0702, E-mail deirdre.kann@noaa.gov
Our Cottonwood Forest
Students learn about the Bosque ecosystem of cottonwoods and willows along the Rio Grande.
Bosque School
Presented by Dan Shaw & students, Phone 505-898-6388, E-mail
dshaw@bosqueschool.org
Gooey Garbage
Students will create a landfill and then watch what happens as the
forces of nature turn trash into toxic stew with juices that can pollute
our groundwater unless we take action to prevent it.
City of Albuquerque /Solid Water Management Department
Presented by Will Hoffman, Phone 505-761-8174, E-mail whoffman@cabq.gov
Water Olympics
Students put water to the test! Though a series of experiments they
demonstrate that water is no ordinary liquid!
Albuquerque Academy Environment Club
Presented by Karen Temple Beamish & Students, Phone 505-858-8873,
E-mail beamish@aa.edu
Water and Life
Students will examine a wide variety of prehistoric and
historic water related items. They will try to guess what the items are and
what their uses or benefits were. Help or hints, as necessary, will be
provided by the instructors.
City of Albuquerque/Public Works/Water Resources
Presented by Larry Marken & Margie Monarez, Phone 505-768-3603,
E-mail lmarken@cabq.gov
Meet Water Bugs Up Close
Students will observe and identify live macroinvertebrates commonly
found in local ponds and rivers and learn how biologists determine the
purity of the water by which critters live there.
New Mexico Game & Fish Department
Presented by Colleen Welch, Phone 505-476-8119, E-mail cewelch@state.nm.us
Edible Aquifer
Students make an aquifer model from edible ingredients and learn about
hydrogeology, pollution and pumping.
Albuquerque Academy Environment Club
Presented by Karen Temple Beamish & Students, Phone 505-858-8873, E-mail beamish@aa.edu
Who’s Got the Water?
Students demonstrate that our water must be shared among many users.
They negotiate water sharing agreements when it’s a dry year and discover
what might happen if they cannot agree!
City of Albuquerque/Public Works/Water Resources
Presented by Elaine Hebard, Marianne Woodard & Susan Kelly, Phone
505-768-2570, E-mail skelly@cabq.gov
Mission Impossible
The students’ mission, if they choose to accept it, is to rescue
Albuquerque from water shortages that could occur in the next 10 years.
Students play an interactive game and make decisions about how to manage
available water resources.
Sandia National Laboratories /Geohydrology Department
Presented by Vincent Tidwell, Steve Conrad & Dick Thomas, Phone
505-844-6025, E-mail vctidwe@sandia.gov
Insectopia
Water health can be determined by the particular kinds of aquatic
insects living in it. Do you know if that river, lake or pond is polluted
or pristine (unspoiled)? By identifying the aquatic insects students will
be able to determine water quality.
City of Albuquerque /Open Space Division
Presented by Bonnie Dils, Phone 505-452-5205, E-mail bdils@cabq.gov
El Rover’s Watershed Adventures
Students learn about our precious water resources and how to adopt
water-wise lifestyles from El Rover and his amigos.
Highland High School & US Environmental Protection Agency, Region 6,
Water Quality Protection Division
Presented by Gale Borkenhagen & Students & Amadee Madril, Phone
214-665-2767, E-mail madril.amadee@epa.gov
Why the River Runs Brown
Students will learn about watersheds by examining and manipulating
watershed models. They will learn that a watershed is the land area that
drains to a water body such as a river or lake. They will see for
themselves how watersheds can influence water quality.
NM Environment Dept., Surface Water Quality Bureau
Presented by Abe Franklin & Maryann McGraw, Phone 505-827-2793,
E-mail abraham_franklin@nmenv.state.nm.us
Every Drop Counts
Students will learn how the aquifer was formed by building one of their
own. They will learn about the various uses for water and why it is so
important for everyone to conserve.
Intel Corporation
Presented by Andrew Moen, Phone 505-893-8784, E-mail andrew.d.moen@intel.com
Drink the Rio Grande!
Students will learn how to build a filter and treat river water to make
it usable in our homes.
City of Albuquerque/Public Works/Water Resources
Presented by Roberta Haynes-Sparks & Donna Martinez, Phone
505-768-3245, E-mail rhsparks@cabq.gov
Desert Designs
What's a desert? How do plants and animals "beat the heat" and
thrive in the desert? Students will identify plants and animals of the Chihuahuan desert based on clues
describing an organisms anatomical, physiological and/or behavioral adaptations. How have changes in the
water sources of the desert drastically affected some of our native species like the silvery minnow
and caused them to be on the brink of extinction?
US Bureau of Reclamation
Presented by Anne Janik & Gary Dean, Phone 505-248-5902, E-mail ajanik@uc.usbr.gov
Water Jeopardy
Students compete to give questions for the water answers (like the TV show).
Highland High School
Presented by Gale Borkenhagen & Students, Phone 505-265-3711 x1048,
E-mail gborken@swcp.com
Runoff 101
Students learn how precious top soil can run off the land and end up in
the river. They’ll find out what can be done to prevent topsoil loss.
Rio Grande River Rangers
Presented by Paula Morgan and Students, Phone 505-265-2253, E-mail thompaula_2000@yahoo.com
It’s My Aquifer!
Students learn about the water cycle underground - the aquifer,
groundwater recharge, how contamination can move into groundwater, the
effects of water well pumping in an aquifer, and why it’s so important to
conserve water.
New Mexico Environment Dept. Ground Water Quality Bureau
Presented by Miriam Rotkin-Ellman, Sabino Rivera, Bart Faris and Jerzy
Kulis, Phone 505-827-0018, E-mail pamela_homer@nmenv.state.nm.us
Swimmin’ in the Rio Grande
Students play a game to learn about the perils and challenges in the
life of a Rio Grande Cutthroat Trout, New Mexico’s state fish and a
native.
US Forest Service
Presented by Lisa Matlock, Phone 505-834-2200, E-mail lmatlock@fs.fed.us
Is There Water on Zork?
Students arrive on Planet Zork and ask the Zorkians for water. The
Zorkians bring several clear liquids but which one is really water?
Presented by Jean Arya, Phone 505-345-9631, E-mail jeanarya@hotmail.com
The BioPark’s BioVan: Home Sweet Home
Students observe five mini-ecosystems along the Rio Grande, Gulf Coast,
and Atlantic Ocean, and the living organisms that call each one home. The
BioVan exhibits live plants, invertebrates, fish, reptiles, amphibians,
birds and mammals.
City of Albuquerque/BioPark’s Rio Grande Zoo, Albuquerque Aquarium and
Rio Grande Botanic Garden
Presented by Alyson Wallace, Phone 505-764-6242, E-mail azahm@cabq.gov
The Rolling River
How does the river work? Students will see a model river and watch the
effects of water as it flows down stream.
Ciudad Soil and Water Conservation District & NM Office of State
Engineer/Water Conservation
Presented by Susan Rich & Cheri Vogel, Phone 505-761-5446, E-mail
susan.rich@nm.usda.gov
The Dirt on Dirt
How does water flow through various types of soil? How do the
differences impact plant root growth and whether or not a plant survives?
Students will discover these answers when they add water to soil samples
collected from the Albuquerque area and elsewhere. They will observe how
water travels through and is retained within the soil, and learn what this
means in terms of appropriate watering strategies.
Bernalillo County Cooperative Extension Master Gardeners
Presented by Barbara Shapiro, Margo Murdock & Katie Babuska, Phone 505-243-1386, E-mail rdaniell@nmsu.edu
Water Wizard Who Knows All There is to Know About H20
City of Albuquerque/Public Works/Water Resources
Presented by Jean Witherspoon, Phone 505-768-3633, E-mail jasw@cabq.gov
