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The Freshwater Forum is sponsored in part by:

Website funded by:

Walters' Family Foundation

Mission

Cranbrook Institute of Science is a natural history and science museum that fosters in its audiences a passion for understanding the world around them and a lifelong love of learning. Through its broadly based educational programs, its permanent and changing exhibits and its collections and research, the Institute develops a scientifically literate public able to cope with today's knowledge-based society. Moreover, Cranbrook Institute of Science generates the enthusiasm for learning about the natural world that will produce the scientists of tomorrow.

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Contact Us

Cranbrook Institute of Science
39221 Woodward Avenue
Bloomfield Hills, MI 48304
Ph 248.645.3223
Fx 248.645.3050

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Water on the Go! outreach programs bring freshwater education into Michigan classrooms. Programs engage students in fun presentations and hands-on learning about water science and protecting the Great Lakes.

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View a map on our homepage to see where Water on the Go! has been. We are pleased to be a part of public watershed education efforts to protect the waters of the Great Lakes and its tributaries.

Sponsored Programs:

Water on the Go! programs are available to 6th-8th grade classrooms within the following sponsorship service areas in the Summer 2018 and the 2018-2019 academic year, free of charge:

Consumers Energy Foundation supports Water on the Go! programs in the Grand River, White River, Muskegon River and Saginaw Bay watersheds.

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To schedule a sponsored program, or to contact us for timing and availability:

Lizz Parkinson, Freshwater Education Coordinator 

Email: eparkinson@cranbrook.edu
Phone: (248) 260-8301

or use SurveyMonkey to book following the link below

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/WOG1819


Freshwater  Education outreach programs are available in all other areas for a fee.

Please visit the Cranbrook Institute of Science Science on the Go! webpage for more information on how to book programs at your school.

Call the scheduling office at 248.645.3210 for availability and pricing. Mon.-Fri. 8am-5pm

Our programs follow Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and integrate Michigan Environmental Education Curriculum Support (MEECS) developed by the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality.

Programs are presented one classroom at a time and can be repeated multiple times in a day to reach all of your students.

Educator Feedback on Water on the Go! presentations:

  • “Great presentation. Hands on activities - grade level appropriate! Thank you!”
  • “This was a terrific program. I loved the hands-on activities and the variety of activities done.”
  • “Thanks for such a positive educational learning and reinforcement. It was well worth the time! “
  • "The program was a great resource to have. I loved having my kids connect their lesson to our everyday classroom."

 

We look forward to serving you!

Available Programs

How We Use Water

 Program Description: Learn about the Great Lakes as one of the most important freshwater resources on Earth. Join us on a journey through the water cycle from the Earth’s surface to atmosphere and back again. Demonstrations and hands-on activities reveal how vital the Earth’s fresh water is and what we can do to conserve it.

During this program, students will:

  • Define the basic terms and processes associated with the water cycle.
  • Learn about the distribution and availability of freshwater and saltwater on Earth.
  • Identify their own uses of water and understand how water is essential to Michigan’s environment and economy.
  • Learn about man’s impact on the environment through freshwater consumption through direct and indirect use.
  • Gain awareness of ways to conserve water and the importance and responsibility of living next to the Great Lakes.

NGSSs addressed: MS-ESS2-4, MS-ESS3-3, MS-ESS3-4, MS-PS1-3

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I Live in a Watershed 

Program Description: Learn about your watershed and how to protect it from pollution. Working in groups, students create a model community to develop an understanding of the ways in which land use impacts the water quality of local rivers and streams, and ultimately, the Great Lakes!

During this program, students will:

  •  Define watershed and related terminology and identify the watershed they live in.
  • Use modeling to understand human impacts on watersheds through point-source and non-point-source pollution.
  • Learn how surface runoff travels differently over pervious and impervious surfaces.
  • Learn the connection between their watershed and water quality in the Great Lakes and examples of best management practices that help prevent stormwater pollution.

NGSSs addressed:  MS-ESS3-3, MS-ESS3-4, 5-ESS2-1 (MI), MS-ESS2-4

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** This program works best in a lab or large table setting.

Great Lakes Invaders!

Program Description:  Students will learn about aquatic food webs and ecosystems and human impacts on the Great Lakes’ ecosystems.  Students will learn about invasive species and through a simulated game gain understanding about how biological and physical threats impact native aquatic populations.

During this program, students will:

  • Gain understanding of the basic needs of an organism and how these needs differ between ecosystems.
  • Learn about the basic flow of energy between organisms in an aquatic food web.
  • Become familiar with different threats faced by Great Lakes ecosystems and the impact these threats have on Great Lakes’ food webs.
  • Identify different invasive species in Great Lakes’ ecosystems and what traits make them successful invaders.
  • Understand how the physical and biological changes to an ecosystem can impact the native food web.
  • Gain awareness of how to reduce human impacts on Great Lakes’ ecosystems.

NGSSs addressed: MS-LS2-1, MS-LS2-4, MS-ESS3-3, MS-ESS3-4

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**This program works best in a lab or large table setting.

Groundwater Pollution

Program Description:  Students take part in a permeability experiment explores how soil particle size affects groundwater movement and complete a hands-on activity to understand groundwater and how it is recharged, stored, used by people and contaminated by pollutants.  Students also learn about groundwater use in Michigan, and how groundwater is connected to the rest of the water cycle.

During this program, students will:

  • Define the basic terms associated with groundwater storage and processes.
  • Gain understanding of the movement of groundwater through various materials and identify which materials are permeable and non-permeable.
  • Learn how groundwater and surface water are connected.
  • Learn how various land use activities can contaminate groundwater and reduce groundwater availability, how groundwater contamination can be prevented and ways that groundwater can be cleaned up.
  • Gain awareness of the importance of groundwater resources in Michigan.

 NGSSs addressed: MS-ESS2-4, MS-ESS3-3, MS-ESS4-4, MS-ESS3-1

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**This program works best in a lab or large table setting.

Weather. Climate, and Human Impacts

Program Description:  Students will investigate how the sun’s warming of the Earth relates to the water cycle using a hands-on model, and learn how the water cycle related to weather and climate. Students will discover how humans contribute to climate change and impact the air we breathe and the water we drink.

During this program, students will:

  • Define the basic terms and processes associated with the water cycle, weather, and climate.
  • Learn how the suns warming relates to weather, climate and the water cycle.
  • Gain understanding of how human interaction and use of natural resources affects the environment.
  • Learn about man’s impact on the environment through freshwater consumption through direct and indirect use.

 NGSSs addressed: MS-ESS3-5, MS-ESS2-4, MS-ESS3-4

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