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Fifth graders from across Christian County got an intense lesson in water quality this week. Michele Skalicky reports.
The Nixa Community Center is right next to the Nixa Aquatic Center. So, it was only appropriate that yesterday and today, the building was filled with students learning about water quality.
The James River Basin Partnership along with several state agencies and the University of Missouri Extension invited 5th graders from all over Christian County to the water festival.
Holly Neal is executive director of the James River Basin Partnership. She explains what the students learn at the festival.
Neal says the students will take away with them knowledge about a wide variety of issues concerning watersheds...
Taylor Howeralcorn of Ozark was one of the 5th grade students attending today's event.Taylor1
Several models were used to explain various aspects of water quality. There was the enviroscope, which shows what happens when you put certain pollutants in the ground and then it rains and the marble table shows the negative effects of altering a stream. Students also got to build their own watersheds and play a game to learn which water creatures are pollution sensitive and pollution tolerant.
Holly Neal hopes what the students learn at the water festival will stay with them for a lifetime.
Taylor Howeralcorn says he'll keep all the information he received in mind even after the event is over.
The festival originated in Taney County where it was hosted by University of Missouri Extension. It's being offered in Taney and Stone Counties this year along with Christian County.
Next year it will expand to all of the counties in the James River Basin Partnership thanks to a grant from the Community Foundation of the Ozarks.
For KSMU News, I'm Michele Skalicky.
