Geography Awareness Week celebrated

Children observed the effects of carbon dioxide on water at the 4-H table at GeoFest, held Nov. 20 in Fairbanks.

During Geography Awareness Week, as volunteers went into schools to teach educational activities, one presenter was shocked to discover that students did not know what geography was.

“It’s when the lines connect into triangles and squares,” a fourth grade boy said. His teacher quickly piped in, “That’s geometry.”

Eventually, one brave child came up with, “It’s about maps.”

“Well, that’s definitely part of geography,” the volunteer said. “My definition is the study of the Earth and its people. That could include sociology, anthropology, meteorology, history, the environment, culture, remote sensing technology, even food.”

Hosted by the UA Geography Program and the Alaska Geographic Alliance, Geography Awareness Week reached out to schools across the borough Nov. 15-19 with the theme of Freshwater. Volunteers worked with students to help them understand watersheds, invasive plants in water settings, how limited the fresh water supply on the planet is, how resources are managed and the role young people can play in conserving water.

In the activity “Drop in the Bucket,” the demonstration began with 1,000 milliliters of water, demonstrating the fresh water on Earth. Since 97 percent of water is salt water, all but 30 milliliters got poured out. Then, the students learned that water is locked up in glaciers and ice caps. Only six milliliters were left, but some of that water is in deep aquifers or exists in the atmosphere. Down to 1 ½ milliliters, the presenter explained that some water in rivers, lakes, and streams can’t be accessed, leaving only .03 percent of the water in its fresh form available to humans.

For the watershed activity, students learned about branching patterns in nature, particularly ways that creeks and streams flow into rivers, which flow into the sea. Children drew watershed pictures and then formed human watersheds, standing in patterns and passing beads slowly or quickly to demonstrate water flow in the different seasons.

Another lesson, Sum of the Parts, required the students to draw their very own riverfront property. They could do whatever they wanted with their land, such as build a lodge, airport, water park, or farm. Then all the pieces were put together and pollution was sprinkled on each parcel, with discussions held about how each person’s land use affected the people and areas downstream.

In Balancing Act, each person represents a water user, such a mining, industry, transportation, forestry, recreation, agriculture. A cup of water in the middle was pulled by strings, with the students carrying the water through an obstacle course.

Fairbanks Soil and Water Conservation District was instrumental in providing the training to the volunteers, who were UAF students and staff, as well as soil and water employees.

GeoFest ends the week on high note

On Saturday, the week culminated in a new event for Fairbanks, GeoFest. Held at Effie Kokrine Charter School, the event attracted agency representatives who hosted hands-on activities for children and parents. (Pictured at right are Tami Seekins and Joni Scharfenberg of Fairbanks Soil and Water Conservation Service.)

The National Geographic Giant Map of South America attracted visitors to the school gym, where they played educational games in their stocking feet.

4-H students demonstrated how carbon dioxide affects fresh water. Members of the Northern Alaska Spatial Data User Group had prepared maps demonstrating the effects of oil spill on waterways in actual Fairbanks neighborhoods. “We want the kids to learn basic map-reading skills,” said Patrick Cotter. “They can figure out elevations and use the legend for these hypothetical situations. They can see how human actions affect the environment.”

At the water trivia wheel, guests won prizes by answering questions about water and wetlands correctly. The “hidden water” table also was a place for geographic-themed prizes. People had to guess how much water it takes to produce an apple, T-shirt, pound of chocolate, ream of paper and a slice of bread. (18 gallons for the apple, 3,170 for the chocolate, 1,321 for the paper, 11 for the bread and 713 for the T-shirt).

People especially enjoyed the Google Earth lake tour, which took participants around the world to bodies of water, after the questions were answered correctly.

Students from the Watershed Charter School were on hand to explain their water testing project they did in the fall. Seventh grader Mariah Rose said, “We tested the PH, the dissolved oxygen and how much silt was in the water. We found the Chena to be the clearest and the Tanana had the most turbidity.”

Teacher Lisa Beattie said it was the students’ first time to try the lesson. “They did a great job. They were careful and professional. And we walked or biked to each location.”

Children stand in front of a GeoFest display that demonstrated how much water the average American uses per day (100 gallons).

FFA students chime in on water issues
GeoFest kicked off Saturday morning at Effie Kokrine Charter School with an FFA Invitational Prepared Speaking Contest. The topic was “Clean Water: With 6.9 billion people on Earth and growing, what is our next step?”

Rayna Nelson took first place, Luke Scharfenberg second and Lance Thibedeau third. “Currently, only 63 percent of the world’s population has access to clean and safe drinking water,” Nelson said in her speech. “37 percent of families worldwide do not have access to drinking water, water to brush their teeth, or water to take showers with. It is currently estimated that half of the world’s hospitalizations are caused by water-related illness and 1.4 million children’s deaths each year are related to water-borne illnesses…

“As one of the most educated nations on this planet we need to take action against a serious problem that the people of the world face on a day to day basis at this very moment,” she concluded.

UA Geography Program Education and Outreach Coordinator Katie Kennedy said she was pleased with the event and that it will become an annual addition to the educational opportunities in Fairbanks and perhaps around the state.

FFA and the UA Geography Program are part of the UAF School of Natural Resources and Agricultural Sciences.

Further reading:

"With help from volunteers, students learn during Geography Awareness Week," Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, Nov. 23, 2010, by Nancy Tarnai