South Fork Water Board has a number of presentations, resources, and tools available to help our community learn more about water conservation.  School programs include Assembly Programs, Classroom Activities and Presentations, Videos, and Other Resources and Financial Assistance.  There are also a number of presentations available to community groups as well as conservation kits that are free on request.

Resources for Teachers To Teach about WATER

All of the following assembly programs, classroom presentations, videos and resources are offered at no cost to schools. To schedule a program, presentation, to check out any of the resources, or for more information about the South Fork Water Board Water Conservation Program please contact Kimberly Swan at (503)723-9692 or email at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Assembly Programs

Where’s Rosie?
Grade: K - 2nd
Program length: 30 minutes.
“Where’s Rosie?” is an interactive environmental puppet show about water performed by Ladybug Theater.Students learn about watersheds, the value of water, the many uses for water, and how they can help conserve water.

Rockin’ Water Road Show
Grade: 4th – 6th
Program length: 25 –35 minutes
Recycleman and South Fork Water Board are working together to bring schools this exciting water concert.This concert features lots of audience participation as kids learn about how important water is through Recyclman’s songs.

Classroom Activities and Presentations

Water Cycle Play
Grades: 1st – 2nd
Program length: 30 –40 minutes.
Students learn about the properties of water and how the water cycle works and recognize their role in water conservation through this role playing activity.Students become actors in their own play as they become water drops and “act out” the water cycle.

The Incredible Journey
Grades: 1st – 5th
Program length: 30- 45 minutes.With the roll of a die, students simulate the movement of water within the water cycle. By role-playing a water molecule helps students to conceptualize the water cycle as more than a predictable two-dimensional path.

From the Source to the Tap
Grades: 1st - adult
Program length: 30- 45 minutes.
Where does our water come from when we turn on the tap? How does the water get to the house? How do we keep it safe to drink?Why is conservation important?See how we teach people about conservation and learn what easy thing you can do to save water.

A Drop in the Bucket
Grades: 3rd - adult
Program length: 10 – 20 minutes
Students learn how old our water is, and just how much water is available for humans, while learning to appreciate that we need to keep our water clean through this visual demonstration.

Raven returns the WATER
Grades:1st – 5th
Program length: 20 – 30 minutes.
A Native American myth is read about the day all the water in the world disappears and Raven goes searching for it.Students discuss how they and their families use water, how they are part of the water cycle, and ways they can conserve water so that there is enough for everyone in the future.

The Rainstick, A Fable
Grades: 1st – 5th
Program length: 30- 45 minutes.
Water is so important it is even found in our myths and fables.Through this West African story follow a young boy’s journey from the savanna to the rain forest to solve the riddle of the rainstick. Supplies to for your class to make their own rainsticks are included.

Water Jeopardy.
Grades: 3rd - 8th
Program length: 20 minutes.
Just like the game show, the class is broken into teams that try to see how many water questions they can answer.An overhead projector is needed.

So You Want to beA Salmon?
Grades: 3rd – 6th
Program length: 45 minutes
Role play the life-cycle of local salmon and steelhead in order to understand the difficulties that they encounter during their migration.

The Tapwater Tour
Grades: 4th - 8th
Program length: 2 – 3 class sessions.
This program introduces students to scientific thought while stimulating curiosity and enthusiasm.“Hands-on” active participation in this lab leads to students discovering their drinking water for what it really is as they test it.

Taste-imony to Tap Water
Grades: 4th – 12th
Program length: 30 minutes.
Learn how to set up an experiment and then take a blind taste test to see if you can tell bottle water from tap water.Students learn more about where their drinking water comes from the process that it goes through to get to their taps.

Easy Street
Grades: 6th – 8th
Program length: 50 minutes
Students compare the quantities of water used by a contemporary family to one in the late 1800s, and investigate changes in water use habits.

Water Works
Grades: 4th – 8th
Program length: 50 minutes
Students create a “water web” to illustrate the interdependence among water users and producers.Students will distinguish between direct and indirect uses of water and demonstrate the complexity of resolving water shortages among interdependent community water users.

Common Water
Grades: 4th – 8th
Program length: 50 minutes.
Students analyze the results of a simulation to understand that water is a shared resource and is managed.They will illustrate how multiple users can affect water quality and quantity.(This activity may involve spilled water and is best done in an outdoor activity area or an area with non-slippery floors).

The Long Haul
Grades: K - 12th
Program length: 30 minutes.
Students work together in teams to compete in a water hauling game.Students will develop an awareness of various volumes of water; appreciate today’s readily available water supplies; and relates how easy access to water can encourage people to use large amounts of water. (Outdoor activity with access to a water source).

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Videos

Water Hog Haven
Grades: Kindergarten
Video Length: 6 minutes
This comical video stars the Common Waterhog, doing his thing – wasting water!Led by this infamous waster, the town of Waterhog Haven eventually faces a dilemma – they run out of water!The effects are disastrous.When waterhog’s house catches on fire, the hose runs dry.The message is clear.Don’t be a waterhog.

* New - Water: A First look
Grades: 1st – 3rd
Video Length: 17 minutes
This program illustrates the differences between salt water and fresh water; shows how living things need water to survive; describes how water can have different forms; and how water can change form through evaporation, condensation, and freezing.

Water the Lost Treasure
Grades: 2nd – 5th
Video Length: 10 minutes
This video takes students to visit a museum, set sometime in the future.Dino Sorrus, the museum’s curator, explains how all the earth’s water, except for one small vial, has been wasted or polluted beyond use.Through computer graphics and animation students learn what they can do today to save the earth’s water.

Science Court Water Cycle
Grades: 3rd – 5th
Video Length: 22 minutes
Students learn about scientific concepts and sound methods through a combination of courtroom drama, animation, and humor.Through demonstration and experiments, kids will learn about the water cycle, condensation, evaporation, and states of matter.

Down the Drain
Grades: 3rd – 7th
Video Length: 30 minutes
In this video from the Children’s Television Workshop, teenage host Stephanie Yu examines the science behind water: the water cycle, the properties of water, water conservation, wastewater treatment, and water quality testing.

The Hydrologic Cycle: Water in Motion
Grades: 3rd – adult
Video Length: 20 minutes
This excellent live action video and computer graphics, gives an understanding of how water moves through the hydrologic cycle.Discover how natural events affect evaporation, condensation, precipitation, runoff, and storage.With increasing demand for usable fresh water, learn why the use and misuse of this precious earth resource is a global environmental concern.

What do you know about H2O?
Grades: 3rd – adult
Video Length: 20 minutes
A 10 minute pre-test is given before watching this video that answers all the questions on the quiz.Students learn just how much water everyday thing use.

Professor Water and the Amazing Water Cycle
Grades: 4th – 6th
Video Length: 26 minutes
Join Professor Water and his wily sidekicks as they take viewers from Niagara Falls to the South Pole to Death Valley to the O.K. Coral.Students will pick up a world of information on the water cycle, water treatment, and water wonders. Includes a Teacher’s Guide with real science experiments, and outcome based learning lessons that teachers can borrow along with the video.

* New - Geography Basics: Climate, Water, and Living Patterns
Grades: 4th – 8th
Video Length: 24 minutes
This video explains the water cycle, El Nino and La Nina as well as the role water plays in a region’s transportation, food production, population growth, folklore, and industry.

* New – Source of Life: Water in our Environment
Grades: 4th – 8th
Video Length: 24 minutes
This video explains where water is found and how it’s used in homes, industry, and agriculture.The fact that we cannot increase the amount of available water is explored as well as how water pollution affects human and other forms of life.

The Oregon Story: Water
Grades: 4th - adult
Video Length:60 minutes
This public television documentary explores both the history of water allocations around the state and how society’s demands upon it have changed over time. You’ll see examples see examples of water-based problems and conflicts and meeting some of the people who are leading the way in efficient usage and water conservation.A teacher’s guide and activities accompany the video.

Living on a Drop…a global view of water
Grades: 4th - adult
Video Length: 55 minutes
This video looks at the true cost of preserving water quality and quantity, through education and understanding.This video follows both rural and urban water users and focuses primarily on water quality issues.

Water
Grades: 4th – adult
Video Length: 60 minutes
This public television program hosted by James Earl Jones explores the major issues involving our insatiable thirst for water, and provides a global perspective on problems involving water quantity.The video is broken up into four major segments:California Water Merchants, Australian Water Wasters, Mexican Water Rationing, and New Zealand Water and Wildlife.

* New - Water to the Last Drop
Grades: 4th – adult
Video Length: 52 minutes
This Discovery Channel video travels to Canada, the United States, Mexico and the Middle East to study the natural history of water and to investigate the latest technologies used to make the water we do have safe.

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Other Resources

In addition to the resources listed below South Fork also has an extensive water curriculum library that is available to teachers.

Water Treatment Plant Tours
Grades: All ages
Come see how South Fork Water Board takes water from the ClackamasRiver and treats it so it is ready for you to use at your tap.

Water Audit Kits
Grades: 4th – adult
By using water audit kits students will become aware of how much water they use each day.Then identify ways they can save water and see if these would change the amount of water they use.Each student receives a kit to help them measure water use.

Dripial Pursuit and Puddle Pictures
Grades: 3rd - adult
Like the popular games Trivial Pursuit Pictionary these games help students understand important water concepts by answering question related to water, natural resources, and geography.Can you draw the word recharge?Both these games are available for classrooms to keep.

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Water Education Posters

Grades: K – 6th
Three different posters that are available for you to use in your classroom.Each of them are two sided – full color on one side, and black and white ready for coloring on the other.These colorful posters illustrate basic water processes and answer common water supply questions.The posters describe: A Water System, A Water Treatment Plant, and the Water Cycle.Chose one or take all three.

The Wonders of Water - Board Game
Grades: 4th – 8th
Play this fun board game and learn more about the properties of water, forms of water, precipitation, water usage and conservation.

Science Seekers – Safe Water CD- Rom
Grades: 4th – 6th grade
Through this multi-media presentation, students get to use the same kinds of data and methods that real scientist use to gather information, conduct experiments, and come up with the answer about the source of water contamination in Fairview.Students will learn how to: work in groups to research science concepts, conduct lab experiments, and apply technology to help solve scientific problems.Teachers will need either an in-focus machine or a computer screen that the whole class can see.

Science Court – Water Cycle CD-Rom
Grades: 4th – 6th
In this multi-media presentation a humorous courtroom drama provides the vehicle for demonstrations and explanation of the water cycle.Students working in cooperative teams act as courtside commentators. At the end of the trial students predict how the jury will vote.Teachers will need either an in-focus machine or a computer screen that the whole class can see.

Aqua Venture CD-Rom
Grades: 3rd - adult
Students will learn about the story of water, its treatment, and use throughout history, and its importance to life on Earth.With a click of the mouse, you can browse through more than 10,000 years of history with interesting anecdotes, colorful photos, video clips, and music.

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Financial Assistance

South Fork Water Board has funding to offer mini-water grants of up to $500 each year for water related projects for OregonCity and West Linn teachers.The mini-grants are intended to provide supplemental funding for water related projects.The grants may fund the entire project, or be used to supplement a project.The funding can be used to buy materials for water related activities, for bussing for water related field trips, or to pay for water related training or courses for teachers or students.For more information on how to apply for a grant please contact Kim Swan at (503) 723-9692 or via email at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

South Fork Water Board has a number of presentations, resources, and tools available to help our community learn more about water conservation.

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Community Presentations

South Fork Water Board has a number of free water source and conservation presentations and talks available to local groups and associations.Presentations vary from 10 – 15 minutes talks to hour-long workshops depending on the needs of group.Below is a list of presentations that are available:

From the Faucet to the Tap: Where does our water come from when we turn on the tap? How does the water get to your house?How do we keep it safe to drink?Why is conservation important?Learn more about the water you drink.

Saving Water Make Cents: With the abundance of rainfall we get in the Pacific Northwest it is sometimes difficult to understand why we need to conserve water.This presentation will explain why conservation is important and what you can do to save water both indoors and outdoors.Learn how you can cut your water use – and your water bill.

Learning How to Find and Fix Leaks: This hands-on presentation will show you how you can use your water meter to check for leaks and how easy it is to repair leaky faucets and leaky toilets.Those little leaks can really add up.

Water Wise Landscaping Slide Show: During the summer months we use a lot of water outdoors.Water-wise landscaping uses simple, common sense gardening practices that can help you create a beautiful yard while using less water.This slide show covers the seven basic steps of water wise landscaping so that you can achieve a water efficient landscape.

Developing a Water Wise Lawn Slide Show: Nearly 30% of the water used in a single-family residence is used in the summer to water lawns.This slide show will explain how a properly installed and maintained lawn can be kept green and healthy with the appropriate amount of resources – fertilizer, water, and your time.

Cadillac Desert: This four part PBS video series provides insight into the history of the politics of water.Each video is about one hour long and can been seen individually or as part of the series.The first three videos are based on Marc Reisner’s book Cadillac Desert , and examine how water created the modern American West.The fourth video is based on the book Last Oasis by Sandra Postel and looks at water demands and the need for water conservation.

Water Treatment Plant Tour: Come see how South Fork Water Board takes water from the Clackamas River and treats it so it is ready for you to use at your tap.

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Water Conservation Tools

South Fork has two different kinds of  FREE Water Conservation Kits to help make conserving water even easier.To receive a free kit please call Kimberly Swan at South Fork Water Board at (503)723-9692 or email at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Indoor Water Conservation Kit Includes:
Shower Meter Bag
Drip Gauge 
Toilet Leak Detection Tablets
Flush Volume Calculator Tape
Toilet Tank Bank
Shorter Shower Timer
The ABC’s of Water Conservation Brochure

Outdoor Water Conservation Kit Includes:
Rain Gauge
Hose Nozzle
Aqua Spike
Water Efficient Seed Packet
Water Conservation Brochures