School Programs

All of these programs are offered at the Whitney Water Center at 945 Whitney Avenue in Hamden.

If marked with a check ([√]), the program can also be brought to your school.

Water In My Community	pre K-1
How is water used in your community? In this program, your students will see how important water is in every community.	[√]
Waterworks	preK & Up
Are you drinking the same water that fell as rain when dinosaurs walked the earth? Where does rain—or snow—come from? Your students will learn the answers to these questions and many more as they explore the water cycle.

Distribution Solution	Grade K & Up
How does water get to your house? Your students will find out by building a model of a distribution solution.	[√]
Watershed Walk	Grade K & Up
On a short walk through East Rock Park, your students will learn what plants and animals live in the Mill River watershed and how the lay of the land affects water movement in the watershed.

Water Wizards	Grade 1 & Up
How many drops of water can you fit on the head of a penny? Can you make a paper clip float on top of water? What is a soap boat? Your students will learn the answers as they investigate the unique properties of water.
E2: Estimation & Experimentation	Grade 1 & Up
Make some predictions as to how many marbles will make a cup of water overflow, how many drops of water can fit on a penny, and how many paper clips you can put in a boat before it sinks. This class explores making estimates and then experimenting to see if the estimates are accurate.	[√]

Oozing Oobleck	Grade 2 & Up
After reading Bartholomew and the Ooblek by Dr. Seuss, your students will explore the properties of different liquids and whether those properties change when the materials are combined to make oobleck.	[√]
Conservation Capers	Grade 2 & Up
Drought generally is not an issue in Connecticut, but it can be if we don’t get enough rain or snow. This program will introduce your students to the concept of conservation and some ways they can help use water wisely all the time.	[√]

The Returning Raindrop	Grade 3 & Up
Your students will explore the water cycle by building their own terrariums in clear two-liter soda bottles. You provide the bottles; we’ll provide everything else.
The Human Water Cycle	Grade 3 & Up
Where does your drinking water come from? How does it get cleaned before it gets to your house or school? Compare water from a river before and after you process it.	[√]
The Problem With Pollution	Grade 3 & Up
Students will learn about different ways that pollution can enter the environment. They will learn about point source and nonpoint source pollution and find out why nonpoint source pollution is so much harder to keep out of our waters.	[√]
The Magic of Microscopy	Grade 3 & Up
What are some of the smallest things that live in the Mill River? Your students will look at and identify some of the smallest plants and animals in the food chain, and they will try to determine if the water is healthy. NOTE: This class is not appropriate for children in the first half of third grade.

Watersheds	Grade 4 & Up
Do your students think a watershed is a building to store water? In this class, your students will learn what a watershed is and explore the effects our activities can have on our drinking water.	[√]
The Rogue Turtle	Grade 4 & Up
While returning from a data gathering trip, our scientists’ van went off the road while trying to avoid running over a turtle. No one, including the turtle, was injured in the accident, but the identification tags for all the samples were lost in the incident. The RWA lab needs your students’ help to figure out which samples came from which of four sampling sites. By performing some chemical tests on the samples for various water quality parameters, your students will be able to match the samples with the correct sites and learn about the connection between land use and water quality.	[√]
Polar Opposites	Grade 4 & Up
Water is pretty amazing stuff. Not only does it cover most of our planet and make up more than 70% of our bodies, it is made up of molecules that have some really special properties. Experiment with some of these properties with activities such as “One-Way Screen,” “Magic Sand,” and “Magnet Modeling.”	[√]
Macroinvertebrate Messages	Grade 4 & Up
Benthic macroinvertebrates are small critters that live on the bottom of a stream. Your students will find out how scientists use macroinvertebrates to assess the health of a stream.	[√]

From The Ground Up	Grade 6 & Up
What is groundwater? Using models, your students will learn what groundwater is, how it moves, and what causes groundwater contamination.	[√]

More Information on All Education Programs

All programs are free for schools in our district*. For more information on Regional Water Authority education programs, call 203-777-1142.

*Ansonia, Beacon Falls, Bethany, Branford, Cheshire, Derby, East Haven, Guilford, Hamden, Killingworth, Madison, Milford, New Haven, North Branford, North Haven, Orange, Prospect, Regional District #16, Regional District #17, Seymour, West Haven and Woodbridge.

PDF Download

Download the Regional Water Authority Education Brochure.
The PDF includes the Water Science Loan Box Reservation Form.