By Eera Babtiwale

As part of Earth Week, we held a Kids Go Green Workshop about water and energy for our HMC families. Kids had a blast learning about how they can conserve and protect our precious water and energy resources. It was great to see their eyes light up when they learned that only 3% of the Earth’s water is freshwater (water that we can drink) and that the United States produces the most tons of carbon emissions per person in the world (with tons being represented by elephants).

The kids then became scientists as they worked with their parents to build aquifers using simple “ingredients.” They learned how pollution above ground can drastically effect the quality of water below ground. They were quick to make the connection between their mini-aquifer and real life; one of our scientists shared that, “If we throw trash on the street that can make our water dirty, and the ocean dirty, and fish don’t like to swim in dirty water.” Sounds so simple, and yet it makes you wonder why it’s so hard for us adults to get right. We then ventured outside, where the kids learned how to harness the power of the sun via solar cookers to make delicious s’mores. They loved the gooey mess, and they were able to learn about renewable energy in the process.

Basic materials for our aquifers in a bottle: sand, gravel, water, clay, and “pollution” simulated by fruit juice. The kids will be able to convert their aquifers into terrariums when they get home using seeds that we gave them.

Our kids checking out the solar cookers.