Welcome to the 2023 Sioux Empire Virtual Water Festival! We hope you enjoy this experience for another year! This year’s water festival is being attended by 2,318 fourth grade students from 105 classes in 45 schools from Sioux Falls and five surrounding counties. We are so excited to be able to offer 18 virtual presentations to all of you. All of the videos are closed captioned and linked to YouTube. You are able to enable or disable the closed caption feature as desired.
We ask that you pay special attention to the notes below each video in order to enhance this water festival for yourself and your students. Thank you!
When you click on a video link, you’ll first be taken to a registration form simply asking for your name, the name of your school, and how many students are in your class. This will provide our presenters with the statistics they need to validate their outreach activities (and continue presenting at the water festival!). After submitting the form, just click on the video link again to start watching.
If you choose to watch a presentation for which you need to purchase supplies, please feel free to submit a Reimbursement Request Form, with your receipts, to the water festival committee.
None of this would be possible without YOU, or our contributors, or presenters. We hope you will take a few minutes to thank them for all they’re doing!
If you have any questions or suggestions, please feel free to email the committee. Thank you for attending the 2023 Sioux Empire Virtual Water Festival!
Water Runs Off!
John McMaine, South Dakota State University — Agricultural Engineering
TEACHERS: Students should be prepared to make thunder noises during the video.
OPTIONAL ACTIVITY: Spray water on sponges to demonstrate runoff vs infiltration, as shown in the video. Materials needed — 4 sponges, 4 disposable 8×8 cake pans, 1 spray bottle, 1 cup measuring cup, duct tape, 2 quart-sized storage bags.
There’s No New Water
Jill Reidel, South Dakota Department of Environment and Natural Resources
REQUIRED MATERIALS: Teacher Guide. If this is a new presentation that you haven’t seen yet, it may be worth your time to watch a few minutes to learn how to use the Teacher Guide. As you watch the presentation with your students, be prepared to pause the video for classroom discussion.
The first pages of the Teacher Guide are used for playing the game. Materials needed and setup instructions begin on page 18. It will take you some time to set this activity up; pre-planning will be necessary. You may wish to modify the activity in a way that best suits your students and classroom. Most of the materials needed will be found in your home, school’s kitchen, or classroom.
Water Music
Dr. Deborah Check Reeves, National Music Museum, University of South Dakota
REQUIRED MATERIALS: Teacher Guide and the student kit of straws, cups with 1/2″- 1″ of water in them, and napkins.
During Dr. Debbie’s video, teachers will be asked to a different YouTube video (Robert Tiso performs the Water Adagio with musical glasses.). If switching in the middle of Dr. Debbie’s video is problematic, the other video can be played at the end of Dr. Debbie’s presentation.
Students will be asked to play their “musical instruments” during the Dr. Debbie’s presentation. You will be prompted to pause the video and pass out the activity supplies, but they can also be distributed to the students before the video if you think your students won’t spill the water from their cups.
Will It Float?
Nathan Skadsen, Minnehaha County 4-H, South Dakota State University Extension
OPTIONAL ACTIVITY: Teacher Guide.
Leave It To Beaver
Sandy Richter and Katie Johnson, Outdoor Campus, South Dakota Game, Fish, and Parks
OPTIONAL ACTIVITY: Student activity sheet.
OPTIONAL ACTIVITY: Teacher guide and additional student activity sheets.
OPTIONAL ACTIVITY: One show-and-tell kit was provided to each school that signed up for this presentation in 2021. If your school still has the kit, you may wish to look through it again with your students.
Water And The Body
Sydnie Saddoris and Landon Freeman, Exercise Science Department, University of Sioux Falls
REQUIRED MATERIALS: Teacher Guide.
This video is quite short so we would suggest adding one of the activities below.
OPTIONAL ACTIVITY: Online Jeopardy game. The game is fully functional even though it says it’s a preview and would be good as a class activity. You may wish to use a projection system to make it easier for the students to see. The students pick a topic and a number. The teacher clicks on that square and the question is revealed. The students answer the question, and the teacher pushes the spacebar to reveal the correct response. To move to the next question, the teacher presses the escape button. This activity could also be played by the student alone, if they have access to the Internet.
OPTIONAL ACTIVITY: Per the teacher guide, bring in a cooler with at least one handle, and fill it with water jugs or bags of salt or dumbbell weights, or anything that comes close to 60 pounds, so students can lift one handle and feel how heavy 60 pounds (the average amount of water in their body) actually is.
Trees Love Water
Mary Lou Lacey, Natural Resources Conservation Service
REQUIRED MATERIALS: Teacher Guide and Student Handouts.
This presentation would be great after watching “Every Tree For Itself”. The first video would talk about trees in a forest and the resources they need, and this video shows how each individual tree uses those resources.
Hazardous Materials Mystery
Troy Lambert and Holly Meier, City of Sioux Falls Public Works
During the presentation, teachers will be asked to pause the video for classroom discussion. Please hand out the activity sheet when requested to do so during the video.
How Does A River Work?
Jaron Condley, South Dakota Geological Survey
REQUIRED MATERIALS: Student handout to follow along during the presentation.
Give It A Whirl
Tim Stefanich, City of Sioux Falls Water Division
REQUIRED MATERIALS: Teacher guide.
If you intend to watch “Give It A Whirl” and the “Water Plant Tour”, we would suggest watching “Give It A Whirl” first to easier understand the connection between the two.
Water Plant Tour
Tim Stefanich, City of Sioux Falls Water Division
If you intend to watch “Give It A Whirl” and the “Water Plant Tour”, we would suggest watching “Give It A Whirl” first to easier understand the connection between the two.
Keying In On Fish ID
Jason Nelson, Outdoor Campus, South Dakota Game, Fish, and Parks
REQUIRED MATERIALS: Teacher guide.
REQUIRED MATERIALS: After watching the video, students are asked to complete the student activity sheets. Please note that there are several pages to print; teachers may wish to have students work together in groups rather than individually.
Panning For Gold
Sarah Chadima and Wes Christiansen, South Dakota Geological Survey
Water Testing
Anne Lewis, South Dakota Discovery Center
REQUIRED MATERIALS: Teacher guide and student activity.
Teachers should be prepared to pause the video for classroom discussion. While the students will learn from the video alone, they will have more fun if you borrow the Online Water Festival Trunk from the South Dakota Discovery Center. The trunk will contain 30 test kits with extra pH and Dissolved Oxygen tablets. Please email Anne for more information on borrowing the Online Water Festival Trunk.
Water Temperature
Anne Lewis, South Dakota Discovery Center
REQUIRED MATERIALS: Teacher guide and student activity.
Teachers should be prepared to pause the video for classroom discussion. South Dakota teachers may request to borrow the Online Water Festival Trunk. The trunk will contain 30 copies of Discoveries at Willow Creek and 30 alcohol liquid thermometers. Please email Anne for more information on borrowing the Online Water Festival Trunk.
Water Pipes, Then And Now
Ted Lewis, City of Sioux Falls Public Works, Water Engineering Department
Note: During the video at about 4:00, Ted demonstrates the difference between clean pipes and dirty pipes. In his example, the clean pipe (larger straw) flows better than the dirty pipe (smaller straw).
OPTIONAL ACTIVITY: Student handout and answer sheet.
OPTIONAL ACTIVITY: Additional video — “Clean Water: The Long Journey” showcases the efforts and partnership with the United States Geological Survey in developing our source water resources.
Flush Your Toilet
Rachel Kloos, ISG
REQUIRED MATERIALS: Teacher guide and student activity.
This presentation would be very good as a preliminary to the “Give It A Whirl” and “Water Plant Tour” videos. This video starts with water usage at home, which leads to water usage in the community and how that water is treated.
Every Tree For Itself
John Hartland, South Dakota Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources
REQUIRED MATERIALS: Teacher guide and student activity.
It would be helpful for the teacher to read through the teacher guide before doing this fun activity with their students. Your kids will love playing the game, and you’ll have great fun watching these little “trees” try to stay rooted in place. As you watch the video with your students, teachers should be prepared to pause the video for classroom discussion. The teacher guide provides the pause times and activity instructions.
Sioux Empire Water Festival -- March 7-8, 2023 