Durham Children's Groundwater Festival

Award Winner 2006
Certificate of Merit Recipient 2003 - 2005
(Durham Environmental Advisory Committee)

15th Annual
Durham Children's
Groundwater Festival
September 24th to September 28th, 2012
9:45 am to 1:30 pm at
Camp Samac, Oshawa

Making environmental awareness fun!

Sponsorship Opportunities

Sponsorship Forms (PDF)

Festival Highlights (PDF - 6mb)

Teacher Information and Registration

INTRODUCTION
Launched as part of the Central Lake Ontario Conservation Authority’s (CLOCA) 40th anniversary theme of “Water Quality” in 1998, the goal of the Festival is to increase the awareness of grade four students concerning water issues and motivate them to become water stewards in their home, classroom and community. The Festival will be held at Camp Samac in Oshawa from September 24th to September 28th and consists of 40 hands-on, interactive activities with messages relevant to the student's daily lives.

Through the activity centres students will discover the importance of water in their lives and how their actions affect the watershed in which they live. The objective is for students to enjoy themselves while learning about important water issues. In 2011 over 4,000 students are expected to visit the Festival. To organize this event a Durham Children’s Groundwater Festival Organizing Committee was established in 1998 consisting of community partners and at the conclusion of the 2011 Festival over 55,000 grade four students and 4,500 high school volunteers will have participated in the event. All activities are designed to compliment the Ontario curriculum expectations. View Grade 4 Learning Expectations.

FESTIVAL PHILOSOPHY
The Durham Children’s Groundwater Festival promotes the awareness that water is the basis for all life and how water plays an essential role in the social and economic development of Ontario. Communities, like ours, depend on water resources to support the growth of commerce, industry and transportation. The Festival motivates students to become water stewards in their classroom and community. By combining hands-on, interactive activities with messages relevant to their daily lives, students soak-up knowledge on the properties, uses, connections and importance of water and habitat. With this information, students become aware of the value of conserving and protecting water. Interaction with industry professionals, water experts and enthusiastic educators highlight the environmental education programming of the Festival.

The 1999 Festival was honoured with a visit from the former Lieutenant Governor of Ontario Hillary Weston.

The 1999 Festival was honoured with a visit from the former Lieutenant Governor of Ontario Hillary Weston. The Lt. Governor was escorted on her tour by CLOCA Chair Rick Johnson (left).

2011 Diamond Sponsors

Durham Region Health Department

Ontario Power Generation

TransCanada

With your assistance we can deliver this worthwhile program!

Corporations wishing sponsor information, please go to the sponsorship section for financial and in-kind donations.

IMPLEMENTATION
In order to carry these messages successfully to the students a Groundwater Festival Organizing Committee has been established with the Central Lake Ontario Conservation Authority (CLOCA) being the lead organization. Currently the committee consists of representatives from the Central Lake Ontario Conservation Fund, Durham Catholic District School Board, Durham District School Board, Friends of Second Marsh, Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board, Ontario Power Generation - Darlington Nuclear, Region of Durham - Health Department, Region of Durham - Works Department and Scouts Canada - Camp Samac.

Festival Structure
Over five days approximately 4,500 grade four students are expected to visit the festival. Students will be separated into groups of ten decided beforehand by teachers. Teachers may plan ahead by selecting activities and exhibits that best suit their students needs. To assist in this process, teachers will be provided with a Teacher's Event Guide that contains a location map, as well as a description of the activities prior to the festival date. A teacher's workshop is conducted before the festival to answer any questions. In addition to the activity centres, there are nature trails on-site that will give the students access to a mixed deciduous forest and its habitat.

Volunteers
A minimum of 120 volunteers/day will be required to host the various festival centres, assist students and answer their questions. Volunteers will be sought from event sponsors and senior environmental and leadership students from local schools. A training session for the volunteers will be provided along with instructor manuals. Volunteers are required to be at the Festival from 8:30 am - 2:30 pm. All volunteers will receive lunch and refreshments as well as a Certificate of Appreciation and letter of involvement.

Registration & Cost
Grade four classes from the four participating school boards will be booked on a first come, first served basis. The current cost is $8.50/student and $3.00/ adult supervisor (bussing included).

Location
Camp Samac is located in north Oshawa. This facility provides a wide variety of venues for all the activity centres as well as opportunities to study stream and mixed deciduous forest ecosystems with nature trails.

For more information please contact: Annette MacDonald at the Central Lake Ontario Conservation office (905) 579-0411 or ext. 144 or dcgf@cloca.com

Wetland Wonderland.

Drip & Drop.

Aboriginal Voices.