Drink up, and celebrate the excellent water quality that the United States enjoys!

This Sunday is Earth Day, and many people are mobilizing to clean their communities, plant trees, recycle and more. Earth Day is also a great day to think about the water we all depend on. At DiscoverWater.org, the "Use Water Wisely" lesson offers real-world tips that children can do--and can share with their families. Check out the "Use Water Wisely" lesson today, and then get out and make a difference on Earth Day!

Students who bring water into the examination hall may improve their grades, a study of 447 people found. Controlling for ability from previous coursework results, researchers found those with water scored an average of 5% higher than those without.

While drinking water is obviously no substitute for studying hard, researchers say that encouraging students to have water during exams could be an easy, low-cost way to see improvements. "Future research is needed to tease apart these explanations, but whatever the explanation it is clear that students should endeavour to stay hydrated with water during exams," said Dr. Chris Pawson from the University of East London, one of the universities involved in the study.

To teach kids about healthy hydration, visit the DiscoverWater.org "Healthy Water, Healthy People" lesson.

Project WET will join the winners at an awards ceremony on April 23rd in Washington, D.C. and will also be hosting a reception at the Newseum on April 24th in honor of being awarded the prize. To learn more, please contact Nicole Rosenleaf Ritter.

The Project WET Foundation's award-winning water, sanitation and hygiene materials have been collected on a single, easy-to-access page and are available as free downloads for educators worldwide. Project WET's WASH-related Educator Guides, Kids in Discovery series activity booklets, posters and reports cover multiple aspects of water, sanitation and hygiene, from proper hand washing to water source protection. The materials also promote basic literacy.

Many of Project WET's WASH education materials have been customized and translated in cooperation with local educators in Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean. Materials are available in English, French, Spanish, Kiswahili and Chichewa; the Spanish-language materials have been further customized to reflect cultural and linguistic differences for five countries in Latin America.

To learn more, visit Project WET's WASH page.

Sponsored by Project WET USA and the Watershed Access Lab at Bridgewater State, the conference is now accepting registrations and presentation proposals. In the interest of innovation, engaging and interactive presentations are encouraged. Presentations must address one of the following strands:

• Science, Technology, Engineering & Math (STEM) in Water Education
  This strand will focus on increasing student success in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics and increase educators' capacity to include STEM subjects in their curricula. Of particular interest are proposals that address integration of water-related topics and the implementation of STEM education in a manner that reflects the interdependence of the four STEM subjects, as well as proposals that focus on partnerships involving school districts, community colleges, four-year institutions, and business and industry to provide a comprehensive community-based approach to STEM and water education.
• Pedagogy & Water Education
  The Pedagogy and Water Education Strand provides the opportunity to examine best practices for integrating water-related environmental education into the PreK-16 educational system at the local, state and federal levels and improving environ- mental literacy across the nation.
• ActionEducation^TM & Water Education
  What are the most successful methods for addressing the most important water challenges of the day with water education and action education? This strand includes a wide array of topics and strategies such as: Watersheds, Pharmaceuticals and personal care products in water, Risk (drought and floods), Weather and climate change, Ground water, Water and energy, Storm water and Water conservation.
• Technology & Other Water Education Topics
  Converging web, mobile, and social technologies have generated a level of communication and interaction never before possible. The Technology in Water Education strand seeks to explore the transformational potential that these innovations hold for education and training, as well as share current research and best practices related to these developments.

For more information about the conference, please visit the Conference website or contact Theresa Schrum.

Download the Call for Presentations here.

Register here.

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It's World Water Day! The theme of this year's World Water Day observations is Water and Food Security. What's the link? As UN Water says on the World Water Day website,

"There are 7 billion people to feed on the planet today and another 2 billion are expected to join by 2050. Statistics say that each of us drinks from 2 to 4 litres (.5 to 1 gallon) of water every day, however most of the water we 'drink' is embedded in the food we eat..."

At the recent 6th World Water Forum in Marseille, Project WET organized a session around water footprinting, including information about "virtual water"--the water that is used to produce the food we eat and manufacture the products we need. Raising awareness about virtual water and water footprints was identified as a solution for addressing water issues, and Project WET has made a commitment to continue to reach people around the world with relevant water education.

At the "Your Water Footprint" session at the 6th World Water Forum, participants traced their footprints as part of learning about how to teach the concept of water footprinting.

In that spirit, Project WET has materials available for kids to learn about virtual water and water footprints. On World Water Day, make your own commitment to learning about your water footprint--and teaching others. Visit the "We all use water" lesson at DiscoverWater.org and then share it with friends, family and colleagues.

It's a great way to spend World Water Day!

We would love to see all Forum participants and look forward to interacting with the world of Water!