Plan a Make a Splash Festival

These pages give you an overview of how to organize a Make a Splash festival. They are targeted at a classroom level festival but can be easily adapted to fit a larger or smaller audience.

Themes, Goals, Objectives, and Assessment
Just like a good lesson plan, a Make a Splash festival should have a clearly defined theme with supporting goals and objectives. It should be guided by the same state or local education standards that guide your audience and compliment the scope and sequence of learning taking place in their classroom.

Festival participants in Bozeman, Montana

Theme
A theme is a central idea or purpose that gives your festival focus. examples Include:

• Water Water Everywhere
• Exploring the Gallatin River Watershed
• Ground Water: A Treasure Beneath Our Feet
• The Wonder of Wetlands
• Celebrate Salmon
• Actions for Water

Goals
A goal statement describes what you want your students to learn at your festival. Example goal statements include:

• Students will learn about water topics of concern in our community by participating in hands-on activities that fulfill state science and social studies standards
• Students will explore key water science concepts in a fun and interactive environment
• Students will celebrate and learn about water in all its forms
• Students will meet, learn from, and be inspired by members of our local water science community
• Students will explore the four types of wetlands found in our region
• Students will learn about the importance of ground water in our community
• Students will learn four ways streams in our watershed are being restored

Objectives
Objectives are the measurable qualities or skills students should possess after participating in activities that support your goal. They are tied to student assessments that come at the end of the festival and to your state and local education standards. Below are examples of objectives.

At the conclusion of this festival students will:

• draw a picture of the hydrologic cycle and describe each part
• define a watershed
• draw a diagram of how a spring works
• explain the difference between surface water and ground water
• describe the role of a city water manager
• explain how the world shares water
• explain the major water issues in the community
• write a story that describes their personal connection to water
• build a model of a waste water treatment plant

Assessment
Assessment should be based directly on the learning objectives you set out to accomplish. If, for example, we use the objectives from above they would look like this:

Students will:

• draw a picture of the hydrologic cycle and describe each part
• define a watershed
• draw a diagram of how a spring works
• explain the difference between surface water and ground water
• describe the role of a city water manager
• explain how the world shares water
• explain the major water issues in their community
• write a story that describes their personal connection to water
• build a model of a waste water treatment plant

Once again, we recommend you work with the teacher you are serving to construct a theme, goals, objectives and assessments that fit the needs of their students and fulfills state and/or local learning standards.


Logistics


Establish a festival date
We recommend a date in either the Spring or Fall. The weather is usually more cooperative and the festival can be held to kick off a unit, semester, or a full year of thematic water study. Conversely, a festival can be used as an event marking (or celebrating) the end of a unit on water. As with any event, check with administrators to coordinate your festival with other holidays, early release days, sports events, etc

If you want to coordinate your festival with the annual Make a Splash with Project WET National Day of Water Education, plan your festival for the fourth Friday of September and contact your State Project WET Coordinator.

Secure your site
We recommend holding your festival outdoors at your school or at a nearby park, however, a classroom or gymnasium may be more appropriate depending on weather and the number of participants. Many organizers of outdoor festivals use tents, picnic shelters and building overhangs to cover their learning stations from the sun and inclement weather with great success. Confirm your site with school administrators.

This Make a Splash Festival utilized tents, a tipi, and even the shade of a tree.

Make a schedule
Once you have your site confirmed we recommend that the very next thing you do is make a schedule of your festival day. This will force you to focus on the specific stations and put a framework around your day.

We recommend you plan with the following elements in mind:

• Time students arrive at school
• Travel time for bus transport to your festival site (if needed)
• Arrival and organizing class into groups for the day
• Gathering students for a welcome and rule/safety talk
• Moving groups to their initial stations
• Time needed for each station
• Passing time between stations
• Scheduling time for students to write in journals
• Lunch break
• Load groups on bus (if needed)
• Returning to school

Sample schedule for a single classroom festival:
Below you can see and download a sample schedule for twenty-eight students divided into four groups of seven students each. This sample is for four sessions lasting 45 minutes each with a five-minute break between sessions. Sample Schedule (doc | pdf)

Gather presenters and volunteers
Presenters are the teachers, local experts, and community members who present the learning stations at your festival. The knowledge and skill that students gain will be a direct result of their presentations. It is critical to find individuals with not just technical knowledge, but a passion for the subject and a willingness to communicate directly with children. Presenters must both know their subject and know how to teach it well. Examples may include :

• Your state Project WET coordinator or one of their facilitators
• Retired teachers
• Parent volunteers
• Soil and Water Conservation District employees
• Local nature center staff
• State fish and wildlife agent staff
• Local watershed Council members
• Water Quality District employees
• Aquarium and zoo employees
• Students from your local high school or university

Contact presenters and invite them to the festival. Once confirmed, send them your goals, objectives, and the schedule of activities for the day as well as the particular activity you are asking them to lead. Sample presenter invitation letter (doc | pdf)

Contact and confirm additional volunteers as needed to support presenters, activities, serve snacks or lunch, and clean up.

Train your presenters and volunteers
Hold a short training the week before your festival to train your presenters and volunteers. Walk through the schedule and make sure everyone understands the theme, goals and objectives of the day. The meeting will help everyone feel comfortable as well as learning more about the group of students involved.

Have a contingency plan
Make a plan for inclement weather. It can be as simple as moving the festival into the gymnasium.

Make arrangements for security and safety
When you meet with the teacher(s) you are serving discuss security and safety and make sure their needs are met. These needs will vary depending on the school you work with and the setting of your festival.

Deliver pre-festival materials
Provide teachers with activities or materials that will prepare students for the festival day. Go to our sample activities page for ideas, downloads and more. Examples include:

• Vocabulary words tied to each festival station
• Children's books, films, or web-based investigations
• Begin a water festival journal
• Project WET Activities

Day of festival
Have a smooth, safe and fun filled day. Don't forget the first-aid kit, name tags, coffee, presenter treats and your cell phone. Good luck!

Deliver post-festival reinforcement.
Work with teacher(s) to follow up and reinforce the messages of your festival. This can include:

• A discussion that touches on the key points of each station, answers unresolved questions and corrects misunderstandings
• Classroom materials that reinforce festival messages. For ideas visit the Project WET Store
• A local action project that applies the lessons learned from the festival
• A guest speaker who can expand on key festival messages.

Evaluate your festival
Make a commitment to continuous improvement through evaluation. Modify these important tools to meet your needs.

Presenter evaluation form (doc | pdf)
Volunteer evaluation form (doc | pdf)

Follow up
Write thank you letters to school administrators, presenters and volunteers. Have a short meeting with your planning partners to read evaluations, write down key improvements for next year, take a deep breath and then set a date for next year!


Additional resources


Festival Planning
We highly recommend Best practices for Field Days: A Program Planning Guidebook for Organizers, Presenters, Teachers, Organizers, and Volunteers. University of Minnesota Extension Service, 2006. View it online at http://www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/naturalresources/DD8208.html

This document and accompanying CD-ROM is the most up-to-date guide to planning festivals. Copious research references and ready to use planning sheets are included.

Training
Contact your state Project WET Coordinator to request a free or low-cost water education workshop.

Materials
The Project WET store is an outstanding source of books, kits, and festival materials. Visit it online at http://store.projectwet.org.