Amazing Adventures of the H2O Heroes Activity Book

g
n
i
z
a
m
A
e
Th
of the
Starring:
Cactus
Callie
and
Watershed
Willie
Let’s Meet The H20 Heroes
Name: Watershed Willie
Age: He won’t tell
Hobbies: Swimming, digging holes and
picking up trash.
Watershed Willie is a crawfish, a fresh water crustacean closely related to
lobsters. Willie is always trying to get his claw on any small meal he can,
usually a snail or small fish. But pollution is one thing Willie can’t get a
handle on. It poisons his food and messes up his home. That’s why he
reminds all of us to be “pollution free and responsible.”
Name: Cactus Callie
Hobbies: Gardening, being outside,
Texas history.
Cactus Callie is a Prickly Pear Cactus, one of the most famous low-water
use plants. Callie loves being outdoors, but she’s not a big drinker.
She can store water for a long time — a big advantage in the long, hot
summer. Cactus Callie really conserves water and encourages us to do
the same.
Name: Crystal Clare
Age: 6
Hobbies: Exercise, talking about water,
drinking lots of water.
Crystal Clare is a water perfectionist and knows how important water is
to good health. She is always reminding friends and family to drink lots of
water every day. Crystal loves reading about water and tells everyone
that someday she will become a hydrologist (a water scientist).
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Name: Wendy Weather
Age: 10
Hobbies: Gardening, painting,
meteorology, leaf collecting.
Wendy Weather loves to keep an eye on the sky. She knows almost as
much about weather patterns and the water cycle as Mother Nature herself.
She is always explaining to everyone that weather, which effects our water,
is very unpredictable and that we should all look out for things such as
droughts and floods.
Name: Walter Works
Age: 9
Hobbies: Reading, fishing, doing
household repairs, math.
Walter Works is one handy little guy. In fact, he doesn’t feel comfortable unless he
has a wrench in his hand. He loves to fix leaky pipes and tighten shower heads.
Walter also knows almost everything there is to know about the water system —
from pumps to pipes to the wastewater treatment facility. Walter quizzes everyone
about how water gets to their homes.
Name: Will Saver
Age: 11
Hobbies: Boating, writing stories,
recycling, telling others about
being a water saver.
Will Saver is the perfect example of everything a good citizen should be.
Together with his dog Buckets, Will is always on the lookout for faucets that
have been left on, sprinklers that have run too long, and garbage that could
hurt our water supply. In fact, Will’s favorite day of the week is when he puts
out his recycling container for the city to pick up. And every week, Will visits a
local day care center to teach young kids how they can be water super
heroes, too.
Name: Buckets
Age: 2
Hobbies: Chasing cars, barking at
water wasters, being a
loyal friend.
When it comes to saving water, Buckets is one eager puppy. His owner is Will
Saver and they’re always working to help save our precious water supply. Buckets
has learned some neat tricks, like turning off faucets and moving sprinklers so they
don’t hit the driveway. Like Buckets, we should do our best to conserve water.
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Water is the gift of life, or that is what they say. This is especially true for all of us,
on a hot summer day. Willie, Callie and the H2O Heroes, come inside from a hike,
and a cold glass of water, is what they would like.
Water By Numbers
Callie wants to drink five (5) glasses of
water. She already had two (2) glasses
of water. How many more glasses of water
should she drink? _________
How many glasses of water
are on the table? _________
How many bottles of water
are in the refrigerator? _________
Which is closer to Callie, the water
bottles in the refrigerator or the glasses
of water on the table? _________
Place a red circle around all the water
you see in the house.
Appropriate for ages 4-7
(Kindergarten thru 2nd grade)
Appropriate for ages 8-11
(3rd grade thru 5th grade)
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2FT
8FT
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Weird Water Songs With Willie
Cup of Water
(sung to the tune of “ I’m a Little Tea Pot ”)
Here’s a cup of water
Clean and pure
It is very good for me
I am sure.
Eight cups a day, feeds and cleans you up
So tip your cup and drink it up.
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Cactus Callie explains that water keeps everything
alive, and without this important liquid, nothing
could possibly survive.
Who’s Thirsty?
All living things need water. From the pictures below, circle what you think
needs water to live and then color the pictures.
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“Does that include people ?” Willie asks with a grin.
“Oh yes, especially people,” replies Crystal Clare,
Cactus Callie’s best friend.
Cactus Callie then asks, “How much water do
we need to drink?”
And Crystal Clare responds, “I don’t know Callie.
Kids, what do you think?”
CL ARE’S FAST FACT
Up to 60% of the
human body
is made of water.
Color all the water in the body blue.
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Water Patterns
How many glasses of water do you drink every day? _________
For one week, keep a chart to see how much water you drink.
Fill in the missing symbols to complete the patterns.
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1
“This is all very interesting,” says Watershed Willie,
“but I have a question that may sound rather silly.
If I want to see water just where can it be found?”
“ Oh, that’s easy,” replies Wendy Weather, “to see water,
just look around.”
So Much Water...
Wendy Weather wants you to
color all the water on the Earth
blue and all the land green.
Place a red X where you think
you live.
WENDY’S FAST FACT
So muc h of the Eart h’s
surface is covered by water
that it is sometimes called
the water planet.
What is the name of our planet?
What is the name of the country that you live in?
What is the name of the state that you live in?
What is the name of the town or city that you live in?
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Draw a picture of your city or town.
10
...So Little to Drink
Even though the Earth is covered with a lot of water,
only a little bit of it can be used by humans.
Pretend that these ten squares represent all of the
surface area of the Earth. If this were true, then
three out of ten parts would be land. Color the
squares that represent land green. Seven out of
the ten of the surface would be water. Color the
squares that represent water blue.
Most of the water on the
Earth is salt water. If these
100 squares represent all the
water on the Earth, then 97
out of 100 squares would be
salty. The rest would be fresh
water. Color the squares that
represent salt water yellow
and the fresh water blue.
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Most of our fresh water on Earth is frozen in ice at the North Pole and South Pole.
So there is little for us to drink. The squares with the X on them represent all of this
ice. Color these two squares blue. We cannot drink the ice. So, if all the squares
on this page represent all the water on the Earth, we would only be able to drink
from one square. Color all the squares that represent salt water yellow. Color the
square that is by itself green. This green square is all of the water on the Earth that
we can drink.
X
X
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Water Sports
Put a red circle around the picture showing people having fun on a windy day. Put a
blue triangle on the picture where you might build a sand castle. Put a green square around
the picture where you might float down on a raft. Put a yellow rectangle on the picture that
shows what might happen on a cloudy day. Say out loud the type of waterway found in each
picture (example: a lake, a pond, etc.)
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Match the picture to the words found below. Write one complete sentence describing
each waterway.
• Puddles
• Lake
• Ocean
• River
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“But what is really neat,” says Wendy while having fun,
“is that all of this water begins with the sun.
An incredible journey has happened for millions of years,
and if you want to see how it works, then look what I have here.”
What Goes Around,
Comes Around
Match the steps and descriptions of the water
cycle to the picture.
1.
Evaporation — Most of the water in the atmosphere
comes from oceans, rivers and lakes. The heat from
the sun turns water into vapor which rises into the air.
2.
Transpiration — Plants give off water vapor through
their leaves which adds the water to the air.
3.
Condensation — As water vapor rises, it cools down
forming many tiny droplets. The droplets collect into
large masses which we call clouds.
4. Precipitation — When the water droplets become
heavy, they fall to the Earth in the form of rain. If the
temperature is low enough, they freeze on the way
down and become snow or hail or sleet.
5.
•
After precipitation falls to the Earth, some of the water
soaks into the ground and collects in areas called aquifers.
Much of the precipitation flows over the surface of the Earth.
This is called runoff. When it collects in rivers, lakes and
bays, it is called surface water.
Then the water cycle begins again!
•
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•
•
•
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Wendy’s Water Lab
Hey kids, here are some great experiments to do around
your home or school to learn more about water.
Rain in a Bag
Get a quart-sized resealable bag and a clear plastic cup.
Place about 2 ounces (your parents or teacher
can help with this) of water in the cup and
mark the water line with a piece of tape or
black marker. Tape the cup to the inside
of the bag. Close the bag and then
tape it to a sunny window tilted
on an angle so that the sides
slant down from the top.
What happens
after day 1? _________________
What happens
after day 3? _________________
What happens
after day 5? _________________
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(This is what your experiment should look like
hanging in the window.)
Where Did it Go?
Pour enough water on the cement or asphalt to make a small puddle. Use chalk to draw a
circle around the puddle. Guess what will happen to your puddle by tomorrow?
— My guess about the puddle: ______________________
— What happened to the puddle? ____________________
— Where did the water go? _________________________
San Antonio Enviro-Snack
Materials required:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Chocolate graham crackers...soil
White spreadable cake frosting...adhesive
Chocolate kisses (2 or 3)...Texas Hill Country
Green sprinkles...grassland
Green tree nonpareils (evergreen shape)...forests
Small marshmallow or whipped topping...clouds
Tube of blue cake icing (no gel)... lakes and streams
Assemble the Enviro-Snack by spreading frosting on a full size graham cracker. Add chocolate kiss hills as
desired. Sprinkle with green grassland sugar crystals. Place the evergreen nonpareils to create a forest area.
Add blue icing to form hill country waterfalls, rivers and lakes. Add as many marshmallow clouds as you like.
Now eat your Enviro-Snack and enjoy!
(This is what your Enviro-Snack may look like.)
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Will Saver speaks up, “What you have heard here is true,
but don’t forget that people’s actions effect the water cycle too.
When someone saves water, they’re doing a good job,
but when they pollute or waste water they really are a slob.
If we all do our part, then we will surely be,
good citizens of our city, as you’re about to see.”
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Using Water Wisely
What does it mean to be a good citizen of our city? _________________________________
Draw a line from the picture showing a water waster
to the same picture showing a water saver.
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“A long time ago, people from other lands came and settled
by a river that had a funny name. Yanaguana was the name of
the river bubbling up from the ground, and it wasn’t very long,
before they had built a town. A city soon sprang up along this little
stream, and the water was cool and as pure as gold, or so
it always seemed. Today the city is growing and it’s the place
that we all know, because it’s here where we call home, the
place is San Antonio.”
WILL’S FA
ST FACT
The S
an Antonio
River was
originally
called Yan
a g u a n a by
the natives
living here
whic h
means “cle
ar water.”
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Lone Star Quiz
Using the list below, name each place shown on the map that has a star.
1.
7.
2.
8.
3.
4.
9.
10.
11.
5.
6.
4
6
8
10
•
•
•
•
•
•
Austin
•
Houston
•
Dallas
•
El Paso
•
Gulf of Mexico •
San Antonio River
San Antonio
Guadalupe River
Brownsville
Corpus Christi
Rio Grande
9
2
3
1
5
11
7
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Wendy Weather asks a question, “How do these people
use water now?”
And Will Saver replies, “Let’s take a look right now.”
Water in Use
Draw a picture showing a way that you use water.
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Name the ways that these people are using water.
Choose from one of the pictures above, and on a separate sheet of paper,
write a story about what the person is doing in the picture.
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From Rain to Drain
“But it doesn’t stop there,” Walter Works begins, “ in fact,
this is where SAWS comes in. They pump this water from
wells drilled underground, then put it into pipes and send
it around our town. These systems are amazing and are
very well planned so please have a seat, so I can help
you understand.”
Well & Pump
Storage Tank
Underground pipes
to your house
Aquifer
WALTER’
S FAST F
ACT
San Anto
n
io Water
S ys t e m
out 165 m
illion g al
of water
lons
ever y da
y and sen
t h ro u g h 4
ds it
,000 mile
s of pipe
.
pumps ab
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“But there is more to the story
and if you’re not in a rush,
I now want to tell you
what happens when you flush.”
Follow the
path of water
from your
home to see
where it goes.
SAWS
Water
Recycling
Center
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As more and more people need water to use,
it’s time to realize that this is something we can’t abuse.
“Why should we save water?” Willie asks with a shout.
“Well listen up closely,” replies Wendy Weather,
“because you’re about to find out.”
It’s Time to Conserve
1
2
6
5
3
4
Use these words to
complete the puzzle.
• OFF
8
• WATER
• FOUR
• NATIVE
7
• LONG
• CONSERVE
• LOW FLOW
• HOSE
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DOWN
ACROSS
1. To ____________ means using only the
amount of water we need.
3. You can conserve water by having
_______ _______ shower heads installed.
2. Turn ______ the water while brushing
your teeth.
5. Do not use a water ______ to sweep
the driveway.
4. _________ is the most important substance
for life on Earth.
7. Toilets use _______ to seven gallons of
water with each flush.
6. Do not take _______ showers.
8. __________ plants do not need as much
water to grow.
Help Willie and Callie Decode
the Water Secrets
Use the code below to fill in the message.
★✔☺◆●✙✐ ♥
A B C D E F GH I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
◆ ☺ ★ ★ ★ ★ ☺ ✔ ◆ ◆ ✔ ◆ ◆
Can you decode this message?
that
y+
does
drip
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“Why should we save water? There’s another reason too. Water
is more important than to just me and you. There are certain
plants and animals that are in short supply and if we use up all
their water, they probably will die. We call them endangered
species and they live in a nearby stream so if you listen to
me closely, you will learn what endangered means.”
seicepS deregnadnE
lamina ro tnalp A
e s u a c e b ev i v r u s t o n y a m t a h t
ro seitivitca namuh fo
. s n o i t i d n o c l a t n e m n or i vn e
Hold the page to a mirror to find out what endangered means.
Use the internet to research the endangered
species in our area. Two good sites are:
• www.edwardsaquifer.net
• www.endangered.fws.gov/wildlife.html
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WENDY’
S FAST F
ACT
T h e re
a r e s eve n
re d s p e c
ies in our
a re a t h a t
re l y
o n wa t e r
t o s u r v i ve
.
endange
The Texas Blind Salamander, like the
one below, is an endangered species
that lives in our area. It grows about
four inches long and is pink in color.
Design a stamp that would bring awareness to
endangered species like this one.
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“I know another way to save water,” Watershed Willie shouts,
“but this way involves keeping all the pollution out.
If you don’t know what pollution is, just listen to me say,
what you can do — all of you — each and every day.”
The Unclean Stream
Put a red X over the things that make water dirty.
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Pollution Solutions
Household Hazardous Waste Materials like glass, oven cleaners, and paint may harm our rivers
and streams if they are not thrown away properly. Bathroom cleaners, bleach, and soaps cause
fish and plants to die if they get into our rivers and lakes. Don’t pour these cleaners on the
ground because they can be washed away into creeks and streams when it rains. Take them to
a city Household Hazardous Waste Collection site instead.
Recycling means using something over again. It is easy and it helps keep our environment clean.
Recycling items like plastic, paper, and glass keep them out of the landfill. So toss your soda
cans in the recycle bin and not in the trash.
Compost is what is left after organic waste rots. Organic waste is food scraps, dirt, and grass
clippings. Compost can be used as potting soil because it has many nutrients in it that plants
need. Meat and fat should not be used in a compost pile because it will smell bad and attract
rodents. You can make compost by mixing dry leaves, dirt, grass clippings, banana peels,
watermelon rinds, apple cores, bread, and other items together.
Use the paragraphs above and these words below to answer the following questions.
• Plastic
• Oven cleaners
• Glass cleaners
• Tires
• Apple core
• Banana peel
• Bleach
• Paint
• Soda can
• Oil
• Paper
• Glass
• Grass clippings
• Watermelon rind
• Antifreeze
• Leaves
• Soap
• Dirt
• Bread
Which of the above are household hazardous waste materials?
Which of the above can be recycled?
Which of the above can be put into a compost pile?
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“Thank you,” says Watershed
Willie, “for teaching me the way
that so many people use water
Weird Water Songs
With Willie.
each and every day. Water is so
W-A-T-E-R
important now I know that this is
true and taking care of water is up
(sung to the tune of “BINGO”)
to me and you. I will do my part,”
Every job that people do
Sometimes uses water
Willie says with a smile and a
shout, “to talk with everyone I
meet and get this message out.”
W-A-T-E-R
W-A-T-E-R
W-A-T-E-R
Water works for everyone!!
Let’s Review.
Find the important words from the story in the puzzle below.
Use each word in the list to write a complete sentence on a
separate sheet of paper.
D E R E G N A D N E
R
C
O
X
E
N
V
R
H
Y
M
I
E
L
L
E
W
I
E
U
E E V A D Z G N A T
V
J
L
E
R
I
F
K
L
W
R H W C R T R M T A
E E J C Y I H N H T
S
T
C
L
E
N O I T U L L O
O Z P M E K A L
P
A
R
O
C
N
A
Y
Y
A
R
N
E
A
C
G
Y
U
A
• Water • Cycle
• Earth
• Endangered
• Well • Lake
• Citizen
• Pollution
• Drink • Yanaguana • Conserve • Recycle
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• River
• Health
Connect the dots to spell out
these important words.
The Official
H2O Hero Pledge
I
, pledge that
as an H2O Hero, I will use all my
powers to Conserve and Protect our
valuable water resources. I will learn
as much as I can about how to
protect our water and share this
knowledge with others. I will
always work to make sure
our water is safe, clean,
and plentiful.
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