Pat Quinn, Governor
|
|
|
||
|
Pat Quinn, Governor |
|||
|
|
Environmental Progress - Fall 2000A Trip to the Tap at the 2000 State FairEstimated 4,000 visitors dropped by IEPA's tent at August event
An estimated 3-4,000 visitors joined IEPA staff volunteers on a "Trip to the Tap" during the Illinois State Fair in Springfield last August. This year's display was sponsored by the Bureau of Water and focused on water's differing properties as it moves through the water cycle. 
|
| Copyright © 1996-2011 Illinois EPA | Agency Site Map | Privacy Information | Kids Privacy | Web Accessibility | Agency Webmaster |
The
"whirr" of the nearby lumberjack's chain saw has faded away
in Conservation World; the tents have been folded up and stored away for
another year. Right...the Illinois EPA's State Fair presence is over for
another year.
Visitors
followed water's travel from the watershed down to groundwater, back up
to the pond, wetland, the lake, through a water treatment plant and finally
to the faucet. Kids were given 
pocket
magnifying glasses to look for live "critters" in a water sample,
and most couldn't resist lifting the snake out of the wetlands display.
Adults and children alike said they enjoyed the journey and most of the
adults also expressed appreciation that the long, green wetlands snake
was plastic. Many agreed they had learned something from the "trip."
When
the journey was over, children could take time to guess the number of
pebbles in a beaker. Even then, they were learning something - the pebbles
were filter stones like the ones used in water treatment plants. Each
day, one child received a 2 1/2 gallon aquarium for his or her winning
guess. Visitors also had a chance to try their hands - and arms - at working
a hand pump. The experience conjured up a number of "when I was little"
and "Aunt Josie still has one of these in her kitchen....."
stories which were promptly shared with the children.