Have you ever worked at a festival or other table event where you were charged with capturing the time and attention of the audience walking past? It can be a hard task, especially if you don’t have food or free gifts to give away. Yet many of our best opportunities to engage with the public happen in these little 5 minute long interactions. How do you make the most of them?

In this day long workshop, participants will learn our tips and tricks for teaching about water at public festivals, what makes an interesting and engaging lesson for those short attention spans, and develop hands on skills for biological and chemical water testing for bringing your teaching to the next level.

We will also hear from special guest presenters from Penn State Berks about the state of local water research in the Berks county area and ways in which you can help contribute to ongoing water research in your area.

Plus all participants will receive the Project WET curriculum book, filled with additional lessons and activities to help you on your education journey. Project WET is a national award winning curriculum that focuses on teaching about water in all of its forms. We will model lessons from the guide as well as demonstrate some lessons created by the DCNR for water monitoring in PA streams.

While this workshop is open to anyone, we are focusing our teaching on those non-formal educators and passionate volunteers who are often asked to attend school events, city park festivals, Earth Day extravaganzas and more to help spread the message of environmental literacy and conservation to the public. We hope you will leave the workshop more confident in your abilities to engage with the public and teach students of all ages.

Registration is required.

Please call 610-796-3699 Monday-Friday to register and pay in advance.

Workshop is $15.00 per person.

Please dress for both indoor and outdoor learning and bring a packed lunch – there is no food available on site.

For questions, please email SPresogna@pa.gov