CALGARY, ALBERTA, Oct. 19, 2020 – With online learning leaping in popularity, the Alberta WaterPortal Society is publishing fun new learning activities to help keep water education interesting, even online.
These new materials include interactive games and short animations that make learning fun for everyone. They explore how human actions and choices impact water, food, and energy resources. As the population in Alberta increases, users must contemplate how to balance the demand for water to support food, energy, people and the environment.
A choose-your-own-adventure game delves into the interconnections between water, energy, communities and agriculture, allowing players to travel through the Bow River from the headwaters to confluence with the Oldman River; this game of “Follow the Drop” takes players the whole way through the system.
“On the way down the game’s river, you choose the path that a water droplet takes from its start as a snowflake or a raindrop” says Brie Nelson. “Will you make it to the river’s end? Or will you evaporate or become pizza along the way?”
Along with the adventure game, a series of short animated videos will introduce viewers to key conservation concepts, prompting innovative thinking about the interconnectedness of water resources, agriculture, and energy production. The videos focus on a healthy environment, population growth, protecting water quality and the complex relationships between all water users in a watershed.
“Understanding the Water Nexus is the stepping stone to managing our water so that we have a sustainable economy and also maintain a healthy environment. Everyone has a part to play and this work helps to educate individuals on what they can do with everyday actions.” says Dr. Kim Sturgess, the WaterPortal’s Executive Director and a leading water management expert in Canada.
These new online activities are additions to the online learning tools already published by the Alberta WaterPortal Society. Find a list of other fun activities here. These new resources are part of the third phase of the Alberta Water Nexus project, which was made possible by the generous support of the Carlson Family Foundation, Nutrien, and Enbridge, along with the Government of Canada and the Government of Alberta through the Canadian Agricultural Partnership.
About the Alberta WaterPortal Society: Founded in 2006, in the spirit of the Water for Life strategy, the Alberta WaterPortal provides inclusive research, community engagement, and educational activities to improve the public’s understanding of local, regional, and global water issues to enhance decision-making.
Alixx Hettinga