Aurora – Students from Fulton Elementary School squirmed in their seats and made faces Thursday after a plastic bag of worm compost was passed around.
“Touch it, feel it, smell it,” said John Anderson, a farmer who is known as the “Worm Guy.”
Anderson was sharing “Worm Magic,” how worms turn food scraps into compost, at the 13th annual Aurora Youth Water Festival at Aurora Community College, sponsored by the city Water Department.
“It’s an opportunity to let them be environmental stewards,” said Amy Bahrenburg of the Denver Zoo, who read a story to children about how water in the South Platte River gets polluted as it travels downstream from the mountains.
This year, more than 1,200 fifth-grade students and their teachers from Aurora public elementary schools and several Cherry Creek schools participated in the water festival, where farmers, chemists, water lawyers, engineers, hydrologists and other natural resource experts gave lessons on how water affects the environment.
“It’s wonderful. My students have studied pond life and the ecosystem,” said Fulton teacher Debra Baker.
The teachers were offered a series of six-week lessons before the event so they could help their students prepare for the half-day water festival.
Students were encouraged to ask questions and participate in exhibits that are kid-safe and environment- friendly, officials said. Students who were water savvy were rewarded with prizes such as pizza parties and tickets for miniature golf or swimming.
Baker and her students were given a “worm vac,” a Styrofoam box filled with shredded newspapers, food scraps and manure so they can raise their own earthworms.
“Isn’t it amazing? It doesn’t stink,” Baker told her students.
The water festival offered a variety of hands-on activities, including Wastewater Jeopardy, Water on the Ol’ Colorado Cattle Drives, Drippial Pursuit and Bubbleology, in which students created giant bubbles.
In one classroom, students watched Ed Holroyd from the University of Denver, who with one single breath made 100 million sparkling snow crystals without the use of chemicals.
The students watched in silence. Then when they realized what had happened, some applauded.
“That is tight,” said one Aurora student.
Staff writer Annette Espinoza can be reached at 303-820-1655 or aespinoza@denverpost.com.
