PWSA offers exciting, interactive classroom-based lessons about the work that we do at PWSA. Our lessons and workshops can be offered during school, during out-of-school time or afterschool.
Programs are available for learners of all ages and are tied to PA SAS, PA STEELS and NGSS Educational Standards.
We can work with you to align with the topics your students are learning about in the classroom.
STEM Learning Topics and Content Areas:
- Chemistry: Water Quality and Water Testing
- Environment and Ecology: Watersheds and Sewersheds
- Hydrology and Geology: Sediment Science and our Source Water
Contact us to inquire about our K-12 Lessons and Workshops.
ABOUT OUR PROGRAMS
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Engaging with our communities and those we serve is a critical part of our work here at Pittsburgh Water. A key element of our community engagement focus is to connect Pittsburgh’s youth with the work, mission, vision, and values of Pittsburgh Water through meaningful and fun learning experiences that are designed to engage all of the senses. Meet Your Watershed (Grades 2 -4) Our Meet Your Watershed workshop was designed consulting PA State Environment and Ecology Standards to address anchors related to PA’s Watershed and Wetlands content areas. During the workshop, students use our interactive EnviroScape model and learn about water pollution, our rivers, watersheds, sewer systems, and stormwater. Students work together to add various forms of mock pollution to the model such as litter, excess fertilizers, industrial wastes and sewage overflows from overburdened sewers to observe the effects on the model’s waterways. They are then asked to consider what could be done differently and we discuss our initiatives to separate the storm sewers and encourage environmental stewardship. Water Quality Chemistry: Color Changing Chemistry (Junior Version: Grades 3-5. Regular: Grades 6-8). (45 minutes) Arising from a desire to build trust in tap water, to bring light to the hard work of the staff who produce safe drinking water, and to bring clarity to our process of treating water, our water quality workshops were developed with little chemists in mind!. These two workshops are lab-style workshops and correlate to PA STEELS State Chemistry Standards The first workshop, Color-Changing Chemistry, is an exploration of water testing procedures. Our discussion includes a primer on PWSA’s many tests to be sure that water is safe to drink and the various parameters we must control for in the water. We discuss the importance of water chemistry during many steps of the process. For the activity, students play scientists in our accredited lab. They use an indicator liquid which is purple at a neutral pH. They then use the indicator to test a series of mock water samples and observe a host of exciting color changes as the indicator contacts various acidic or alkaline test samples. They interpret their color changes using a guide and record their pH.
Students use a set of small screens to progressively filter solid material from mock river water to visualize how our screens work at the treatment plant. They are then challenged to figure out how to remove the finest particles from water – the silts and clays. For this portion of the experiment, we discuss how unique chain-shaped molecules known as polymers are useful in helping these small particles to stick together and settle out of the water. As we are explaining the role of polymers, we show students samples of the water at each stage of the treatment process so they can visualize the changes in clarity as solids are removed. Students then participate in a fun, hands-on experiment using a natural polymer to make a colorful slime. We finish by discussing the disinfection process, which is critical though the water might look clear. WATER TREATMENT PLANT TOUR All About Your Source Water and the Water Treatment Plant Tour (Grades 9-12) For high school, we offer a two-part learning experience which includes an optional pre-tour in-classroom presentation and a field trip to the Aspinwall Water Treatment Plant. During the pre-tour presentation, we take an in-depth look at our source water, the Allegheny River, to discover the characteristics that make it unique. We discover the river’s geology, and ecology and how historical uses, industrial activity, and urbanization have impacted water quality. We discuss the actions PWSA is taking to be a good steward of our waterways today. Following the presentation, students take a field trip to the treatment plant to view the technology, machinery, policies, procedures, and employee roles that enable the production of around 65 million gallons of drinking water for the city of Pittsburgh each day. These learning experiences meet 4 PA STEELS STEM standards for educators.
SPEEDY SCIENCE Speedy Science: Quick Learning Experiences for Community EventsOur speedy science experiences are 10-minutes or less, great for large group community-style events and appropriate for all ages.
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