Water & Community
Water Detective Series
Water is weird, wonderful and worth protecting! One thing we can all do to keep our water safe is get to know it better, so we teamed up with our friends at Brains On!® and Earth Echo International to help kids learn all about the water in the world around them.
Water Detective Badge
Become a Water Detective!
Partnership with Brains On! and Earth Echo International
Earth Echo International is a nonprofit founded on the belief that kids have the power to change the planet. They run the Earth Echo Water Challenge, a worldwide initiative that equips kids with a fun and easy way to test their water. Parents and guardians can purchase the EarthEcho Water Challenge Kit at a special discount by visiting monitorwater.org.
Every kit comes with tools for testing key water quality indicators: pH, dissolved oxygen, temperature and turbidity… plus an exclusive Brains On Water Detective badge! Use the kit to test the lakes, rivers, creeks and other bodies of water near your home. Record your results, gather clues about your environment and share what you learned by entering your data online to Earth Echo’s international database.
Show us what you learned!
Share your photos and videos with us on social media using #WaterDetective and #MonitorWater and by tagging @TheWaterMain @BrainsOn and @EarthEcho in your posts! You can also share your photos, videos and water stories with us! Email hello@brainson.org or submit your water story here.
PODCAST EPISODES
The Brains On! podcast is available online or wherever you get your podcasts. If you haven’t listened yet, subscribe to the Brains On! podcast and listen to our special episodes about water. Find our water episodes at the links below or wherever you get your podcasts…. and stay tuned for the release of additional episodes!
What’s in your water?
What’s in your water, and how did it get there? Clean water is a must, but modern living can put a lot of bad stuff in it. Road salt, fertilizer, dog doo-doo, heavy metals — how do these things get in our water? Why should we care? And how can we tell if our water is healthy? Check out this episode!
The wonderful weirdness of water
One of the weirdest substances in the universe is right under your nose. No, not boogers. Water! Water seems ordinary, almost boring, but take a closer look and you’ll find a wonderfully weird molecule that behaves like nothing else in the universe. Why is water so weird, and why does that matter? Listen to find out! Check out this episode!
Burning Rivers of Fire
Rivers are known for being wet. So how did a river in Ohio suddenly catch fire, not once, but several times during the last century? In part three of our water series, we’ll explore the shocking tale of the Cuyahoga River. We’ll look at how pollution led to this environmental tragedy. Check out this episode!
Keeping water healthy, one clue at a time
In the previous podcast, we heard about the tale of the Cuyahoga River — a river in Ohio that caught fire multiple times because it was so polluted. The river is now doing much better, but beyond the fact that it’s not on currently fire, how do we actually know it’s healthier today? That’s when being a water detective really comes in handy. Check out this episode!
Live Events
The Water Main and Brains On! hosted pop-up engagement events at the Minnesota Zoo, Science Museum of Minnesota and Rondo Days during the summer of 2018. Thanks to generous support from H.B. Fuller and 3M, these pop-up engagement events will include distribution of free Water Challenge Test Kits and Brains On Water Detective Badges!
Stay Informed
Get the latest stories and event information from the Water Main team.