Irvine Ranch Water District and Discovery Science Center have teamed up to provide exciting water education programs with you and your students. All of these programs are available FREE of charge to all teachers and schools within the IRWD service area. 

All programs correlate with the California curriculum content standards.

Grades K-6: Assemblies at your school presented by Discovery Science Center.

Call (714) 913-5030 to schedule your free program.

These are 45-minute grade-specific, assembly-style programs that focus on science and water conservation. A high-tech system of individual student response keypads will engage and encourage interactivity during the presentations. All assemblies stress the importance of conserving limited resources and preventing water pollution. Students will receive grade-specific Aqua Duck booklets.

Some of the topics include:

• Kindergarten: Three forms of water, evaporation
• 1st grade: Three forms of water, thermometers, sun as a heat source
• 2nd grade: Types and properties of soil, water as a resource
• 3rd grade: Three forms of water, heat energy of the sun, geophysical features
• 4th grade: Ecosystems, flow of water
• 5th grade: Water cycle, sources of water, origin of local community water, water recycling
• 6th grade: California's water, energy, resources

Grades 6-8: "Science to Go" hands on classes at your school presented by Discovery Science Center and field trip to Irvine Ranch Water District

Call (714) 913-5012 to schedule your free program.

This in-classroom series of four career-linked, hands-on water chemistry and environmental resources-focused lessons includes a field trip to the Irvine Ranch Water District San Joaquin Marsh. Students use chemical test kits to determine aspects of water quality; conduct simulated biological surveys related to water quality issues; experiment with water to deepen their understanding of water as a basic element and an essential resource; and explore current technologies, such as water recycling. Students will use blank book journals to record scientific information in written, pictorial and graphic/numeric forms.

Buses for the field trip are provided. This program is available to a limited number of students each year.

Grades: 9-12: In-classroom programs and field trips

Call (949) 453-5500 to schedule your free program

All programs provide water education from a local perspective and are presented by Irvine Ranch Water District personnel.  Typical programs include, but are not limited to: 

• IRWD's water sources
• Water treatment/water quality issues 
• Water recycling 
• The economics/politics of water 
• Geography of California water supplies 
• Water conservation 
• Horticulture 
• Careers in the water industry 

Guest speakers can include engineers, biologists, chemists or water conservation specialists who bring examples of the tools they use in their jobs. Many presentations include a Powerpoint presentation. 

Free field trips are available to the Michelson Water Reclamation Plant where wastewater is converted into recycled water for landscape irrigation and other non-potable uses. Field trips are also available to the San Joaquin Marsh and Wildlife Sanctuary where IRWD uses constructed wetlands to clean urban runoff before it reaches the ocean. Call (949) 453-5500 to schedule either field trip.

Free water education materials

For educators who prefer to do the teaching themselves, IRWD can provide several pre-packaged curriculum programs from Metropolitan Water District, the Water Education Foundation, and other agencies. These packages are provided to teachers in the Irvine Ranch Water District free of charge. Some programs require a brief in-service.

Self-contained curriculum units