These games will test (and teach) players about water resources! They can be played in small groups or as a whole class.

1. Where in the Waters of Kalamazoo County is Carmen San Diego?
2. Keep It Afloat
3. Dripial Pursuit
4. Puddle Pictures
5. The Pucker Principle

1. Where in the Waters of Kalamazoo County is Carmen San Diego?
   Ages: 9 and up
   This fun, customized board game hangs on the wall and is great for large groups. Not only will players learn about ways to protect drinking water, they will learn a little geography and facts unique to Kalamazoo County.
   Carmen and her V.I.L.E. friends have a major interest in a water plant that could provide billions of gallons of water per day (and, more importantly for Carmen, billions of dollars)! The problem is that KALAMAZOO COUNTY ALREADY HAS PLENTY OF CLEAN DRINKING WATER! Her plan is to pollute the water in the county so that no one will want to use it, and everyone will want to purchase it from Carmen. Your mission is to find Carmen and her friends and stop them from polluting the waters of Kalamazoo County!
   
   
2. Keep It Afloat
   Ages: 11 and up
   The game is played cooperatively, rather than competitively, with 4-6 players making choices together! Players learn about water supply, drought, contamination, and conservation!
   The setting is a mid-sized city in Michigan. The city draws its water from a well and then distributes the water through a municipal water system to all the homes and businesses in the community (just like Kalamazoo, Parchment, Portage, Augusta, and other communities in our county). The community has grown rapidly and increased use of water by households, industries, and business has caused a lowering of the water table. There is a concern that if the current level of use continues, the water supply to the city may be in jeopardy! It is everyone's job to maintain the community's water supply!
   
   
3. Dripial Pursuit
   Ages: 8 and up
   Similar to the popular trivia-based board game, these question cards contain four questions about water. For example:
   1. Which is lighter, ice or water?
   2. True or false, groundwater flows in vast underground streams.
   3. What fruit has water as part of its name?
   4. Who has the responsibility to protect groundwater?
   The answers are useful facts, true science, or just plain trivia…or would that be "dripia"?
   Answers: a-ice, b- false, c- watermelon, d-ALL OF US!
   
   
4. Puddle Pictures
   Ages: All!
   This game expands player's water vocabulary while making them realize that so much is associated with water and the protection of water. Sure, you think of water when you hear "splash" and "flood", but what about "landfill" and "feedlot". The game provides a great opportunity to think about different contamination sources and how we depend on water for more than just drinking…how about "skiing" and "swimming"?
   Can you draw pictures of words associated with water and get someone to guess what you are drawing? Can you draw a tidal wave? Skating? Creek? How would you draw Vapor?
   
   
5. The Pucker Principle
   Ages: 8 and up
   This activity demonstrates how contaminates in groundwater are located. Students "drill" monitoring wells using straws and analyze core samples using pH paper. The pH changes in the soil tell them where a buried chemical (powdered lemonade mix) is located. Players act as a detective to locate the contamination. The activity pack includes enough sand and equipment for three demonstrations.

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