CENTRAL KITSAP – Vinland Elementary third grader Ella Ray busted out a brief hip hop dance routine while standing next to a water purification filter made from two two-liter plastic bottles, one of which was filled with gravel and sand.

Having finished her exuberant interlude, Ray pulled down the brim of her Mariners ball cap down low and went back to business – learning about how water was one of Kitsap’s most precious resources.

Ray was one of about two dozen third graders in her class who were learning how the earth cleaned rain and surface water as the water percolated downward through the soil and into aquifers.

Ella Ray, left, pours dirty water into a bottle filled with sand and gravel to filter the dirty water during the Water Festival on April 14. At right is Nevaeh David. The girls are third-graders with Vinland Elementary in Poulsbo in Lisa Wood’s class.

Wearing white lab coats, Twiss Analytical Laboratory soil specialist Nancy Parrott and Twiss microbiologist Briana Kinashi were on hand to teach the children about the filters as part of the 2015 Water Festival held April 14 at the Kitsap County Fairgrounds.

Ray and two other girls in her group – Sydney Syhaketh and Nevaeh David – took turns pouring a cup of dirty water into the filter. Slowly, the water flowed through the gravel and sand, and dripped out into a second bottle in a pale yellow, nearly clear condition. Like magic, the simple filter had worked.

“We put gravel and sand in this pop bottle and it takes dirty water and it makes it fairly clean,” Parrott said.

“You wouldn’t drink it because it’s only going through six inches of stuff here. But out in the environment it goes through, you know, hundreds of feet.”

The filtering presentation was just one of some 38 or so presentations that were all designed to teach children from 23 Kitsap schools about the dynamics of water and demonstrate how pollutants could reach groundwater, streams and Puget Sound.

“It’s about teaching students about water and giving them some real life experiences and some hands-on experiences to help them understand the importance of water and how we use water,” said Pat Kirschbaum, outreach and education coordinator, stormwater division, for the Kitsap County Department of Public Works.

The festival aimed to instill in youth an awareness of the water, and a sense of stewardship. The kids learned about where water comes from, the hydrologic cycle, how to use limited water resources wisely, about fish and wildlife habitats, pollution prevention and more.

The presentations had varied titles: “Rainfall to Tap,” “Salmon Journey,” “Understanding Erosion and Other Stream Processes,” “Fish Printing: Gyotaku,” and more.

At the fish printing area, children used paint brushes to slather red, yellow and green paint onto dead tilapia and rockfish. The children then lightly pressed a white sheet of paper atop the painted fish, leaving an artistic impression.

The process is a Japanese form of art called Gyotaku, or “fish rubbing.” The finished artwork was hung on the walls for display and to dry.

At another presentation, titled “Where Does Your Water Come From,” scientist Melanie Keenan with Bainbridge Island Water Resource group told the children about aquifers and aquitards and said Kitsap County got 85 percent of its fresh water from groundwater. The other 15 percent comes from surface water.

Melanie Keenan with Bainbridge Island Water Resource Group points to a drawing to show children how rain makes its way into area aquifers and into water wells.

“We are really dependent on groundwater,” Keenan told the children.

Keenan said that in the future the children would be responsible for making sure the freshwater supply was protected from contaminants and from saltwater intrusion. Saltwater intrusion can occur if too much water is removed from an aquifer, causing saltwater from Puget Sound to take its place. Learn more about the festival at http://www.kitsapgov.com/sswm/waterfestival_teach.htm.

Audrey Lamb and Jennifer Whipple, right, employees with Taylor Shellfish Farms, show children a display of a live geoduck, muscles, and Olympia, Kumamoto, Shigoku, and pacific oysters at the Kitsap County Fairgrounds April 14.