The first Douglas County Water Festival, at the Kansas University Field Station north of Lawrence, was Friday. Students from six elementary schools learned about water pollution and preservation.

When fourth-graders think about water, images of water parks, swimming pools and Super Soakers may be what they think of first.

But 390 fourth-grade students gathered Friday for the inaugural Douglas County Water Festival to think about water in an entirely different way.

Students from six Douglas County schools traveled to the Kansas University Field Station north of Lawrence to learn more about water pollution and preservation.

“I just think it’s very important for kids to get out and do some hands-on activities,” said SanDe Fishburn, district manager of Douglas County Conservation District, who started the festival after receiving a grant from the Kansas Association for Conservation Environmental Education.

“They can learn about how water affects them and if they pollute what it could do to you.”

Mary Ann Saunders, of the Douglas County Farm Bureau, said the hands-on experience should have an impact.

“They’re having a good time, and if you’re having fun, you’re going to remember that incident,” Saunders said.

Fourth-graders weren’t the only students participating in the water festival. Laura Priest, Free State agriculture instructor and Future Farmers of America adviser, brought nine of her high school students to the festival to teach the fourth-graders about aquifers by making ice cream — which is an edible aquifer.

The students also played games to represent water cycles and water pollution.

“We learned how water moves, how CO2 molecules affect global warming and what an aquifer is,” said Ian Henricks, a fourth-grader from Prairie Park School.

Fishburn said one of the festival’s primary goals was simply to increase the students’ understanding of water and water preservation.

“The water we have today is the water we’re going to have 50 years from now,” Fishburn said. “So we want to make sure that we protect it.”