Thomas C. Spellmire Water conservation Trailer

Trailer History

Warren County SWCD has an incredible story of one man's vision for conservation education becoming a reality after his passing. The story is one of a second-generation farmer and long time board member, Thomas C. Spellmire. Tom was a driving force behind water quality education programs for young people; he envisioned an exhibit on wheels that would serve as an outreach to our local schools. After Tom's passing into 2013, the district partnered with the renowned Cincinnati Museum Center design team to build a mobile water conservation education exhibit.
“Water is the key to life and a resource that we must protect to ensure the vitality of so many species, including our own,” says Elizabeth Pierce, interim CEO at Cincinnati Museum Center.
​“We are proud of the incredible work our exhibits team did in putting this mobile education center together and are happy to support the Warren County Soil and Water Conservation District in their mission to educate people about the importance of water.”
The Water Education Trailer features a mobile augmented reality sandbox that allows users to create landforms in a "sandbox meets technology" environment. The trailer also includes a touchscreen stream ecosystem with healthy and polluted scenarios. There are placards explaining groundwater and hydrology along with macroinvertebrates as they relate to water quality. Another animated display dives into river and watershed facts on a local level.

Target Curriculum

Water is essential to life. Warren County Soil and Water Conservation District aims to educate people, including students and adults, about how critical water is to our lives and the world around us. Interactive zones within the trailer address three essential principles of water: Water shapes our land, Water is life, and Water needs to be protected.

Facets of the Water Education Trailer exhibits foster learning standards at many levels, including the following:
  • Elementary (4th Grade): Topics include landforms and water quality - abiotic and biotic factors, point source and non-point source pollution. Earth's surface has specific characteristics and landforms that can be identified. About 70 percent of the Earth's surface is covered with water and most of that is the ocean. Earth is known as the "Blue Planet" because about 70% of Earth's surface is covered in water. Changes in an organism's environment are sometimes beneficial to its survival and sometimes harmful. When the environment changes, some plants and animals survive and reproduce and others die or move to new locations.
  • 7th Grade: Earth's Hydrologic Cycle (The movement of water in the cycle also can move contamination through each of the spheres: lithosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere and atmosphere); Ground water and surface water quality are important components of the hydrologic cycle; Ecosystems; As matter is cycled within the environment, it promotes sustainability; Aquatic Biome (number, growth and survival of organisms and populations depend on biotic and abiotic factors); point source and non-point source contamination
  • 8th Grade: Landforms; Physical features of Earth and how they formed; Constructive and destructive geologic processes; Dynamic changes of Earth's surface; Continuation of the species; Diversity of species; point source and non-point source contamination; Throughout Earth’s history, extinction of a species has occurred when the environment changes and the individual organisms of that species do not have the traits necessary to survive and reproduce in the changed environment. Reproduction is necessary for the continuation of every species. ​
  • High School: Global environmental issues; Geologic processes; Earth formations; Landforms; Earth's hydrologic cycle; Continuation of the species Diversity of species Earth's Resources; Water and water pollution; potable water, water quality, Hypoxia, eutrophication, desertification, mass wasting and erosion, sediment contamination, point source and non-point source contamination

Trailer Features

  • Stream Ecosystem Interactive Touch Screen: This exercise takes students through polluted stream scenarios in a rural, suburban and urban setting. The exercise continues by detailing pollutants and demonstrating results when contaminates are removed. A healthy stream ecosystem is the result.
  • Signs of Trouble: Water quality is commonly determined by sampling a stream for macroinvertebrates. This placard explains the difference between pollutant tolerant and non-tolerant macroinvertebrates and what it means when each type are found in a water quality sampling.
  • From Stream to Spigot, It's All Connected: This display is a button controlled animated screen diving into water at the watershed level. The animations take students from the watershed level all the way into the homes of community members.
  • The Water Beneath Us: This placard contains information about groundwater and the science of wells.
  • Exploring Watershed Geography: A "living sandbox"! Students can form the sand into common landforms, lakes and rivers; they examine topo lines, color coded elevations and water depicted onto their formations. Push a button to drain the water or hold a hand over landforms to see it rain; watch how the water interacts, drains and pools on and around the created landforms.
  • Portable Watershed Geography Unit: This portable "living sandbox" is exactly like the one on the trailer, but can be wheeled out of the trailer to be used outside or inside a classroom. Please note the dimensions of this unit to ensure it can pass through any doors or openings into the planned area.

logistics

.The Water Conservation Education Exhibit is a custom 24-foot trailer with an 8-foot ceiling. It features a rear door that folds down to create a ramped entrance that is wheel chair accessible and suitable for visitors who may need mobility assistance. The trailer needs a space that is approximately 40 feet and a clear area of 75 feet for maneuverability and parking. An area of 25ft by 75ft must be marked off with cones or other markers to designate the trailer location before the trailer is transported.

Electricity is needed for trailer operation. An electrical outlet is preferred.  The back-up generator cannot be used in rain or inclement weather.  The trailer itself may not be feasible to utilize in inclement weather or when Fahrenheit temperatures fall below freezing thus at the discretion of Warren SWCD.

Specific trailer dimensions:
  • Height- 12’ 2”
  • Length- 27’ 9”
  • Length with ramp - 36’ 4”
  • Width- 8’ 11”

Specific portable sand unit dimensions:
  • Height ~78.5"
  • Length ~48"
  • Width ~ 32.25"
  • Weight - undetermined (estimate 600 lbs.)
  • Fits most entry ways (the middle bar may need removed in narrow entry ways with double doors).
FAQ's - Frequently Asked Questions
faqs_water_conservation_trailer.pdf
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File Type: pdf
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scheduling

  • Scheduling is based on a first come, first serve basis in accordance to district approval and available WCSWCD Staff. The trailer must be staffed at all times during use at events.
  • Number of participants will be required upon registration.
  • Cost:  Free inside Warren County for classroom and approved public outreach events!  Trailer rental fees will be assessed outside of Warren County, Ohio. Rental fees include hauling, set-up, staffing, daily usage and a security deposit. Rental fees are required to be paid in advance.
Staff Contact: Marta Farrell,
Warren County ​SWCD Education Specialist
​marta.farrell@co.warren.oh.us or 513-695-2556.
Questions?  E-mail or call !
water_trailer_cincinnati_museum_center.pdf
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File Type: pdf
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Peek inside our water trailer!

Water trailer sponsors

We would like to perpetually thank our funders and sponsors!
​This exhibit would not be possible with out these generous donors.