Boise’s new hands-on climate education center allows kids to see how they can help the planet

Since The WaterShed’s opening in 2008, its staff has provided educational resources for everyone in the Boise area — from elementary students just beginning their journey in climate and water education to lifelong learners.

After a serious makeover that began in 2023, The WaterShed now features 25 new interactive exhibits as well as a collection of public art.

When you first walk into the recently opened Climate + Water Education Center, you are greeted by sounds you might expect to hear alongside the Boise River: sounds of rushing water, rainfall and even thunder echo periodically throughout the building.

A watershed is an area of land that drains all its water to a central location. Most of the water in the Boise River watershed comes from snow runoff from the Sawtooth mountains.

Cindy Busche, education manager at The WaterShed, said the facility held several open houses and consistently asked for community input as it designed the new exhibits. Local school districts, Boise State faculty and members of the Shoshone-Bannock and Shoshone-Paiute tribes provided key perspectives Busche and her team took into account.

“We listened to the community, and we were able to implement almost all of their ideas in terms of showing the value of the Boise River and what it means to our community,” Busche said. “Showing the impacts of climate change, making climate change really tangible and seeing some of the changes that we notice in our own backyard.”

An exhibit Busche was particularly excited about, called Sustainable Boise, features three 10-foot-wide screens where users can play an arcade-style video game that allows them to swap objects that rely on fossil fuels to renewable energy.

The Snow Theater, a room covered wall to wall in snowy mountain scenes, encourages participants to dance to make snow “fall” on the projected screens.

Whitney Elementary School brought the first round of students to interact with the new exhibits, and their excitement was palpable.

“I’m thinking it’s cool,” 12-year-old Kristina Vasquez said. “There’s a lot of things to look at.”

Vasquez said the exhibit on how fires change ecosystems, which features a panel the user can slide to see the effects, directly reflects what she’s learning about in school.

Emily Avila, 11, said she enjoyed studying the exhibits and the chance to “learn something different.”

The Innovation Station allowed students to imagine their futures by using magnetic cutouts to build an environmental vision board. Some of the resulting boards featured instruments, mountains, fish, cars, cellphones and Earth.

An augmented reality sandbox piqued the interest of several students who learned how to shape a virtual watershed using the shimmering sand to explore the climate impacts.

AmeriCorps member Julia Sanderson works with the Boise School District on sustainability and outdoor education.

Sanderson asked a group of students to reflect on memories they’ve had connected to water, and admitted she got a bit teary-eyed at one student’s response.

Sergio Barajas, 11, reflected on a day he spent swimming in the river and recalled feeling completely immersed in nature.

“I was just sitting, closing my eyes, and just breathing, and I was hearing sounds like water rushing around. I felt like there was fish around me, and it felt like I was deep in the ocean,” Barajas said.

As you exit The WaterShed, students are invited to “make a pledge to reduce climate impact.” Students can make a selection from four categories: water, energy, transportation and a “more ideas” option. Each selection provides ideas for conservation efforts such as taking shorter showers or planting a tree. Once selected, the user can take a picture, submit their pledge and see it projected on the wall.

The balance of tactile elements and projected screens creates an immersive experience for students and adults alike. These new exhibits are designed to provide educational opportunities for generations of Idaho students and learners to come.

How to visit The WaterShed

The WaterShed, operated by the city of Boise, is open 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday-Friday (and occasional Saturdays) and closed on holidays. Admission is free to the exhibit hall and river campus. School groups often occupy the facility from 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. weekdays, so individual guests are encouraged to come at other times. The WaterShed is located at 11818 W. Joplin Road in Boise, near the Chinden-Cloverdale intersection. Use Entrance B (Ancell Avenue) into the West Boise Water Renewal Facility. More information is available at boisewatershed.org.