Systemic Sustainability: 1.1 Curriculum and Instruction
2015: A storm drain at the start of the project
Off Campus: Storm Water Management Project
Bearing witness to the fact that the on campus rain gardens solidified the environmental literacy concepts for their students, the SPMS teachers very much wanted to afford students in subsequent years the same kind of hands-on, real-world learning opportunities. Without a viable on-campus location for another garden, SPMS partnered with Arlington Echo to find sites within the surrounding community.
Given the vast number of streams and creeks throughout Severna Park, there was no shortage within the town of sites needing planting to address the issues of run-off. After comprehensive in-class instruction, students embarked via foot and bus throughout the area and their home communities were transformed into science labs.
Basically, their backyards and play areas were now seen through new eyes. Standing in places these students had been many times before, they could not help but appreciate their direct, day to day connection to the Chesapeake Bay Watershed. They could see that their daily way of life impacts the waterway. Armed with their understanding, enthusiasm, and proper tools, 500+ SPMS students got to work to rectify run off and storm water issues throughout their neighborhood: the Bay Watershed.
Bearing witness to the fact that the on campus rain gardens solidified the environmental literacy concepts for their students, the SPMS teachers very much wanted to afford students in subsequent years the same kind of hands-on, real-world learning opportunities. Without a viable on-campus location for another garden, SPMS partnered with Arlington Echo to find sites within the surrounding community.
Given the vast number of streams and creeks throughout Severna Park, there was no shortage within the town of sites needing planting to address the issues of run-off. After comprehensive in-class instruction, students embarked via foot and bus throughout the area and their home communities were transformed into science labs.
Basically, their backyards and play areas were now seen through new eyes. Standing in places these students had been many times before, they could not help but appreciate their direct, day to day connection to the Chesapeake Bay Watershed. They could see that their daily way of life impacts the waterway. Armed with their understanding, enthusiasm, and proper tools, 500+ SPMS students got to work to rectify run off and storm water issues throughout their neighborhood: the Bay Watershed.
Fall 2018: 6th graders traveled to several different sites around Severna Park to create tiered storm water management systems similar to their on-campus rain gardens.
