Big Ideas
Having a “green” schoolyard that includes Green Stormwater Infrastructure is a boon for all.
The pervious surfaces will not only capture stormwater leading to the improved health of our local waterways.
Students, teachers, staff and community members can all enjoy a cooler, greener environment in which to relax. Animals and birds can find a new home. What a great way for everyone to win!
Summary
Now students have all the tools they need to reimagine a schoolyard that manages rainwater and gives them an outdoor space in which to learn and play
Engage
Have students revisit the map of the schoolyard they used in 5.3. If you did not have one, now is a good time to find one that shows the school property up to and including the adjacent streets.
Go outside and examine the school yard. Measure actual schoolyard dimensions in feet and calculate the volume of a one-inch rainstorm using steps below.
- Does the school yard appear to have more or less impervious surface than Bregy?
- Predict whether run-off flow will be lower, higher, and/or comparable to Bregy example.
- Use contour lines on the schoolyard map to help determine elevation.
- Using a ball to determine elevation changes could also be helpful.
- Make observations to help distinguish general slope or elevation. In other words, which direction will the rainwater travel.
- Have students take notes and/or sketches/photographs.
Use their Watershed Journal and/or Foldables to record observations, discoveries, reflections, etc.
Explore and Explain
Guiding Question:
What will it take to plan a green school yard?
Review for students how you calculate volume of rain using the same worksheet from the Bregy activity but using their own schoolyard property measurements to determine how many gallons of water hit this area during a one-inch rainstorm.
Discuss as you did with Bregy what green infrastructure tools might be used in your schoolyard to minimize/capture runoff.
Make a 3D model of the schoolyard with BMPs installed.
Elaborate
How does water flow?
Students can calculate the flow rate of the stormwater in the Bregy Example, or in their own school yard.
Calculate site area for square footage of pavement, grass, and forest.
Use the “Rational Method” and the coefficients from the Fody Powerpoint Presentation to calculate Run-Off Flow (Slides 14-15). (See Attachment 5.2-C)
Compare Run-Off Flow to Common Flow Rates (Slide 20) (See Attachment 5.2-D)
Throw budgetary constraints into the school yard model planning project. Estimate costs.
Invite a PWD engineer to discuss calculations with class.
Figure out a method to calculate the size of the pipes that would be necessary for carrying away the stormwater.
THE BIG PROJECT!
Design a green schoolyard (or adjacent area) plan or a plan for an aspect of one component (i.e., a raised bed, a butterfly garden, etc.) IOT contribute to the Green City Clean Water Plan that address authentic problems in their school community.
Present their findings to others.
Write a proposal with a cover letter (to funders/admin) for your plan and include a budget (optional) or approximate cost calculation.
Teacher Support
Essential Question:
How can we create a healthy, beautiful, and sustainable Philadelphia for everyone?
Guiding Questions:
What will it take to plan a green school yard?
What do you want for your school?
Students will be able to:
Design a green schoolyard (or adjacent area) plan of the whole greenspace or an aspect of one component (e.g. a raised bed, a pollinator garden) in order to contribute to the Green City Clean Water Plan that address authentic problems in their school community.
Engage
Tennis ball
Schoolyard map from 5.3 (or google map with topographic lines)
Field Notebooks or Journals for sketching or note-taking
Explore & Explain
School property map/aerial view
Elaborate
Cardboard
Shoeboxes
Pipe cleaners
Tissue paper/construction paper
Glue
Paint
Recycled materials
There is no vocabulary list for this Learning Experience
Make a 3D model of the schoolyard with BMPs installed.
Design a green schoolyard (or adjacent area) plan or an aspect of one component of a green schoolyard (i.e., a raised bed, a butterfly garden, etc.) in order to contribute to the Green City Clean Water Plan that address authentic problems in their school community.
Write a proposal with a cover letter (to funders/admin) for your plan and include a budget (optional) or approximate cost calculation. This plan should address the following questions:
- What do you want to do for your school?
- Why do you want it?
- What’s the plan to implement it?
- What do you need to make funding happen?
PA STEELS Standards
Environmental Literacy and Sustainability
3.4.6-8.H Sustainability and Stewardship: Design a solution to an environmental issue in which individuals and societies can engage as stewards of the environment.
Related Standards
NGSS MS-ESS2-4 Earth’s Systems – Develop a model to describe the cycling of water through Earth’s systems driven by energy from the sun and the force of gravity.
EfS I.34 Strong Sense of Place – Research, design, implement, and assess a project of the student’s own choosing that adds or
creates value.
EfS I.37 Strong Sense of Place – Communicate effectively about the project to an authentic audience outside of their school.
EfS I.38 Strong Sense of Place – Teach about the project as a case study to students in a different grade level