School Yard Water Education

Project Manager: Lisa Shipek

Project Location: Tucson, Arizona 

Project Summary:

The School Yard Water Education Program was developed to teach water conservation to Tucson’s next generation. Through hands-on education, students will learn basic water conservation techniques as they help to improve their school grounds. Students will participate in activities that teach concepts of outdoor water conservation such as rainwater harvesting, through the capture of rainwater in sunken earth basins and rain barrels.  The water harvesting activities will also enhance school yards through the development of native and vegetable gardens.

The pilot project was launched in the spring of 2008 with two Tucson schools.  WMG selected Rivera Elementary School and Miles Exploratory Learning Center to pilot the School Yard program.  WMG chose the two schools for their diverse student bodies, high level of parent interaction, and enthusiasm for conservation work.  Rivera Elementary in southern Tucson has a majority of Hispanic students and Miles Exploratory Learning Center in central Tucson has the highest population of hearing impaired students.

Topics Covered with Students:

• Hydrological cycle and observing water flows – students will learn to determine how water flows across the landscape using a level devise know as a bunyip.
• Water conservation – by performing a water audit students will calculate the amount of water their families or school use on a daily basis.  A class discussion and brain storm will follow to engage the students and give them the opportunity to come up with conservation methods that will encourage the practice of conservation.
• Rainwater harvesting – students will learn basic water harvesting techniques including earthworks and the installation of a 50 gallon rain barrel to collect roof runoff.
• Harvesting grey water –educational materials which give an overview of grey water will be discussed including a how, what, and where it is typically used.
• Gardening in desert climates – students will compare the difference in water usage of native vs. non native plants and help to choose plants for their water harvesting garden at school.
• Native gardening – students will learn how to invite native wildlife such as birds, bugs, and butterflies onto their school campus and into their back yards by providing basic necessities like food, shelter, and water.  They will help to chose plants for a native habitat garden on their school campus.
  

The activities will be supplemented with a one day workshop where students and their parents will work and learn along side each other to implement water harvesting and native landscape feature on the school campus.

School Summaries:

Rivera Elementary School

Rivera Elementary School is a new school located in south Tucson and serves 540 students in grades K – 5. The majority of the population is low-income with many immigrants and Spanish speakers.

Rivera prides itself on being a walking school, directly serving the children living in the community.  Prior to the opening of Rivera, students were bused to 3 different schools outside their direct community.  Rivera now provides a local gathering place not only for the students, but also for the parents.  Rivera provides a daily support group for parents dealing with the challenges of learning the English language and adjusting to life in the US.

The teachers are enthusiast about bringing conservation and ecological awareness into their school culture and would like for their students to have hands on experiences that foster activism and social consciousness.

WMG is excited to work with this population, and we will be translating all of our materials into Spanish, making the information accessible to a greater number of students and their families.

Miles Exploratory Leaning Center

Miles Exploratory Learning Center is open to all children in TUSD from preschool through 8th grade.  They serve a diverse population of 325 students which includes the highest population of hearing imparted students in TUSD along with an autistic student program.  Miles takes pride in their school’s high parent involvement, shared decision – making, and a strong program for literacy and inquiry learning in all disciplines.

Miles is a total communication school where both sign language and English are used, with ASL required as a second language in the middle school curriculum.  The classes have the unique structure of multi-age classrooms (K – 2, 3 – 5, and 6 – 8) which provides the opportunity for students to pace themselves academically and develop socially in an environment that meets their individual needs.
Miles has a GREEN program in place which includes gardens, recycling, environmental education and nutrition. They are excited to include more advanced conservation and sustainability practices such as water harvesting, composting, and native landscaping into their existing program.