Students Teaching Students About Watersheds
/Starting in the fall of 2018, a team from Snohomish Conservation District (SCD) began a multi-month experiential learning program at Crystal Springs Elementary in Bothell.
Our Youth Education team taught the 4th and 5th grade students our Four Rain Drops curriculum, which covers watersheds, our impacts as humans on those watersheds, and how we can take actions to prevent pollution and improve water quality.
“Is it gonna rain in the rock garden?”
The biggest part of this project manifested in three rainwater catchment cisterns off the roof of the 5th grade portables. The water captured by the cisterns will be used to water the raised food beds on the school property during the drier summer months. The 5th grade teacher, Mr. Rhoades, was super excited about this. He spent a chunk of his 2018 summer vacation keeping those beds watered.
Beyond the cisterns, SCD also helped them design a sustainable landscape complete with native plants and transform a lawn in the middle of campus. It also included a pathway with rocks. Every student at the school placed a painted rock in the garden, as part of a connection to a school-wide look about the importance of diversity in the community. What a beautiful sight!
To wrap it up, the school also hosted a rain barrel sale and invited parents, staff, and other community members to visit and learn about the new projects, and buy rain barrels at a discounted price.
Want to have this experience at your school? Please reach out to our Youth Education staff.
