Author Archives: Chloe Sprecker

HAWK NESTING PLATFORMS

2017, MILK RIVER, AB, CANADA

In 2017, Robin Stelten and Brooke Johnston of Erle Rivers High School in Milk River, Alberta implemented their 2015/2016 project “Hawk Nesting Platforms”. Robin and Brooke were concerned about the impact of rodenticides on local raptor populations and wanted to encourage local farmers to decrease the use of rodenticides, instead relying on raptors to control gopher and ground squirrel populations.

When rodenticides are used as a method of pest control, they can often be ingested by predators such as hawks, and be passed up the food chain, leading to bioaccumulation and often death. Second generation rodenticides are widely used in Canada and the USA and are particularly dangerous in the case of accidental ingestion by children, pets and wildlife.

In an effort to encourage raptors to nest in local rural communities, Brooke and Robin enlisted the help of Fortis Alberta to install hawk nesting platforms. In conjunction with education provided to the local community, Brooke and Robin were able to install six hawk nesting platforms just outside their community of Milk River, Alberta. Since the installation of these platforms, hawks have been seen hunting off two of the platforms. It is hoped that raptors will use these structures to nest during the 2017 nesting season.

As the area around Milk River encompasses the nesting and breeding habitat of ferruginous hawks (Buteo regalis), a species considered ‘At Risk’ in Alberta, the efforts of these students to increase the local population of this particular raptor species is especially commendable.

Jobs of the Future

2017 Villa Lia, San Antonio de Areco, Buenos Aires, Argentina

EES N°3 of Villa Lia: Students: Samuel, Magdalena, Agustín, Luz

The aim of this project is to establish a serious reflection in the educational community, regarding the early choice of professions that value and contain environmental caring. The project proposes “Villa Lia” as the field of study and its development for the next 20 years, and it emphasizes on the study of sustainable environmental policies and on including youth as necessary actors and participants.

For these, they required more information about actual professional careers related with the environment. The students did not have access to new careers and technologies, so they visited the “Foundation Telefónica” that was presenting the use of 3D printer applied on design, medicine, fashion. The students also visited the Musem CCK that shows art and culture.

My Friend the Hummingbird

2017 Tres Sargentons, San Antonio de Areco, Buenos Aires, Argentina

EES N°3 Tres Sargentos: Students: Franco Antonio Guarna, Braian Nahuel Cuevas

implementation of my friend the hummingbird The aim of this project is to encourage the return of native birds, by reforesting the Tres Sargentos town with native trees and shrubs. The project focuses on the hummingbird as an emblematic species. The students built a place for the growth of plants that attract birds and create lots of seedlings that, in time, will become trees that attract hummingbirds.

AVS XXI

2017, San Andres de Giles, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Sagrada Familia Highschool of San Andrés de Giles: Valeria Manion, Milagros Maciel, Manuela Roldán, Jana Gold

This project proposes thinking and designing a classroom model with the characteristics that 21^st century education spaces should have. The project takes place in a real context in which the school must move from its current facility and has the opportunity to project the new education facility from scratch. The design of this classroom, taken as part of the whole school project, is presented by the 6^th form students as a challenge to incorporate some aspects related to the new methods and learning areas. So,as a starting point, they supplied information of sustainable architecture as well as light, sound quality, energy, the dynamics of classroom shapes and related green areas , with posters around the school; all things that can be applied in the new building.

implementation of AVS XXI

Ecoclub

ecoclub implementation 2017, San Andres de Giles, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Los Robles of San Andrés de Giles: Students: Federico Trombetta, Juan Martín Orionello

This project brings back the idea of creating environmental clubs, presented last year by Sagrada Familia Highschool. The origin of this project derives from the action taken by the 6^th form students of the school that guided and supported research and development of all the projects presented this year in Caring for Our Watershed contest. To keep up with this initiative the proposal was to make it official by giving it a name: ECOCLUB Los Robles.

ecoclub implementation The aim is to create a place for investigation, debates, creative solutions for issues and problems regarding the Areco basin. They make t-shirts with natural dyes for club members and they also create a blog with more information: ecoclucCLR.blogspot.com.ar.

The Smart Spotlight

2017, San Antonio de Areco, Buenos Aires, Argentina

EE Technical N° 1 of Carmen de Areco: Students: Lautaro Romero, Nicolas Susseret, Agostina Guerrero

This project is about using intelligent lighting in the laboratory. The proposed technology is based on the use of an Arduino system such as Microcontrollers, LED lamps and light sensors and intensity regulators applied on the fishbowl. The aim of the system is to work with renewable energies to manage the duration of light and shadow in the fish tank.

Recovering Our Streams

recovering our streams action project 2017 Carmen de Areco, Buenos Aires, Argentina

EES N°2 “Mariano Moreno” of Carmen de Areco: Students: Fátima Gonzalez

This project proposes to intervene a 1000m area on the bank of “Los Ranchos” stream, the source of the Areco river basin. The objective is to design a conservation and restoration model of the ecosystem of this riverbank. The area of intervention has been modified by anthropic activity and the proposal tends to create conditions that propriate the growth and multiplication of fish species present in the area. The area will be taken as a model to present to the riverbank owners of the Areco river basin as an opportunity to contribute with the production of biodiversity.

recovering our streams action project This project attracted the attention of many institutions that want to collaborate: It’s a collaborative project that´s being done together with the University of San Antonio de Areco (UNSAdA), University of Lujan(UNlu) and it’s being used as a Thesis of a Student, Matias Etchart, from the University of Buenos Aires (UBA). This is going to be a long – term project with more work to come.

COMPOSTING WITH MUSTARD SEED SCHOOL

2017, Sacramento, California, USA

Composting Mustard Seed School

For her Caring for Our Watersheds project, Clarissa Huerta, of the MET Sacramento High School, wanted to work with students from the Mustard Seed School, a private school established to help meet the needs of homeless children. When Clarissa visited, she noticed they had a garden area, but did not yet have a compost system. Clarissa’s proposal included the addition of a compost bin to the facility, but also a lesson for the students to teach them the environmental benefits of composting and how to use the bin. Clarissa met with different age groups to share about composting, give students practice using and maintaining the bin, and to meet the wiggly worm friends inside that will help decompose the food scraps and provide free, nutrient rich soil to the school’s and shelter’s garden. Clarissa pointed out, that even at a homeless shelter, there is still substantial food waste. The compost bin would also help decrease the amount of food waste sent to the local landfill. Nutrien project funds helped Clarissa purchase the bin and provide supporting materials for the lesson.

AQUAPONICS SYSTEM AT G.W. CARVER HIGH SCHOOL

2017, Sacramento, California, USA

Aquaponics Carver High School

Henry McKay, a student at the G.W. Carver School of Arts and Sciences built and installed a small Aquaponics system on his school’s campus to demonstrate a sustainable, water-wise system to produce food. Aquaponics, which combines the raising of fish with the growing of plants in water, uses substantially less water than traditional growing, as water and nutrients are recycled. There is already a robust garden/ farm at Carver School of Arts and Sciences in which students plant, maintain, harvest, and learn about food system production and processes. The Aquaponics system, which was designed to run off of solar power, is a great addition to the campus and garden, demonstrating an additional technique, and expanding and extending this learning to future cohorts of students at the school. Caring for Our Watersheds project funds helped Henry purchase the materials he needed to build the system.

WATER SCIENCE EDUCATION

2017, Sacramento, California, USA

Mianna Muscat hosts water science education

Mianna Muscat, of the MET Sacramento, has been involved in several previous Caring for Our Watersheds projects, including tree plantings and park clean-ups. This year, her focus was on expanding watershed education for her classmates. She wanted to find a way to engage students outside the classroom, educate them on the processes that provide water for the state, and connect them with nature. Mianna proposed a trip to the Headwaters Science Institute, during which students learn about the snowpack driven water cycle, how albedo affects rates of snowmelt, and methods scientists use to track the snowpack which makes up much of California’s water. Mianna’s proposal and implementation funds from Nutrien helped all 30 students in class to attend the trip and get this hands-on field experience in the area of Water Science and Management