Flood Prevention

2024, Arlington, VA, USA

5^th grade students at Oakridge decided to address a flooding problem they had in the front of their school. They recognized that there was a drain that was supposed to be helping with run off, but it was perpetually clogged with mud and other debris. This excess water killed off plants and dirt became saturated.

To combat this issue, students created a rain garden. They chose plants with help from the local parks association that would do well with excess water and took the amount of sunlight into account. Besides the drain then becoming clearer, students also noticed that people were stopping to look at and enjoy the garden.

Students loved the satisfaction that came from creating something beautiful for the school that served as a reminder to protect our watersheds.

SDG: 4: Quality Education, 6: Clean Water and Sanitation, 15: Life on Land

Targets: 15.5

Young People Leading American Eel Species Repopulation

2023, Lewistown, PA, USA

Wildlife and Fisheries Science students at Mifflin County High School took action to help restore the native American Eel population in Kish Creek.

They partnered with Susquehanna River Basin Commission, Cerry Township, Mifflin County Conservation District, PA Fish and Boat Commission, and the PA Game Commission to create a sustainable action plan.

Upon learning about the eels and their impact in the waterway, students raised eel in the classroom, released them into the local creek, and planted native seedlings along the creek. This project occurred throughout the duration of the school year and resulted in an immediate increase in the local eel population.

The students plan to continue monitoring the eel in their local watershed, conduct water testing, and involve future classes in macroinvertebrate monitoring. The knowledge and resources that they have gained while monitoring this eel population, is inspiring them to educate friends and families and involve themselves in other projects that can improve their local watershed.

SDG: 4: Quality Education, 14: Life Below Water, 15: Life on Land

Targets: 14.1, 15.1

Water Conservation Open House

2022, SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA, USA
Girl holding 500 dollar cheque for environmental contest winner

Hana is a student in Grant High School’s GEO Academy, and a 2022 Caring for Our Watersheds finalist. With funding from Nutrien and the help of her fellow classmates at Grant, Hana organized and facilitated an Open House event on campus to demonstrate various techniques to conserve water in the landscape and home. Stations included information on drought tolerant plants, mulching, composting, drip irrigation, and water conservation devices such as soil moisture meters, faucet aerators, and low-flow showerheads. Free samples of water-wise plants and devices were available to community members.

Students standing at station for orange poppy Boy learning about conserving water outside at info station

Splish Splash Education Time!

Rocky Mountain High School, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA

Sayre Loy and Sophia Jess from Rocky Mountain High School found that water runoff can carry pollutants across watersheds. Through their research, they learned that improper use of pesticides and fertilizers, and improper disposal of waste and toxic chemicals can have major effects on a watershed and the organisms in them. To take action, Sayre and Sophia strategically installed a rain garden at Werner Elementary School on a sunny Saturday afternoon to help filter harmful pollutants in water runoff. To expand their efforts, Sayre and Sophia presented to elementary students on Earth Day to educate them on the benefits of having a rain garden and how they can take action to decrease pollution in their watershed. Sayre and Sophia helped contribute to Targets 4.7 and 6.3 of the Sustainable Development Goals.

Students installing rain garden, students presenting to elementary students, students posing beside garden

Mama Otter Saves The Day

Rocky Mountain High School, Fort Collins, Colorado

Person holding Mama Otter Saves the Day book up with page open

Wilson Caradoc and Joshua Lark from Rocky Mountain High School wanted to address the persistent issue of littering, especially its impact on watersheds and wildlife. They learned that plastic can be consumed by animals and in worst cases lead to their death, sometimes damaging large populations. This is called bioaccumulation, when an animal ingests something like mercury or plastic and cannot digest it. It then accumulates inside the animal’s tissue and predators that consume them. Wilson and Joshua addressed their concern by bringing awareness to this topic. They wrote and illustrated a children’s book about a mother otter whose watershed becomes heavily polluted by trash, and she cannot feed her babies. Their motivation was to inspire youth to take action for their environment as soon as possible—they do not have to wait until they are older to do great things. Nonetheless, they illustrated diverse children so that every child could see someone like themselves doing the right thing. Sometimes that’s all it takes to change the world. They read the book in person to six elementary schools: roughly adding up to 20 classes total. Wilson and Joshua donated three copies of their book to three different Poudre River Library locations, one copy to the Rocky Media Center, the Poudre Learning Center, and Nutrien. With their efforts, Wilson and Joshua contributed to Targets 4.7 and 6.3 of the Sustainable Development Goals.

Download PDF of Book

Two students presenting a book on screen to young children

Educate the People!

Greeley West High School, Greeley, Colorado, USA

Nihit Panth from Greeley West High School learned about the numerous ways humans influence their watersheds through his environmental course –both about the good and the bad. Most importantly, Nihit learned how he can live more sustainably to improve the health and quality of his watershed. He wanted to share some of the knowledge he acquired with his peers and with community members. To do this, he developed and printed twenty educational posters to inform and encourage individuals to take steps to improve their watersheds through everyday tasks and have been displayed at outdoor centers, in his school’s hallways, and classrooms from several different schools. These posters contain information on what a watershed is, the importance of a watershed, a detailed description about Nihit’s watershed, and ideas for living more sustainably to improve water quality. With his project, Nihit was able to contribute to Targets 4.7 and 6.3 of the Sustainable Development Goals.

Educational poster on wall, student posing in front of camera

Garden Education for 5th graders

2022, SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA, USA
Boys learning how to plant seeds

Jessica Espejo Arellano, Kathy Nguyen, Abigail Murillo Maldonado, and Cher´Nae Perry, students from Grant High School’s GEO Academy, invited 5th and 6th graders from Hagginwood Elementary to the Grant garden to learn about seeds, vegetable and pollinator plants, as well as the benefits of composting. The elementary students planted seeds, learned plant anatomy by cooking “5 plant part chow mein”, investigated critters in the compost and soil, and made plant ID bookmarks. The GEO student leaders planned and led the hands-on activities with the rotating groups. Additional students from GEO, Ghulam Murtaza Niazi, Rodrigo Gatto, Alejandro Gil-Reyes, Milton Molina helped make this day a fun, educational and successful event for all.

Students outside working on a picnic table with soil Two girls kneeling by garden doing a project Classroom full of students

Education for Younger Generations

2021, Northridge High School, Greeley, Colorado, USA

Juan Reveles Hernandez
Education is key for developing informed, active water citizens. That’s why Juan dedicated his time and energy to educate elementary students on their watershed. Juan developed a lesson to introduce students to watershed concepts. He partnered with a 3rd grade teacher at S. Christa McAuliffe and presented the lesson to the students remotely. Juan supplied students with materials that could be found around the home and constructed watershed models with those materials. The lesson was structured in such a way that students had the opportunity to complete the lesson in class or from home. This made it inclusive for students attending class remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic. To evaluate his lesson, he quizzed the students before and after they completed the lesson. He found that the students scored phenomenally high after completing his lesson. We have some future water scientists in our presence!
Education for Younger Generations

Bracelets for Bats

2021, Greeley Central High School, Greeley, Colorado, USA

Saria Mowrer
Saria found that the population of Little Brown Bats has decreased 90% in the past 20 years alone, and scientists predict that they may be extinct by the year 2030. This is due to habitat loss as well as a fungal disease known as White-Nose Syndrome (WNS) that has been wiping them out by the thousands. WNS wakes bats up during hibernation, and causes them to lose the fat that they had built up to survive the winter. It is caused by pollution in and near bats habitats, so the best way to combat it is to provide clean habitats for local bat colonies. Continue reading…

Pollinator Patch Project

2021, Sacramento, CA, USA

Grant High School students, Andrea Sanchez, Janeth Guerrero, and Santiago Garcia, proposed the “pollinator patch” project, a garden at school in which specific plant species would attract pollinators and also be utilized by students in the Horticulture class. Thus, the patch would serve as prime habitat, but also an educational space for students in the GEO Academy where students could learn to identify species, as well as techniques for planting, harvesting, and bouquet design. The students also created a website that describes the plants, the pollinator species that would visit them, and horticultural processes. Their fellow students that had returned to campus, Bryant Vang, Daniella Rodriguez, and Fernando Montez, helped to plant and water the garden.