Ecospace

2017, San Antonio de Areco, Buenos Aires, Argentina

EESl N°1 Nacional of San Antonio de Areco: Students: Patricio Espinoza, Jeremias Nahuel Nievas

This project proposes to create a space, within the school premisses, in which students can come in contact with renewable energies and its relationship with environmental care and global warming.

ecospace implementation

They found a busy place where lots of students pass everyday that now its illuminated by photovoltaic solar energy system and have dynamic panels with information of interest on the proposed topic. The information have visual and digital format so that students can see and carry the information in their electronic devices.

In addition, they propose this place as a reservoir of information prepared by teachers and students from this highschool, that can be shared with other schools within the basin.

Notes of Nature

2016 San Antonio de Areco, Buenos Aires, Argentina

EES N°2 Escuela Pannunzio, San Antonio de Areco.

The project proposed the realization of an educational mural on the walls of the school that represents the harmony and beauty of nature accompanied by musical concepts.

implementation of notes of nature Four murals were painted along the wall, which form a musical circuit, intertwining nature, the seasons, and the different pictorial art styles.

Each visual narration represent the magnificence of a musical work in 4 meters in length, and the flora and fauna are represented inside.

This is now a place that reminds the students every day of caring for the whole World.

implementation of notes of nature

Musical Nature

2016, San Antonio de Areco, Buenos Aires, Argentina

EESTN°2 . Escuela Pannunzio, San Antonio de Areco.

The project proposes to compose a melody inspired by nature in a collaborative way with students from other places. The project was carried out with the help of a composer specialized in collaborative musical composition, called Hernán Alzieri.

IT TAKES CHILDREN TO MOTIVATE A VILLAGE

2016, CINCINNATI, OH, UNITED STATES
Motivate a village
Jaye Johnson and Madeleine Johnson of Wyoming High School proposed to create a picture book that tells a story based in caring for the local Mill Creek. In this story, a personified Mill Creek leads children through the habits they can incorporate into their daily life that will rejuvenate the habitats, services, and beauty the creek provides. It will be written and illustrated by Wyoming students to inspire a sense of self-esteem in the community while also creating a space for conversation and action in the school.

By catering to children with this book, they may be inspired to play outside or create changes as they grow up in their environment. This book will pioneer a love of learning about and maintenance of the Mill Creek Watershed. The passion and wonder of children fosters good habits and a genuine appreciation of the world, motivates the adults in their lives, and shapes their actions in their futures in adulthood.

Of Gardens and Guys

2016 Greeley, Colorado, USA

J.C. Arco decided it would be a good idea to plant rain gardens in some of the public schools in the area to reduce water pollution and to help educate kids in caring for our watershed (killing two birds with one garden). The project plan is a local project, but with hope that it will encourage people to share what they’ve learned with others in the future. The targeted group is kids between grades 5-8, as they are still young enough that they are open to new ideas, easily influenced, but old enough that they can understand the reason for the project.

Timeline and Budget
In order to implement the project, J.C. called teachers at various local schools and scheduled meetings with them to explain his proposal. He met with Dos Rios Elementary School and planted the garden. Rain gardens are relatively inexpensive compared to some other projects averaging at about $100 per garden, depending on the types of seed and soil that is used.

LIFE (Lacombe Irrigation Foods Experiment) & Beewise

2016, Lacombe, Alberta, Canada

Lacombe Composite High School has an active agriculture class and eco team, which have resulted in an amazing school greenhouse, aquaponics system and outdoor gardens.

One of the challenges that many schools face is having their gardens watered in the summer months when students are away.

The other challenge is watering the gardens efficiently to save water, while helping the plants grow.

Rachel Reitsma and Avy Lamb, students in the LEAFS initiatve, decided to conquor both Life & BeeWise native pollinator home outdoor gardens central alberta challenges by installing a drip irrigation system in their gardens. The irrigation tube (shown left) is dug into the soil to water the plant’s roots while minimizing the rate of evaporation. The system could also be set on a timer to water regullary, with options to delay watering if there is significant rainfall.

The other cool project implemented at the school this year is a Beewise- a home for native pollinators. Pollinators such as bees are facing a drastic decline in their population. This can harm the plants, including our food, which rely on pollinators.

This Beewise pollinator home provides much needed habitat, while ensuring the school’s gardens get the pollination they need.

Accommodating Biodiversity in Our Watershed

2016, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

2016 marked the third time Simran Panesar had entererd into the Caring for our accommodating biodiversity student planting central alberta Watersheds program, and the third time she was in the final competition.

Building on projects she had done in the past, in 2016 Simran wanted to incorporate tree planting and improving biodiversity at her new school, W.P. Wagner.

Her project was two parts, planting trees and putting up bird houses in the schools yard, which is part of the Mill Creek watershed.

To get help with the tree planting, Simran invited grade 6 students (who learn about trees and forests in their science curriculum) from her old school, A. Blair McPherson. The class was treated to a full day of activities including a pizza lunch, a leaf based art project, playing a biodiversity game, and finally, participating in planting trees.

The community organization Roots for Trees helped source the 45 trees, brought the equipment, and helped teach the students how to plant. The trees were a mix of native trees including Saskatoon, Lodgepole Pine, and Red Osier dogwood.
The bird houses have also been installed and are bringing more biodiversity to the school.

Alpha Charter Edible Campus and Keyhole Garden

2016, Elverta, California, USA

Students at Alpha Charter in Elverta were looking for a way to care for their watershed while also
beautifying their school’s campus and adding to the resources in the school’s new Farm to Fork/Garden Arts program. Their proposal included the planting of fruit and shade trees on campus, installing water efficient drip irrigation, and building planter beds, including a “keyhole” teaching garden, which employs interesting alternative techniques to improve soil nutrient level while using less water. Their project will not only benefit the environment, but also serve as an outdoor hands-on learning area for students in the school for years to come.

St. James Outdoor Classroom

2016, Calgary, Alberta, Canada

In 2016, Melanie McCready and Emme Larkins of St. James School in Calgary, AB placed second St. James Outdoor Classroom Student implementation project in the 2016 CFOW contest, with their project “St. James Outdoor Classroom”.

While working with the school Ecoclub, Melanie and Emme realized that there were very few places for students to connect with nature and for teachers to provide learning opportunities in an outdoor environment. In an effort to solve this issue and help the watershed at the same time, Melanie and Emme worked with the Ecoclub to design an outdoor learning space. This learning space includes native plants trees and shrubs. Not only do these plants increase biodiversity in our watershed, they are also essential to many pollinators such as bees, hummingbirds and birds.

St. James Outdoor Classroom Student implementation project There have been picnic tables, garbage cans and recycling bins installed in the natural learning area, with plans to expand and continue to develop the area with additional natural features in the future. Research has shown that teaching outdoors makes educators more confident and enthusiastic about their work, and more innovative in their teaching strategies. By extension, schools benefit from the leadership and influence of their teachers who take students outside. Studies indicate that students that are given the opportunity to learn in a natural setting often score higher on tests, experience less anxiety and have more confidence.

As the St. James Outdoor Classroom continues to evolve, students will share watershed information with their peers and educate them as to the benefits of learning in nature and natural spaces in an urban environment.

School Garden and Outdoor Classroom

2016, Carman, Manitoba, Canada

“Agriculture plays a large role in the Boyne River Watershed,” so Bailey felt it was important for School Garden and Outdoor Classroom Student Implementation Manitoba
“the students of Carman Collegiate to have a basic understanding and knowledge of how agricultural practices impact their water and watershed.” As Bailey wrote, “Farm run-off is a main concern to the water quality of the Boyne River Watershed. If more people are educated on the topic, more people will have the watershed in mind and will voice their concerns.”

Bailey proposed an outdoor learning environment at Carman Collegiate, consisting of an outdoor garden and classroom. Thanks to Nutrien, Bailey and her fellow students have created a place where students can learn “the basics of gardening, and farming and also concerns involving agriculture and the watershed.” This outdoor space ties in nicely to the school’s Agriculture class and is helping to create a new generation of “better informed future farmers.”