Smarter Sprinkler Systems

2017, Milliken, Colorado, USA

While researching ideas for the Caring for Our Watersheds project, Tyler, Patrick and Cameron discovered a gigantic waste of water at their high school. The district was watering the recreational fields around the school. They studied and analyzed the watering period, amount, location, dates, etc., and concluded the watering style was inefficient and wasteful. To solve this issue, they proposed the implementation of WR2 rain gauge sensors. These sensors would stop the watering of the fields when rain or soil saturation is abundant and additional water would be wasteful. These sensors would not only save water, but also save money for the school, making it appealing to both environmental focused administratio Colorado student project smarter sprinkler n and budget focused as well. The students worked with the school district and installed three WR2 rain gauge sensors which have reduced water usage by 30-50%. They will be monitoring the water usage during 2017-2018 and reporting back to the school administration.

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.

Tree Planting at Pony Express Elementary School

2015 Sacramento, California, USA

The MET Sacramento students Allison Goi, Mianna Muscat, and Justin Yu wanted to improve their watershed, while also providing a needed service to an elementary school is their area. As they reached out to local elementary schools, they found that Pony Express Elementary had formal plans to create a Nature Area, which would both provide habitat for birds, insects, and small mammals, as well as serve as an outdoor learning space for the students. To support and start the first phase of the project, Allison, Mianna, and Justin planted four different native species of trees in the designated area on campus. Caring for Our Watersheds project funds allowed them to purchase the trees and tools necessary for the work. As they planted while school was in session, they were able to interact with and answer questions from the elementary students and staff about the tree species and the benefit they will provide the campus and watershed. The were happy to be able to enhance their community in this way and kick-off a great project at a nearby school.

Lichens

2015, San Andres de Giles, Buenos Aires, Argentina

The focus of this project is to analyze the population of lichens found in trees within different areas of San Antonio de Giles town. The study of these lichens is important because they can be indicators of the quality of the air we are breathing. In order to define a parameter, the students plan to analyze the presence, or absence, of lichens in different parts of town. They also proposed an investigation on the density of the population of lichens and the analysis of the different types of lichens found. This analysis takes into account their color, appearance and the lichen’s grouping/type (foliose, fruticose, crustose). By analyzing the lichens the students are able to check and/or refute their hypothesis about the feasibility of solely using this method to monitor the quality of the air we breathe.

Kickstart Change

2013 Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada Student Class photo student action prject kickstart change

Alana Krug-McLeod from Aden Bowman Collegiate in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, proposed the idea of using Kicksleds to help protect the Saskatchewan River Basin by encouraging a change in attitudes towards transportation. “Kickstart Change” aims to popularize a healthy, sustainable, versatile, alternative transportation mode (kicksledding) while promoting winter activities and building useful skills amongst youth. Kicksleds take their inspiration from various places: dogsleds have traditionally been used in northern regions of the world, and even penguins from the south that waddle and then glide on their bellies.

The three phase plan involved building kicksleds, organizing a winter festival, and establishing sustainable transportation infrastructure. The first phase of this project ran from September to December 2013 and involved introducing the concept of the Kicksleds to the Aden Bowman Collegiate industrial arts class who then became involved with the design and building of the kicksleds. These students gathered outdated and damaged skis, reusable wood and metal to use in constructing the kicksleds. The Aden Bowman Collegiate Eco Club awarded donated prizes for the most innovative, efficient, compact, and eco-friendly kicksleds designed and produced by the students.

Alana then approached the ScienceTrek class at Montgomery School as a partner on this project. The ScienceTrek Program is an accelerated science program that combines outdoor activities with intellectual and social awareness-building. ScienceTrek partners include Alana Krug-MacLeod from Aden Bowman Collegiate Institute, who initiated the project, and WeShare, who helped fund the project. After attending the EF Global Student Leaders Summit: Environmental Conference in Costa Kickstart Change Students pushing sled Rica in April 2013, Alana received an EF Student Leaders Summit Prize, which included a grant from WeShare. This grant from WeShare was used to fund the project. Many other unofficial partners (parents, community members, teachers and administrators) worked behind the scenes and alongside the students to make this project a success.

The attached pictures showcase the various styles of kicksleds that were built by the ScienceTrek and Aden Bowman Collegiate industrial arts students as well as pictures of the students using the kicksled outside for recreational purposes. Montgomery School, with Alana’s help, put on a winter festival where the kicksleds were unveiled. Interestingly enough, some of the students that participated in Alana’s project have now entered the 2014 CFW competition and have placed in the top ten finalist groups for this year’s competition.

Bag it! Trash it!

2013 Brighton, Ontario, Canada

Tyler Brown, a grade 9 student from East Northumberland Secondary School won first place for his idea called Bag it! Trash it! Tyler identified that dog waste that is left on the ground by pet owners throughout the watershed is a problem with an easy solution. He identified various environmental concerns such as contamination of local water systems as well as health concerns from diseased dog feces

Tyler proposed installing dog waste dispensers with biodegradable bags in convenient public locations throughout the watershed to encourage dog owners to pick up dog waste and dispose of it in an environmentally friendly manner.

The uptake of Tyler’s solution has been tremendous throughout the Lower Trent Region Watershed with a total of 18 dog waste dispensers to be installed as a result of Tyler’s idea. From May 2013 to August 2013, 14 dog waste dispensers were installed in high canine areas in the towns of Colborne, Brighton (including two Conservation Areas; Proctor Park and Goodrich-Loomis) and Frankford. In the fall of 2013 another eight dog waste dispensers were installed in Presqu’ile Provincial Park.

Tyler’s Caring for Our Watershed idea has had a positive impact for the health of the Lower Trent Watershed and the local communities.

Locating Cesspools to Improve the Quality of Water

2013, San Antonio de Areco, Buenos Aires, Argentina

This project proposes a solution to a common problem in the urban areas surrounding the watershed. The problem in these areas is that a high percentage of new homes are built without access to sewage systems or central running water. Instead, every new house makes its own cesspool and well to get water.

Lack of knowledge about the location of individual cesspool has lead to many water intakes being located too close to the cesspools. A minimum distance between the cesspools of the neighbouring houses is recommended, meaning this is currently a health hazard to many in this area.

The project proposes a simple solution: make a public database of the location of the cesspools with the help of the community and the town hall. The project will use GPS to make the data public, and easily accessible. It will be launched using a geospatial database built by one of the winning projects of CFW 2012. (See Database of the Good Things, 2012).

Database of the Good Things

2012 San Antonio de Areco, Buenos Aires, Argentina

This project aims to raise awareness of actions that are beneficial to our watersheds and the environment. The project proposed the creation a geographic information system (GIS) which is viewable on the web, and illustrates beneficial actions that have been done in the Areco River. The display will be organized and linked to manuals with explanations. The proposal divides the actions into the following segments: agriculture, stockbreeding, industrial, schools/institutions and communities. Specialists of each segment will choose and add information to the database on environmentally friendly actions that benefit the San Antonio watersheds.

This will be one of the first databases with information of our watershed!