Rain Garden Outdoor Lesson
Friday, March 9, we had six Washington Conservation Corps (WCC) crew members visit all five of my Science classes to talk conservation, watersheds, pollution, our creek and to share a rain garden they planted on our campus. It was a great experience for my kids to see a group of highly motivated young people who are making a difference helping the environment. They shared stories of how they each got into the WCC and listening to how they each got involved and at what stage of their schooling made them a perfect group! Of the six of them one was from New York, one from Wyoming, and the rest were from Oregon and Washington (one a Chimacum Schools alum!). Four of them joined the WCC after graduating college with degrees in fisheries and biology while one joined WCC after a couple of years of college, planning to go back and get her degree, and the other joined WCC on his way to college! A great representation of life after high school! Like AmeriCorps they said they could work for a year or two years and they all were very excited and happy with their choice to join the WCC and get outdoors to help the environment.
They led my students through an in-class activity to learn about watersheds and how water flows through a forested area versus a clear cut or paved area (or grassy area too because grass doesn’t allow water to soak in and make it to aquifers!). They sprayed water on kids’ forearms, on the top, hairier part and the bottom smoother part, to illustrate the flow of water in a watershed. Then we took a short walk to the rain garden they built where they showed us how it works.
As a middle school Science teacher I appreciate opportunities like this to have people come into my classrooms (we can even Skype if need be). Being able to take kids outdoors for learning is also something I think is very important for students to do when learning Science. Even though it was a bit windy and cool enough that some kids were uncomfortable it was a great day to be outdoors because we weren’t rained on. This was a wonderful way to spend a Friday in Science class! Thanks WCC crew!
WCC Crew in Chimacum Middle School's Rain Garden
