The latest issue of DEP's Teaching Green newsletter includes more success stories of local environmental ed projects supported by DEP's Environmental Education Grant Program.
The newsletter is also chock full of lots of other useful information for environmental educators-- formal and informal.
Columbia County DIY Stormwater Workshop
Columbia County Conservation District staff put their ingenuity to work by shifting their “DIY Stormwater” workshop to an online webinar on April 18. Timed near Earth Day 50, the webinar attracted 55 participants!
Participants learned why it’s important to reduce stormwater runoff pollution, how to calculate their property’s runoff, and how to assemble a rain barrel. They’ll receive a rain barrel kit when COVID-19 restrictions are lifted.
Because participants expressed enthusiasm for future webinars, the conservation district hosted a No Mow, Let It Grow lunch-and-learn webinar on May 1 that engaged 37 participants.
The webinar featured information on flash flooding and options to the traditional lawn. Based on feedback, a native plants webinar is slated for May 8.
To advertise the webinars, the conservation district created a Facebook event with a registration link.
Click Here for more environmental education resources from the Columbia County Conservation District.
Mercer County Everyone Lives Downstream
Staff at Mercer County Conservation District and Buhl Farm Park provided watershed education programs to 13 public and private schools in the 2019-2020 academic year. Students learned the importance of improving water quality by also caring for the land, and explored this using a 3D Enviroscape.
Ten schools enthusiastically opted to participate in a follow-up activity this spring, a rain barrel competition called “All Drops Matter” organized by Mercer County Middle School.
Students prepared themed rain barrels and written plans for installing and maintaining the barrels on school grounds. Project leaders are in the process of developing an online voting platform, and the rain barrels will be displayed at the conservation district’s annual Pioneers in Conservation meeting.
Dauphin County managing Stormwater On Your Property
Dauphin County Conservation District staff taught more than 60 people how to reduce stormwater runoff at their homes in two workshops held last fall.
Participants learned best practices such as planting rain gardens, planting trees and shrubs on stream banks, using rain barrels, improving downspout connections, installing porous pavement instead of asphalt or concrete, keeping yard waste out of storm sewers and streams, and more.
At the end of the workshops, over 50 people committed to adopting at least some of these stormwater management practices at home.
Conservation district staff plan to follow up to learn whether they were successful in using these practices and, if not, what challenges prevented them.
Other Resources
The Teaching Green newsletter also had information on these topics--
-- Teach Environmental Education At Home
-- State Education Standards Aligned System: Environmental Content And Communities
-- Climate Change In PA - Impacts Of Climate Change
-- Helping Communities Develop Local Climate Action Plans
-- Understanding Air Quality: Learning More Than Meets The Eye
-- Harrisburg Peregrine Falcons Arrive - No Live Falcon Banding This Year
-- Meaningful Watershed Education
For more environmental ed resources, visit DEP’s Environmental Education webpage. Questions should be directed to Bert Myers, DEP Environmental Education and Information Center, call 717-772-1828 or send email to: gimyers@pa.gov.
At-Home Environmental Ed
Send Your At-Home Environmental Ed Ideas To: PaEnviroDigest@gmail.com
Related Articles:
[Posted: May 11, 2020] PA Environment Digest
No comments :
Post a Comment