Opportunities
At every grade level, there are opportunities to integrate learning about stormwater into lesson plans. Based on the Massachusetts Science Technology and Engineering Curriculum Frameworks (MA STE 2016), it seems that there is an especially meaningful opportunity at the 5th grade level with the unit on "Connections and Relationships in Systems."
If there are green infrastructure stormwater facilities on your school grounds, you may have an especially important opportunity. These can serve as an outdoor laboratory to observe and learn. A list of schools in the Pioneer Valley with such facilities will be posted here soon.
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Useful lesson plans:
Stormwater Management Lesson Plans
Grades 3-12
Developed by the University of Maryland Department of Landscape Architecture, this booklet has a set of lesson plans for grades 3-12 school teachers that enable environmental and STEM learning opportunities to be taught on school grounds. These lesson plans are tied to Next Gen Science Standards and State of Maryland Environmental Literacy Standards and focus on green infrastructure stormwater management facilities as outdoor environmental laboratories. This curriculum might be informed here by information on the Pioneer Valley Soak up the Rain website.
"How can Stormwater be Cleaned Before it Enters the Brook?"
5th Grade
Developed by Westford Public Schools in 2017, this 5th grade engineering curriculum involves two 45-minute lessons, presented back-to-back in a 90-minute time frame. One lesson is run by the town engineers and water department, and the other is run by school personnel at Westford's Living Lab. It is designed so that two classes can be accommodated during the 90-minute time frame, with each starting at a different location and switching mid way. Curriculum Coordinator Elaine Santelmann reports that the presentations at the storm drain and rain garden from the town engineer.
To learn more about Westford Public School's Living Lab click here.
Watershed Curriculum
5th Grade
This 10-day lesson plan was developed in 2018 to meet specific MA STE 2016 standards by a team from the Worcester Polytechnic Institute's Massachusetts Water Resource Outreach Center in Worcester. WPI developed this curriculum in consultation with 5th grade science teachers in Shrewsbury and Holden, Massachusetts.