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University of Wisconsin
Conjunction Function
As part of a unit, this lesson familiarizes youngsters with components of a rain garden. They speculate about the role of an assigned component in contributing to a rain garden, and ultimately, in the health of the local watershed. Each...
University of Wisconsin
Identifying Your Soil for Rain Gardens
Teach your class the descriptive characteristics of soil. Provide information about particle size and a flow chart for assessing texture. Soil scientists then analyze samples and hypothesize which would be the best type for a rain...
University of Wisconsin
Bimodel Botany Bouquet
Gardeners are given an individual plant specimen from a bouquet of local rain garden plants. They group up by their plant type and then make observations together, name the plant, and introduce it to the rest of the class. You then share...
University of Wisconsin
What’s a Square Foot Anyway? Laying Out the Design Plan
Clever! Participants don square-foot cardboard shoes to mark out the rain garden plot that they have spent the last few weeks designing. In this way, they are practicing scale modeling as well! Note that this lesson is part of a unit,...
University of Wisconsin
Getting the Word Out
An appropriate way to celebrate and conclude the construction of a rain garden is to share it with the community. Small groups collaborate to design an outreach product such as a PowerPoint presentation, brochure, or poster, to draw...
University of Wisconsin
Follow the Drop
Young surveyors look for patterns in water flow around campus. Using a map of the school (that you will need to create), they mark the direction of the path of water. They also perform calculations for the volume that becomes runoff. The...
University of Wisconsin
Infiltration Test: Exploring the Flow of Water Through Soils
Soil scientists gain experience with an infiltrometer can to determine the infiltration rates at different locations on campus. If you are using the entire unit, the class has already analyzed water flow and soil types, so they should...
University of Wisconsin
Sizing a Rain Garden
Most appropriate if you are applying the entire unit to build a rain garden at your school, this installment involves calculating the area that will drain into it. Your garden planners will need data from previous lessons, so this one...
PBS
Season Seeking
It's a time of change. A hands-on activity engages young scientists in a lesson highlighting the change of seasons. They brainstorm indicators of season changes in nature and then look for them. Next, they record observations in a field...
University of Wisconsin
Planting a School Rain Garden
Finally, the day has arrived for introducing plants into the rain garden. If you have been following the entire unit, this will serve as a helpful guide for planting day. If you have not been using the previous lessons in this unit with...
University of Wisconsin
Rain Garden Maintenance
Maintaining a garden is an ongoing responsibility. This resource follows a series of activities in a unit that resulted in the planting of a rain garden. What you will find here are general instructions for watering, weeding, pruning,...