SATURDAY ACADEMIES
Saturday Academies provided 30 middle school youth (per session) and 5-8 near-peer mentors opportunities to explore the problem of stormwater runoff with science, engineering, conservationism, altruism, technology, and advocacy. Each session, we explored stormwater runoff in different places—the campus wetlands, the construction on campus, youths’ school grounds, a local landfill, and in their communities. Climate change is prompting more flooding, dangerous storms, and problems with stormwater management in North Carolina. Six of the seven highest rainfall events since 1898 have happened with the last 20 years (https://coastalreview.org/2020/06/stormwater-issues-worsen-as-climate-warms/). Stormwater management is critical not only to mitigate flooding possibilities, but stormwater can also be loaded with non-point source pollutants, such as toxic pesticides, fecal bacteria, heavy metals, oils and gas from nonporous surfaces, and nitrogen-rich fertilizers. In such cases, wetlands and recreational waters can be compromised.
Though we adapted our curriculum to respond to youths’ learning and identity work each of the three times we offered the Saturday Academy, the description below provides a general overview of the 5-week curriculum. Note that our pedagogical framework (See “curriculum”) guided our curricular approach.
Guiding Questions for the 5-Weeks: What is stormwater runoff and how does it affect me, my school, and my community?
Week 1
Guiding Questions: What is a watershed? How does it get polluted? Where does stormwater go? How healthy is this water?
Activities included: Exploring STEM modes of engagement (see BRIDGES framework); Stormwater sleuthing on campus, wetlands exploration of biological and chemical indicators of water health, stormwater simulation and analysis of a cityscape, identi-bead activity
Week 2
Guiding Questions: What counts as a healthy, urban ecosystem? Why is flooding a longer-term problem? How is biodiversity affected by stormwater runoff? What are some tools we can use to tell compelling stormwater stories?
Activities included: Electives (engineering activity with best management practices; exploring data with UNCG scientist; online simulations; micro-aquaria; stream tables; ephemeral pool exploration); Introduction to storyboarding and storytelling with digital storytelling tools (Twinery, co-spaces, Thinglink, StoryCreator); identi-bead activity
Week 3
Guiding Questions: How does a local landfill/your school handle stormwater runoff? What are some engineering solutions to do so? If there are not any, can you begin to devise some solutions? What is groundwater contamination and possible causes and solutions?
Activities included: Field trip to local landfill (Year 3) and schoolyards (Year 2), with data collection about the surface water quality and an introduction to engineering solutions; groundwater contamination investigation
Week 4
Guiding Questions: What are stormwater problems and possible solutions at your school (Year 2)/in a place you care about (Year 3)? What are some tools/technologies that can help you get smarter about your problem topic and possible solutions? What are some tools/technologies that can help you communicate your problem/solution to an external audience?
Activities included: Studying maps of local streams from the City; summarizing lessons learned by creating “webs of experience” (photo sorts, mapping of experiences); storyboarding, continued explorations of technology
Week 5
Guiding Questions:
How can we present our problems/solutions to an external audience so that they care about this problem, too?
Activities included: Final preparations of youths’ projects that they then presented to parents and community stakeholders (principals, other university faculty, government employees)