EPA Creating Great Lakes Urban Water Stewards in Detroit

EPA1 EPA2A semester-long Water Education Initiative
focused on enhancing students’ connection to Detroit’s watersheds and
developing a sense of water stewardship among students in Detroit.
Open to 16 Middle School Teachers from eight Detroit middle schools per year (2017-18 and 2018-19).


How Teacher Participants Will Benefit:

 

1. Attend 5 water education Saturday workshops from Jan.-May 2018
which will connect to Grades 6-8 Michigan Science & Social Studies Standards.
2. Opportunity to earn 25 SCECHs.
3. Receive classroom resources, 3 activity guides, and funding to create school
rain garden and classroom watershed model.
4. Receive funding for classroom/field supplies, rain garden at school,
and travel stipend ($200/teacher/field trip) for 3 field trips.
5. FREE one-year membership to Michigan Alliance for Environmental &
Outdoor Education (MAEOE).
6. Professional enrichment of working closely with peers, expert educators,
and scientists.

Program Requirements of Teacher Participants:

Attend 5 six-hour workshops on Saturdays Jan-May 2018.
(Jan. 27, Feb. 10, March 17, April 14, May 5).
Bring your students on 3 field trips: tour Detroit water treatment plant,
conduct ecosystem monitoring; and participate in a stewardship project.
Create a rain garden at your school (supplies & training provided)

5 Teacher Workshops

Saturday, May 5, 8:30-3:30 pm, at Belle Isle Nature Center
Rain Gardens, Outdoor Learning & Natural Resources Career Role Models
Presenters: Joan Chadde, Michigan Technological University, and Drew Lahtin, Creating Sustainable Landscapes

Saturday, April 14, 8:30-3:30 pm, at Belle Isle Nature Center
Service Learning, Stewardship & Earth Force Curriculum
Presenters:  Joan Chadde and Dr. Hugh Gorman, Michigan Technological University, and Jennie Braatz, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service

Saturday, March 17, 10 am-5 pm, at Outdoor Adventure Center
Project Wild Aquatic/ WET & Field Trip Planning
Presenters: Natalie Elkins, MI Dept. of Natural Resources
Joan Chadde and Dr. Kathryn Perrine, Michigan Technological University, Jody DeMeyere, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service

Saturday, Feb 10, 8:30-3:30 pm, at Univ. of Michigan Dearborn Environmental Interpretive Center
MEECS Water Quality Unit & Detroit’s Green Infrastructure
Presenters: Joan Chadde and Dr. Daisuke, Michigan Technological University, Lara Treemore Spears, Wayne State University, and Dorothy McLeer, UMich Dearborn

Saturday, January 27, 8:30-3:30 pm, at Belle Isle Nature Center            Making Environmental Education Relevant for Diverse Audiences & Integrating Water into the Middle School Science & Social Studies Curriculum
Presenters: Joan Chadde and Dr. Audra Morse, Michigan Technological University and Dr. Robert Simmons III, President of Service Year Alliance 

Stewardship Projects

May 4-17 (10 am-2 pm)
Rouge Park-Scout Hollow invasive species removal, litter clean up; ethnobotany interpretation
Cadillac & Marathon Vegetable & Rain Gardens in Mexicantown;
Belle Isle Adopt-a-Beach shoreline cleanup,
Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge nature interpretation

                                                                               Ecosystem Monitoring   April 24-May 7 (10am – 2 pm)
Stream/Lake Monitoring at Belle Isle Nature Center
Riparian Area Assessment at Rouge Park

Water Treatment or Wastewater Recovery Tour and Green Infrastructure Practices
April 10-26
Great Lakes Water Quality Authority
Wayne State University Healthy Urban Waters, Greenhouse, Green Alley & other locations


Project Partners
Michigan Technological University
Wayne State University Healthy Urban Waters
Detroit Zoological Society & Belle Isle Nature Center
Detroit Audubon, Southwest Environmental Vision
Detroit Public Schools Community
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Detroit International Wildlife Refuge
U.S. Forest Service Urban Connections

This project is made possible with an Environmental Education grant (EPA-EE-16-01) awarded by the USEPA through a competitive selection process.