Below is a story from the Ipswich River Watershed Association:
WILMINGTON, MA — During the first week of December, teachers at Wilmington Middle School hosted us in their science classrooms to pilot another module of our 7th grade Resilient Rivers program: Watershed Planners!
Students teamed up to pore over large maps of Wilmington and deliberate which development projects they would allow in their town. Of the five proposals — a factory, mixed-use housing, luxury housing, school improvements, and a town beach — each team was tasked with choosing three to allow. Then, they decided where to place each development on their map, and assigned “green space solutions” like permeable pavers and rainwater harvesting to their developments to offset environmental impacts. Each team presented their decisions to their peers at the end of class.
It was so inspiring to watch these students come up with creative solutions. Even with just five developments to choose from, the 300 7th graders at WMS all came up with unique decisions and rationales.
Students had the opportunity to provide feedback and suggestions after their program ended. Here are some of our favorite comments:
“I enjoyed getting to learn about watersheds and how planners work to protect them, and that we got to do this on a map of our very own town.”
“I enjoyed how it got us thinking about how developments could impact the water quality and the community. I also liked to hear what other people were thinking and how there were multiple perspectives.”
“It was fun to have the responsibility and ability to help the environment through our own decisions.”
“I really enjoyed being able to put things on the actual map of Wilmington, and being able to see the real life scenarios of what a planner might do in our town.”
When asked what they would improve, some students wished they could do the activity for longer. Others wished they could go on a field trip to the river. Another top suggestion was to add more development proposals and green space solutions cards to give students even more options.
A huge thanks to teacher Theresa Fisher, who participated in our working group to design the Resilient Rivers program, and her colleagues Michelle McCreedy and Christine Venezia for graciously hosting us in their classrooms. We love working with Wilmington Middle School!
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