Saving a Community through Green Infrastructure!

Task Deliverables

•During this eLearning module, the learner will:

•identify key components of a watershed and explain its function and importance.

•locate and select the boundaries for the Hillsborough watershed.

•examine major sources of pollution in the watershed.

•manage stormwater runoff in a watershed through the implementation of a rain garden system.

•Design a green solution by following the engineering design cycle.

Trigger Event•Ever since the new two-lane

highway was built near Southeast High School one year ago, the students have noticed an increase in strange happenings:

•All students must now bring bottled water to school because the drinking water in the community is often found to be contaminated after intense storms. Some students have become ill after drinking the water at school.

•The biology class has been making observations at the pond near the school and have discovered an increase in the numbers of deaths for birds, turtles, fish, and other pond creatures.

Trigger Event (Continued)•The biggest telltale sign that

something is amiss is the explosive growth of blue-green algae that has taken place at the pond.

•The principal wants to meet with someone to find out why these things are happening and to develop a solution.

•The learner will be placed in the role of Stormwater Engineer.

•In this role, the learner will be responsible for making decisions regarding the design of a solution to manage stormwater runoff through green infrastructure (rain garden system).

Data Sources•A series of still images,

diagrams, and simple animations will be used to instruct students about the major components of a watershed: precipitation, catchment area, streams, groundwater aquifer, outlet

•Learner will use Watershed I.Q. Test to demonstrate knowledge of the key features.

•Another activity will use drop-down menus for learner to fill in explanations for each component.

•The budget for implementing the rain garden system in the rain garden will be earned by the learner completing tasks and answering questions correctly about watershed components, watershed boundaries, and sources of watershed pollution.

Data Sources (Continued)•Learner will access Google Earth images, maps, website links to help determine boundaries of Hillsborough watershed.•The learner will use the data to select correct boundary.•Learner will use a checklist to check off what he or she thinks are sources of watershed pollution.•Short video will be shown. Learner will then click on hotspots in an image to correctly identify sources of watershed pollution.

•Learner will use a combination of point-and-click, click-and-drag interactions to construct the stormwater runoff management solution through installing a system of rain gardens in the watershed.•The number of rain gardens that can be bought and installed will be determined by the amount of money earned through completion of the activities on watershed components, watershed boundaries, and sources of watershed pollution.

Guidance and Instruction• The Engineering Design Cycle

will be used as a framework in which to drive the learning and navigate the learner through the scenario-based module.

• Each step will come complete with its own instruction (described in Data Sources).

• Characters such as the Stormwater Supervisor will be available if the learner needs extra information or help.

• Animations, videos, and interactive tasks will be used to instruct.

Step 1 Define

Problem

Step 2Develop Model

Step 3Investigation

Step 4Analysis of

Data

Step 5Design

Solution

•Detailed instructive feedback will be used for some of the questions.

•Learners will be able to monitor where they are in the module through a progress bar (aka Engineering Design Cycle diagram which lets them know which step they are on).

•Intrinsic feedback will be provided at the end when the Rain Garden system is tested during the next storm event.

Will my Rain Garden

systemsolve the

stormwater runoff

problem?

Feedback and Reflection

•A Final Performance Report will be provided to the student indicating how their Stormwater Runoff Management solution performed during the storm. It will give a ranking and make additional information available regarding placement of rain gardens in the watershed for optimal results.

Feedback and Reflection (Continued)

Green Infrastructure Performance

REPORT

Native Plant Selection

Rain Garden Placement

Nutrient Levels