FOR EDUCATORS
Welcome to our educators page!
The Rain Garden Initiative is pleased to offer educators and youth leaders a loan box containing activities and tools to assist them in exploring, designing and installing rain gardens with their students! The loan box is designed for use with the Rain Garden Curricular Sampler, a series of lesson plans for students in grades K through 12, developed by the Earth Stewardship for Schools Program of the University of Wisconsin-Madison Arboretum. Click here to download the Rain Garden Curriculum Sampler.
The loan box is available from the Toledo Division of Environmental Services. The traditional loan period for a box is two weeks but flexible to meet your needs. A $25.00 deposit is required, but all but $5.00 of this deposit will be refunded when the materials are returned. Contact the Toledo Division of Environmental Services at 419-936-3015 for more information or to reserve the loan box.
The loan box is available from the Toledo Division of Environmental Services. The traditional loan period for a box is two weeks but flexible to meet your needs. A $25.00 deposit is required, but all but $5.00 of this deposit will be refunded when the materials are returned. Contact the Toledo Division of Environmental Services at 419-936-3015 for more information or to reserve the loan box.
Additional Resources for Educators
Below you will find links to curricula and lesson plans related to rain gardens, water quality and a host of other topics. These educational materials were selected to help your students understand the benefits and basics of installing a rain garden and how water, soil, plants and animals work together in the rain garden ecosystem.
Project WILD Aquatic and Project WET, curriculum guides available with participation in scheduled workshops only (for more information, visit the Project WILD or Project WET home sites). Science & Civics – Sustaining Wildlife Curriculum Guide, Project WILD’s multidisciplinary secondary curriculum, is still available in Ohio but has been phased out elsewhere.
WOW! The Wonders of Wetlands, a curriculum guide developed by and available from Environmental Concern. A supplement of adapted lessons entitled Rain Gardens as Outdoor Classrooms Curriculum Guide is available with participation in a scheduled workshop only.
Rain Garden Lesson Guide, a set of lesson plans developed for an OEEF-funded rain garden demonstration and education project by the Clermont SWCD (available on-line here).
Project Based Learning: Design and Build a Rain Garden, a curriculum including a video, teacher guide and lesson plans developed by The Nature Conservancy as part of Nature Works Everywhere for educators (available on-line here from PBS).
The Water Cycle: The Rain Garden, an activity plan developed by the National Gardening Association (available on-line here).
Let It Rain: The Benefits of Rain Gardens, a lesson plan developed by Ashley Schopieray for the Earth Day Network (available on-line here).
Project WILD Aquatic and Project WET, curriculum guides available with participation in scheduled workshops only (for more information, visit the Project WILD or Project WET home sites). Science & Civics – Sustaining Wildlife Curriculum Guide, Project WILD’s multidisciplinary secondary curriculum, is still available in Ohio but has been phased out elsewhere.
WOW! The Wonders of Wetlands, a curriculum guide developed by and available from Environmental Concern. A supplement of adapted lessons entitled Rain Gardens as Outdoor Classrooms Curriculum Guide is available with participation in a scheduled workshop only.
Rain Garden Lesson Guide, a set of lesson plans developed for an OEEF-funded rain garden demonstration and education project by the Clermont SWCD (available on-line here).
Project Based Learning: Design and Build a Rain Garden, a curriculum including a video, teacher guide and lesson plans developed by The Nature Conservancy as part of Nature Works Everywhere for educators (available on-line here from PBS).
The Water Cycle: The Rain Garden, an activity plan developed by the National Gardening Association (available on-line here).
Let It Rain: The Benefits of Rain Gardens, a lesson plan developed by Ashley Schopieray for the Earth Day Network (available on-line here).