Peel Water Story Project Case Study

Project title:
St. Edmund Eco-Kids Water Audit

Schools/ Community Group(s) :
St. Edmund Eco-Kids Environmental Club

School Board/Organization(s):
Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board

Community /Town /City :
Mississauga

Your Project is located within which (sub)watershed/s?
Applewood Creek

Start Date:
January 2004

Project abstract
As an environmental group of students at St. Edmund, we tried to raise awareness about how important water is to our community, how we extract this valuable resource and what we can do to conserve it at home and at school. By analyzing the results of our home and school audits, we generated data to share with others in our community.

Project outcomes
Students were able to raise awareness about water conservation in their communities, especially at home with regards to water usage in the kitchen, bathroom and laundry room.

How did you arrive at the project?
The Region of Peel, Public Works department was instrumental in helping our group arrive at the project.

To kick start our project, we had a lunch and learn meeting where Water Smart Peel presenters outlined some basic water facts about our community. This gave students an initial understanding about water conservation and a place to begin. Some funding for meetings was provided by school administration, namely our Principal.

Community Partnerships
Internal - The Eco-Kids had established itself as an environmental club with initiatives such as Destination Conservation energy audits, Walk to School Week and a Litter Not campaign. When the Region of Peel approached us to take on this project, we simply refocused our mandate to one cause, water conservation. The principal was very supportive and parents were informed via newsletters about our project.

External - The staff members at Region of Peel were in constant contact with the Eco-Kids regarding our project. We have had some involvement with local businesses during Earth Week and hope to extend this support throughout the year with a variety of poster campaigns and projects that build awareness throughout the community.

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Project planning
The Eco-Kids followed the Water Smart Peel Home/School Water Audit manual with extra activities that initially educated students about water conservation and follow up activities to promote awareness around the community.

Student Ownership and involvement
The educational component was largely teacher driven in order to give students the proper background needed to complete the project and share information with families at home and the community at school.

Students independently conducted all water audits at home with the assistance of parents who were informed about the project. The school water audits were conducted by the students with assistance from the lead teacher with regards to setting up and organizing the data received.

Students independently shared results of their water audit via school announcements, presentation boards and oral presentations for the Eco-Fair.

Curriculum and water connections
The Eco-Kids became very aware of the energy component of the Grade Five curriculum specifically. The project gave them an awareness of their role within the community and the difference they could make around certain issues. The Eco-Kids Environmental Club had a specific focus this year, water conservation, which allowed the students to become “experts” in this particular field.

They learned that it is acceptable to have errors in their data and to re-examine the results of their projects. They shared this crucial step in the scientific process with other environmental groups at the Peel Eco-Fair.

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Project Celebrations
The students celebrated their work at the Peel Eco-Fair where they had the opportunity to meet other environmental students and educators; adults, high school and elementary students. We also had a mid-year lunch and learn meeting with treats that the students really appreciated. At the end of the year, we took time to celebrate our achievements with an ice cream party. These celebrations had other students in the school wondering how they could become members of the Eco-Kids next year.

Communication to the community/media
A poster campaign took place at the beginning of the project to educate students about water usage and conservation ideas that they had recently learned about. Throughout the year, we communicated our achievements via newsletters and school council meetings. Students relied on morning announcements to share their messages with other students.

Favourite Project activities for learning
The lunch and learn presentation by Water Smart Peel was a great success and really motivated the students. Students enjoyed conducting water audits and home and especially at school where their task allowed them to go into other classrooms and share ideas about their projects with other teachers and students.

Students own feedback about project
The students in the Eco-Kids Environmental Club really enjoyed learning about water conservation and being involved in a hands-on activity, Home School Water Audit.

They learned about the importance of keeping their results valid and accepting the fact that sometimes scientists/environmentalists need to reassess project results before true facts can be found. They enjoyed sharing these results with their peers and other environmental leaders at the Peel Eco-Fair.

Each of the students in the St. Edmund Eco-Kids have asked to be members of the club again next year. Each student realized that the project does not end in June and must continue in order to be effective. There is a lot more work and research to be done at St. Edmund before we can truly affect water conservation at our school.

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