Building or Other Location


Calculating Runoff from School Buildings and Grounds Column B


Column A Area


(square meters or square feet)


Column C


Annual rainfall (meters or feet)


Volume of annual rainfall


Col. A × Col. B


(cubic meters or cubic feet)


Runoff factor (%)


Volume of


annual runoff Col. C × Runoff factor


(cubic meters or cubic feet)


Total school runoff


Convert cubic meters to liters: multiply total by 1,000 Convert cubic feet to U.S. gallons: multiply total by 7.48


• Identify changing land uses in your community and dis- cuss the potential visual and environmental consequences. See the “Changing the Land” activity in the Looks Count! curriculum unit at <http://wupcenter.mtu.edu/education/ land_use/index_looks_count.htm>.


• Compare plant biodiversity in urban areas to plant bio- diversity in undisturbed natural areas. See “Biodiver- sity Study: Disturbed vs. Undisturbed” from the Looks Count! curriculum unit at <http://wupcenter.mtu.edu/ education/land_use/index_looks_count.htm>.


• Use artificial bird eggs (made of modeling clay and laid out in groups of three eggs in a series of parallel tran- sects) to measure variation in predation on eggs laid by ground-nesting birds as the distance from human development is reduced. See “Artificial Nest Predation Investigation” from the Looks Count! curriculum unit at <http://wupcenter.mtu.edu/education/land_use/index_ looks_count.htm>.


Joan Chadde is the education program coordinator for the Western Upper Peninsula Center for Science, Mathematics, and Environmental Education at Michigan Technological University in Houghton, Michigan. She thanks teachers Gary Cousino (Hart Middle School, Rochester Hills, MI), Betty Cangemi (L’Anse High School, L’Anse, MI) and Sharon Baje- ma (Ottawa Hills High School, Grand Rapids, MI) for their contributions to this lesson. Additional watershed and land


use activities by Joan Chadde can be found in the Michigan Environmental Education Curriculum Support (MEECS) Water Quality unit, available on-line at <www.michigan.gov/ deq/0,1607,7-135-3307_3580_29678---,00.html>


Resources Chadde, Joan, Rulison, Linda, Smith, Ruth Ann, and Dunstan, Jean. Design Guidelines to Enhance Community Appearance and Protect Natural Resources, 2nd edition. Houghton, MI: Western Upper Peninsula Center for Science, Mathematics and Environmental Education, Michigan Technological University, 2004. Features line drawings and color photos that visually address 20 of the most common development issues. Contact jchadde@mtu.edu to order a copy (US$5 each).


Chadde, Joan, and Linda Rulison, Ruth Ann Smith, Jean Dunstan. Looks Count! Community Planning, Natural Resource Protection and the Visual Landscape, 2nd edition. Houghton, MI: Western Upper Peninsula Center for Science, Mathematics and Environmental Education, Michigan Technological University, 2002. An interdisciplinary middle school unit containing 15 science and social studies lessons that guide students in assessing their community’s character, measuring changes and proposing community enhancements.


Michigan Department of Environmental Quality.Water Quality — Pollutant Sources and Impacts. Michigan Environmental Education Curriculum Support (MEECS). A Michigan Tech Alive interactive web module describing types of water pollutants, their sources, pathways, impacts, and strategies to control their impact, available on-line at <http://techalive.mtu.edu/meec_index.htm>.


West Michigan Environmental Action Council. Rain Gardens of West Michi- gan: Beautiful Solutions for Water Pollution <www.raingardens.org>. Informa- tion on planning and planting rain gardens as catch basins for runoff.


USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service <www.nrcs.usda.gov/>. Provides excellent resources on soils; regional offices can provide aerial photos (click on “service centers” and follow the links to obtain the phone and address for the nearest office).


U.S. Geological Survey. “Effects of Urbanization on Water Quality: Urban Runoff.” On-line September 28, 2007, <http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/ urbanrun.html>.


GREEN TEACHER 83 Page 13


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