In 2019, Urban Adventure Squad was awarded a $20,000 Community Stormwater Solutions Grant from the DC Department of Energy and Environment (DOEE). 

The project funded our work with elementary school students at three public charter schools in Washington, DC--Creative Minds International PCS, DC Bilingual PCS, and Elsie Whitlow Stokes Community Freedom PCS (Ward 5 and Ward 7 campuses)--and with children in our programs on days when schools our closed. 

The aim of the project was to create a Geocaching series that educates the public and raises awareness about stormwater runoff, its effects on the pollution of the Anacostia River, and how to mitigate it.

Geocaching is a walking-based, global scavenger hunt in which players use information from a website or free app to find hidden treasure boxes associated with a set of GPS coordinates. Our Geocaches are free and accessible to everyone with a smartphone or Internet access, and we hope that you join the fun by playing this game and finding our educational treasures, which are hidden in six different neighborhoods across Washington, D.C. 

First, we wanted children to understand the problems caused by stormwater runoff, how to reduce runoff and its effects, and what steps DC is taking--or not yet taking--in neighborhoods and across the city to reduce the negative effects of stormwater runoff.

Then, we wanted children to use that knowledge to create a game that would engage and educate the public.

Even in a city with three major bodies of water, we often miss the connections between our actions (e.g., littering, using single-use plastic, or paving over creeks and streams), our storm drains, and the health of our local waterways.

Our trash tells a story, and that story starts on our block! 

After students in our programs learned about the environmental problems associated with stormwater runoff, they shared this knowledge with the public using the game of Geocaching! 

Creative Minds International Public Charter School (CMI)     
At Creative Minds, we worked with Mr. Musawwir’s 5th grade students. Students learned how long it takes different types of litter to decompose and about permeable versus impermeable surfaces which affect how much stormwater runoff is created in a neighborhood. Stormwater runoff can carry pollutants like oil, pesticides, and litter into our storm drains and to our waterways. 

When it was time to find a spot in the neighborhood to hide the school's Geocache, students chose to highlight street trees, specifically the Scarlet Oak (the official tree of Washington, D.C.). Street trees are the trees planted between the sidewalk and the street to provide shade and to soak up rainwater as it falls. More street trees means less stormwater runoff. 

Sometimes the roots of these trees push up the sidewalk around them as the trees search for water. 

Julie Pike, a civil engineer from the District Department of Transportation and an expert in green infrastructure, joined us as a guest educator during our neighborhood hike. She told us that one way to fix the issue of tree roots growing up through sidewalks is to use more permeable pavement--often a type of synthetic concrete known as Flexi-Pave. Flexi-Pave lets water pass through the permeable surface to feed the tree and has a bit more stretch to allow tree roots to grow where they need to. Students decided to include this information in their Geocache, so that game players could learn about ways to sustainably incorporate absorbed all this information and included it in their geocache.

DC Bilingual Public Charter School
At DC Bilingual, Urban Adventure Squad worked with Sra. Gonzalez’s three 5th grade science classes.

We conducted hands-on experiments to test the absorbance of different types of pavement and to learn about how long it takes for litter to decompose--or whether it decomposes at all.

We also conducted research on our Geocache, which is Urban Adventure Squad's first bilingual (Spanish/English) Geocache! 

Students studied local maps that highlighted green infrastructure like bioretention gardens and rainwater harvesting sites, and then took a neighborhood hike to locate the bioretention gardens we had identified on the maps and examples of permeable pavement.

The students hid their Geocache right by the Fort Totten Metro station in a deceptive container that honors one of their favorite pollinators. Can you find it?

Elsie Whitlow Stokes Community Freedom Public Charter School (Brookland and East End campuses)
Our classroom visits were scheduled for March, just after schools closed due to the Coronavirus pandemic.

We were sad not to be with our youngest learners for this grant--2nd grade students from Stokes Brookland, and kindergarten and 1st students at Stokes East End. 

We are grateful to the DC Department of Energy and Environment for allowing us to use grant funding to adapt our programs for online learning. This was a first for us! We are a low-tech, outdoors-focused organization--and we wanted to try to reach students, teachers, families.

We created videos and online teaching materials to share. You can find those activities and more information about the Geocaches at the links below:

Go PLAY! (Find Our Geocaches)

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Activities for the Classroom or Home

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Squad Videos

These were planned as classroom visits, so when schools closed due to Coronavirus in March 2020, we adapted our lessons and brought them online. 

Video 1: Trash Timeline Activity

Video 2: Watersheds, Stormwater, and Storm Drains, oh my!