In 2018, Urban Adventure Squad was awarded a $20,000 Community Stormwater Solutions grant from the D.C. Department of Energy and Environment to create and implement a curriculum on “D.C.’s Hidden Waterways” for students in kindergarten through 5th grades at Elsie Whitlow Stokes Community Freedom Public Charter School ("Stokes School").
We developed a hands-on, community-based curriculum that aimed to teach students--through field trips, local hikes, map-making, and visits with local environmental educators:
As part of this grant, we created this web-based resource area, which includes information about our partners and the resources we used for our research and preparation. For questions, more information, or if you have supplemental information that will help educate others through this site, please email us!
Anacostia Riverkeeper provided the boat ride for Stokes 5th graders on our final field trip for the Hidden Waterways project in May 2019. Did you know that Anacostia Riverkeeper provides free boat tours to the public that are funded by the plastic bag fee in DC?
For more info and to sign up: www.anacostiariverkeeper.org/tours/
Read about Anacostia Riverkeeper's DC Citizen Science Water Quality Monitoring Project.
The Aquatic Resources Education Center, run by the DC Department of Energy and Environment, is located on the banks of the Anacostia River in Anacostia Park, next to the skating pavilion. We traveled to AREC with Stokes 5th graders for our final field trip, and met with fish and wildlife biologists who taught us about species that live in our local waterways--Rock Creek, the Anacostia River
David Ramos is a professor at American University and a professional designer and developer in the DMV. Mr. Ramos was a guest educator during map-making and neighborhood exploration programs at Fort Bunker Hill with second grade students and at Turkey Thicket Recreation Center with fourth graders. Check out Mr. Ramos's maps, Lost Streams of Washington, D.C.. on his website, www.imaginaryterrain.com.
Elsie Whitlow Stokes Community Freedom Public Charter School is located in the Brookland neighborhood of Washington, D.C., and serves pre-kindergarten through 5th grade.
Rock Creek Conservancy and Alice Ferguson Foundation facilitated the Adopt-a-Stream training attended by UAS program educators, providing the knowledge and guidance used for the stream cleanup with fourth and fifth grade students.
The National Park Service is a federal bureau dedicated to preserving and protecting natural and historic spaces throughout America. The National Parks Service granted UAS permission for the waterway cleanup on public land at 14th and Gallatin Sts, NE.
"More Cities Bring Buried Streams Back to Life"
Jan. 21, 2014
NPR
Hidden Hydrology, a website dedicated to "exploring lost rivers, buried creeks, and disappeared streams."
"The Hidden Health Dangers of Buried Urban Rivers"
Citylab
Aug. 5, 2015
"In New Drainage Projects, Long-Buried Urban Streams See the Light Again"
National Geographic
Nov. 27, 2014
"Daylighting Streams: Breathing Life into Urban Streams and Communities"
A report from American Rivers
"Daylighting Takes Off as Cities Expose Long-Buried Rivers"
National Geographic
July 30, 2013
For information on the water cycle, check out the U.S. Geological Survey's page.
We found styrofoam on all of our litter cleanups, but thankfully, we didn't find too much of it. That is due in part to D.C. bans on styrofoam for restaurants and other businesses that serve food. You can read about the ban on styrofoam in D.C. and other cities across the country here.
We developed a hands-on, community-based curriculum that aimed to teach students--through field trips, local hikes, map-making, and visits with local environmental educators:
- how to identify hidden bodies of water in Washington, D.C., particularly in ward 5, near Stokes;
- why and how buried streams affect the health of the Anacostia River;
- how litter affects D.C.'s bodies of water, particularly the Anacostia;
- how daylighting (or restoring) buried streams reduces stormwater runoff and improves the health of our waterways.
As part of this grant, we created this web-based resource area, which includes information about our partners and the resources we used for our research and preparation. For questions, more information, or if you have supplemental information that will help educate others through this site, please email us!
Anacostia Riverkeeper provided the boat ride for Stokes 5th graders on our final field trip for the Hidden Waterways project in May 2019. Did you know that Anacostia Riverkeeper provides free boat tours to the public that are funded by the plastic bag fee in DC?
For more info and to sign up: www.anacostiariverkeeper.org/tours/
Read about Anacostia Riverkeeper's DC Citizen Science Water Quality Monitoring Project.
The Aquatic Resources Education Center, run by the DC Department of Energy and Environment, is located on the banks of the Anacostia River in Anacostia Park, next to the skating pavilion. We traveled to AREC with Stokes 5th graders for our final field trip, and met with fish and wildlife biologists who taught us about species that live in our local waterways--Rock Creek, the Anacostia River
David Ramos is a professor at American University and a professional designer and developer in the DMV. Mr. Ramos was a guest educator during map-making and neighborhood exploration programs at Fort Bunker Hill with second grade students and at Turkey Thicket Recreation Center with fourth graders. Check out Mr. Ramos's maps, Lost Streams of Washington, D.C.. on his website, www.imaginaryterrain.com.
Elsie Whitlow Stokes Community Freedom Public Charter School is located in the Brookland neighborhood of Washington, D.C., and serves pre-kindergarten through 5th grade.
Rock Creek Conservancy and Alice Ferguson Foundation facilitated the Adopt-a-Stream training attended by UAS program educators, providing the knowledge and guidance used for the stream cleanup with fourth and fifth grade students.
The National Park Service is a federal bureau dedicated to preserving and protecting natural and historic spaces throughout America. The National Parks Service granted UAS permission for the waterway cleanup on public land at 14th and Gallatin Sts, NE.
"More Cities Bring Buried Streams Back to Life"
Jan. 21, 2014
NPR
Hidden Hydrology, a website dedicated to "exploring lost rivers, buried creeks, and disappeared streams."
"The Hidden Health Dangers of Buried Urban Rivers"
Citylab
Aug. 5, 2015
"In New Drainage Projects, Long-Buried Urban Streams See the Light Again"
National Geographic
Nov. 27, 2014
"Daylighting Streams: Breathing Life into Urban Streams and Communities"
A report from American Rivers
"Daylighting Takes Off as Cities Expose Long-Buried Rivers"
National Geographic
July 30, 2013
For information on the water cycle, check out the U.S. Geological Survey's page.
We found styrofoam on all of our litter cleanups, but thankfully, we didn't find too much of it. That is due in part to D.C. bans on styrofoam for restaurants and other businesses that serve food. You can read about the ban on styrofoam in D.C. and other cities across the country here.