Resources for Teachers and Schools
In this section you'll find some fun and exciting ways for your students to learn about water and what can be done to prevent pollution in our waterways.
FREE School Assembly Program for Primary Schools
"Home to the Sea: A Musical Watershed Assembly" and "The Blob"
San Mateo County Environmental Health, Used Oil Program and County Water Pollution Prevention Program (SMCWPPP) are thrilled to invite you to take advantage of a FREE 45 minute assembly. Two shows are available, "Home to the Sea: A Musical Watershed Assembly" and "The Blob", which teach through music and student participation.
The assembly is performed by the group Zun Zun whose expertise is interactive, educational, multicultural, environmentally focused presentations. The Used Oil Program and SMCWPPP will cover the cost of each show. These shows are appropriate for the entire elementary school age group, parents and teachers. Over 50,000 County elementary children have enjoyed the program since 1998. Call now so you can see it this year. The shows are lively, fun, funny, and keep children and adults entertained! They include music and review required topics, such as music, science, social studies and language.
If you are an elementary school located in San Mateo County,
Call now to book a show!
(831) 426-0684
Healthy Schools Act
Healthy Schools Act of 2000 (Assembly Bill 2260) [link to external site] 
This law puts into code the California Department of Pesticide Regulation's existing voluntary school IPM program and adds some requirements for schools, such as parental notification of pesticide application, warning signs, record keeping at schools and pesticide use reporting by licensed pest control businesses which apply pesticides at schools.
School Janitorial Less Toxic Cleaning Products Brochure
Safety was cited as the #1 concern among many janitors and building maintenance workers. This brochure will help in choosing less toxic cleaning products for school maintenance.
Schools Chemical Cleanout Program
Kids in Gardens
Kids In Gardens teacher training workshops have been funded by SMCWPPP and taught by The Watershed Project, to promote watershed stewardship by encouraging educators to create and use healthy, low maintenance gardens to teach pesticide-free gardening methods and the importance of urban runoff pollution prevention. In 2007, workshops were held on March 3 in Menlo Park at Oak Knoll Elementary School, and on May 5 in Burlingame at Lincoln Elementary School. Participants receive a free workshop binder containing background information, and classroom curricula with activities correlated to California State Standards.
Workshop Binder Table of Contents
Check back for Spring 09 workshop registration
Pre-K through Highschool Garden-Based Outreach Project Summaries
Educators from San Mateo County who attend Kids In Gardens are eligible to apply for $150 stipends from The Watershed Project upon completion of an outreach project with their students. In 2007, eight (8) educators and their students participated in a wide range of activities, including building worm bins for their school, painting murals, and giving presentations. Through these projects, students educated family and community members about clean water and how they can personally protect local watersheds and the Bay.
Bay Friendly School Garden Registration
9 schools in San Mateo County are registered as "Bay Friendly"gardens. Bay-Friendly gardeners:
- Build healthy soil
- Reduce waste in the garden
- Conserve water
- Create wildlife habitat
- Protect local watersheds and the Bay
- Contribute to a healthy community
- Save energy
Registered Bay-Friendly gardeners provide neighborhood models of what a Bay-Friendly garden can offer-from an edible kitchen garden to a native wildlife habitat to a Mediterranean retreat.
- Community School South, East Palo Alto
- East Palo Alto Charter School, East Palo Alto
- Encinal School, Atherton
- Oak Knoll Elementary, Menlo Park
- Willow Oaks Elementary, Menlo Park
- Franklin Elementary, Burlingame
- Lincoln Elementary, Burlingame
- Park Way Heights Middle School, South San Francisco
- Robertson School, Daly City
Request Free Program Materials
The following materials can be used in the classroom to teach about pollution prevention:
Newsletter: Pollution Prevention Post (7th grade -12th grade)
Coastal Cleanup Day Posters
Brochures: Too Toxic To Trash, Mercury, Used Oil Recycling
Pest Control Fact Sheets for Less- and Non- Toxic Control
Bay Friendly Gardening Guide
Bookmarks, Erasers, Pencils, and Pens
Go to this page to request materials.
Lesson Plans:
Grades 3-5 Understanding the Water Cycle
Grades 7-12 Routes to the Environment
Grades 9-12 Plastic Trash and Wildlife
High School Curriculum
www.cccleanwater.org/schools/school-programs/
Water Lessons for Teachers
www.waterlessons.org
Resources:
Water Science for Schools: USGS
http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/
Kids for the Bay
http://www.kidsforthebay.org/
North American Association for Environmental Education
http://eelink.net/pages/EE-Link+Introduction
Kids For Saving Earth
http://www.kidsforsavingearth.org/index_high.html
Stormwater Coalition
http://www.stormwatercoalition.org/
Community Action Grant: $3000 is available for teachers that are interested in implementing projects with their students that improve the quality of local creeks, the Bay or the Pacific Ocean within San Mateo County.
Participating in California Coastal (and Creek) Cleanup Day fulfills students community service requirements. |
