Examples of Project FLOW activities completed during the 2010-2011 Academic year:

Chevery Shoreline Cleanup 

Netagamiou School, Chevery, Québec

Students at Netagamiou School in Chevery, Québec collected and analyzed their local water supply (home wells and community water line). They increased awareness in their community about the importance of protecting and preserving the water supply through posters and presentations. The Chevery Municipal Local Council accepted a request from students to include the Chevery shoreline in the annual community clean up that is conducted each spring. Netagamiou School students will lead their school and community in the participation in the annual Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup starting in 2011 as well as celebrating the annual World Water Day on March 22, 2012!

Banning the Bottle at St. George's School

St. George's School, Montréal, Québec

The Green Team at St. George’s School of Montréal in Montréal, Québec raised awareness among students about the environmental consequences of plastic water bottles by screening The Story of Bottled Water at a school assembly. By selling stainless steel reusable bottles, the Green Team was able to contribute to the purchase of new water fountains for the school. Currently, no plastic water bottles are sold in school vending machines or at school events. Pre- and post- water-awareness campaign waste audits indicated a 68% reduction in plastic water bottle use!

Schools Engaging with Wetlands Centre in New Brunswick

Tantramar Wetlands Centre, New Brunswick

Tantramar Wetlands Centre serves the communities of Sackville, Aulac, Port Elgin and Baie Verte in Southeastern New Brunswick. Through Project FLOW, students from these communities are able to access three water quality testing kits and collect water quality data to map potential threats to water sources. At Tantramar Wetlands Centre, students learn how to use a water testing kit and about the ecosystem functions a wetland provides. Two of the water testing kits travel amongst various schools in Southeastern New Brunswick so that Tantramar Wetlands Centre can maintain a comprehensive map of potential threats to water sources in students’ communities.

Taking Action to Educate

Cardinal Newman High School, Toronto, Ontario

The Treehuggers Environmental Club at Cardinal Newman High school in Toronto, Ontario, with help from other students in their school board, made a lasting impression on their school board’s head office with a presentation on plastic water bottle waste at their. Starting September 2010, there will be school board-wide ban on plastic water bottles! In addition, the Treehuggers Environmental Club used displays and presentations to create awareness in their school about plastic water bottle waste and sold reusable water bottles as an initiative to reduce this waste.

Students from five other schools in Ontario also used displays and presentations to create awareness and sold reusable bottles as part of their waste-reduction initiative:

• Blessed Trinity Catholic School in Grimsby, Ontario (proceeds donated to Wells of Hope charity for well-digging equipment in third-world countries)
• Eastview Junior Public School in Toronto, Ontario
• Milliken Mills High School in Unionville, Ontario
• Monsignor Percy Johnson Catholic Secondary School in Etobicoke, Ontario
• St. Joan of Arc Catholic Secondary School in Mississauga, Ontario (proceeds purchased a ceramic water filter from SafeWater4Kids, to provide safe and clean water for a community in need in a developing country)

Restoring Our Waterways

Matawa Learning Centre, Thunder Bay, Ontario

Aboriginal students from remote regions of Northwestern Ontario were able to participate in Project FLOW activities through Matawa Learning Centre in Thunder Bay, Ontario. These students climbed to the ice caves of Mount McCrae and traveled to the Lake Superior shoreline to clean up waste that affects their communities’ water supplies. They also learned about water ecology in the classroom and participated in a mock cleanup of an oil spill.

Water Festival

Crocus Plains, Brandon, Manitoba

Students and staff at Crocus Plains Regional Secondary School in Brandon, Manitoba designed and hosted a one-day Children’s Water Festival for 465 grade three, four, and five students. The younger students gained awareness of their water use at home and transferred this knowledge to their families. The festival’s community impact was evident through widespread volunteer interest and support from various community partners (i.e MB Hydro, Ducks Unlimited, Canadian Red Cross).

Raising Sturgeons!

École Riverside School in Thompson, Manitoba

Grade six students at École Riverside School in Thompson, Manitoba raised 4 sturgeons and released them into the Burntwood River. This activity allowed the students to learn about the significance of sturgeon to aboriginal populations and take action around the issue of sturgeon disappearance in Northern Manitoba.

Valuing Native Plants

École Mission Central Elementary in Mission, British Columbia

Students and staff at École Mission Central Elementary in Mission, British Columbiaworked with their local Aboriginal community and high school mentors to plant a beautiful native plant garden in their schoolyard! Not only was the school community able to celebrate Aboriginal culture and learn about traditional uses of native plants from Elders, it also learned the value of water conservation because native plants get all the water they need from rainfall!

Students Become Water Management Experts in the Yukon

The Yukon Department of Education is using Project FLOW to train students and teachers at 6 schools throughout the Yukon to conduct water quality analysis following the protocols. These students will analyse and compare data with participating schools, and use their collective knowledge to make informed suggestions regarding use and management of the water body to community groups.