LANDS and WATERS
A not-for-profit organization devoted to
watershed protection and education
2007 Contribution Letter Mailed (12/17/07)
Greetings! 2007 has been productive for LANDS and WATERS. We want to share some highlights with you.
The cartoon character educators for LANDS and WATERS
A new cartoon character has joined our educational team. We created Lilly during the writing and illustrating of a new instructional story about wetlands. Our silly-looking cartoons are really educators that work all year teaching children in schools and summer camps about a wide range of environmental topics, problems, and solutions.
You see, our organization’s educational program is story based. These cartoons are its stars. Each year we teach thousands of children about the decomposing world with our story My Roommates Are a Bunch of Worms, about watersheds in Happenings In Our Habitats, and about wetlands in Wetlands. The stories are so engaging, students don’t realize that they are learning sophisticated concepts about their local watershed, the Chesapeake Bay, and conservation techniques.
Learning doesn’t stop with the story, not at all! Every story is accompanied by hands-on conservation activities. Students go out onto the school grounds and apply what they have learned about conservation by creating such things as composting bins, wildlife habitats, sponge gardens, and sometimes even wetland-type environments.
Above left: Constructed wetland Above right: Student performing water testing
Such outdoor projects lay the foundation for developing living classrooms with strong environmental components. Living classrooms are an integral part of our program. In 2007, Jeanette, our founder and president, visited over 15 schools to give story presentations and/or assistance in developing environmentally- focused living classrooms.
Our pilot school, Daniels Run Elementary, demonstrates how our program integrates classroom instruction with conservation projects. This year, we added a constructed wetland and bioretention area. Students and volunteers helped plant 1,200 wetland plants in the wetland. Our pilot school, with its 5 acres of conservation projects, serves its students and teachers, provides field trip opportunities to other schools, hosts workshops promoting living classrooms and environmental education, and, through its educational signs, reaches out to visitors.
Our work continues at Kimball Elementary, a disadvantaged school in Anacostia. We partnered with Building Logics to design and construct a green-roofed student art kiosk for Kimball. We helped secure funding for and will be man- aging another green roof /low impact development project next year. Jeanette’s pioneering work was featured in the December issue of Landscape Architecture Magazine.
We have accomplished a lot for an organization not even three years old, but we need your help to continue our work.
Please support us with a generous contribution. In return, we will keep working to improve our lands and waters.