Project Grade 9 Art & Music
Fernwood Storm Drains: A Grade 9 Pollution-Awareness Design Project
A grade 9 art and design project where teams create a storm-drain stencil and companion poster explaining that storm drains flow untreated into a local creek.
Objectives
- Students will design a storm-drain stencil that communicates, in an image and eight words or fewer, that storm drains flow untreated into a local waterway.
- Students will create a companion poster that explains the difference between a storm drain system and a sanitary sewer system.
- Students will calculate the material cost of their campaign against a fixed supply budget.
Vocabulary
- Storm drain
- A storm drain is the grate at the edge of a street that swallows rainwater and sends it through pipes to the nearest creek or river. That water is usually not treated, so only rain belongs down the drain.
- Stormwater
- Stormwater is rain or melted snow that flows off roofs, streets, and parking lots. In most towns it goes into storm drains and flows to a stream without being treated, carrying whatever it picked up.
- Best management practice (BMP)
- A best management practice, or BMP, is a method or structure designed to keep pollution out of streams and rivers, like a rain garden or a strip of grass that filters runoff. Cities and farms use BMPs to protect water quality where people live and work.
Teacher overview
Many public works departments run real storm-drain stenciling programs, since most residents do not realize that a storm drain carries rainwater and anything that washes into it directly to a local stream or lake, with no treatment plant in between, unlike water that goes down a household drain. Over three sessions, student teams design a stencil and a companion poster for storm drains in Fernwood, a fictional neighborhood invented for this project, whose storm drains lead to Willow Creek. Teams work within a fixed supply budget and present their finished campaign to a mock review panel.
Project Brief
Driving question: How can we design a stencil and poster campaign that shows why anything entering a storm drain flows straight to Willow Creek untreated? The campaign has to fit the public works department's supply budget.
Scenario: Fernwood is a fictional neighborhood invented for this project. Its public works department has asked student design teams for a stencil and poster campaign. The campaign covers up to 10 storm drains.
Constraints:
- Budget: $150 total for stencil-cutting material, paint, and poster printing and display materials, enough for up to 10 storm drains. The budget is fictional. Teams price their supplies from a teacher-provided sheet.
- Stencil size: the design must fit a space no larger than 18 inches by 24 inches on the curb or pavement beside a storm drain. It must include an image and a text message of eight words or fewer. A passerby should understand it at a glance.
- Poster requirement: the companion poster goes on display at three community locations. In plain language, it must explain that storm drains flow straight to Willow Creek. No treatment step cleans that water first. Wastewater from sinks and toilets is different, because it goes to a treatment plant.
Final deliverable: A finished, to-scale stencil design, a companion poster, and a one-paragraph rationale for the design choices. Teams present all three to a mock Fernwood Public Works Department review panel played by the class.
Milestones
- Session 1 -- Research and concept sketches: Teams learn the difference between two systems. A storm drain system carries water, untreated, to local waterways. A sanitary sewer system carries water to a treatment plant. Teams then sketch two rough stencil concepts and one poster concept. Output: two stencil sketches and one poster concept, each with a short rationale note.
- Session 2 -- Refine and cost out: Teams choose one stencil concept. They refine it to scale so it fits the 18-by-24-inch space. They then price the materials against the $150 budget, using the teacher's price sheet. Working example: 10 drains need 10 stencil sheets at $3.00 each, or $30.00. Paint costs $2.00 per drain, or $20.00. The combined supply cost is $50.00. That leaves $100.00 of the $150 budget for poster printing and display materials. Output: one refined, to-scale stencil design with an itemized cost list, plus a refined poster draft.
- Session 3 -- Present: Teams finalize the poster and write the one-paragraph rationale. They then present the stencil, poster, and rationale to the class. The class acts as the Fernwood Public Works Department review panel. Output: a completed stencil design, poster, rationale, and short presentation.
From Water for Schools (waterforschools.org). This material is in the public domain (CC0) and may be copied, edited, and shared freely.
Rubric
| Criterion | Emerging | Developing | Proficient | Advanced |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Message clarity and design | Message is unclear or the text exceeds eight words | Message fits the word limit but the image does not clearly connect to the message | Image and text of eight words or fewer together communicate the message at a glance | Image and text communicate the message at a glance and use color or layout to draw a passerby's attention |
| Storm drain and sewer accuracy | Poster does not explain the storm drain and sewer distinction | Poster mentions the distinction but the explanation is unclear or incomplete | Poster clearly and correctly explains that storm drains flow untreated to Willow Creek, unlike sewer water | Poster clearly explains the distinction and connects it to a specific reason residents should care |
| Budget constraint | Total cost exceeds $150 with no adjustment | Total cost is close to $150 but not verified with itemized costs | Total cost is at or under $150 with an itemized cost list | Total cost is at or under $150, itemized, with a brief explanation of a tradeoff the team made to stay within budget |
| Presentation and rationale | Rationale is incomplete or difficult to follow | Rationale covers the design but lacks clear reasoning | Rationale clearly explains the design choices and how they meet the constraints | Rationale clearly explains the design choices and anticipates a likely question from the review panel |
Differentiation
Support (below grade level)
Provide two or three example stencil designs from real public works programs (described in words, not reproduced images) as models before Session 1, and provide the itemized cost calculation from Session 2 partially completed, so students only need to find the remaining totals.
Extension (above grade level)
Ask teams to design a second stencil variant aimed at a different audience, such as young children walking to school, and write a short comparison explaining what design choices changed and why.
ELL supports
Provide a labeled diagram showing a storm drain's path to a creek beside a sink's path to a treatment plant, using arrows and simple icons, before Session 1. Allow the written rationale to include labeled sketches alongside shorter sentences rather than full paragraphs.