Lesson plan Grade 2 Careers & CTE

Storm Drain Crew at Goosefoot School: A Grade 2 Careers Lesson

Second graders watch a model storm drain clog in a tray, define the problem the drain crew solves, and name things that should not wash into a storm drain.

Grade: Grade 2
Subject: Careers & CTE
Material: Lesson plan
Time: 40 min
Prep: Low prep
Materials: A shallow tray or baking pan, A plastic grate, cooling rack, or slotted spoon to stand in for a drain grate, Dry leaves, paper scraps, and small sticks, A pitcher of water, Printed copies of the drain watch card

Standards

K-2-ETS1-1 NGSS

Ask questions, make observations, and gather information about a situation people want to change to define a simple problem that can be solved through the development of a new or improved object or tool.

How this material aligns: Students observe a leaf-clogged drain grate, ask questions about it, and state the simple problem the storm drain crew is hired to solve.

All materials for K-2-ETS1-1 →

D2.Civ.14.K-2 C3 Framework

Describe how people have tried to improve their communities over time.

How this material aligns: The Meet the crew segment and handout item 4 ask students to describe how the drain crew and the street sweeper driver have made their town's streets safer from flooding.

All materials for D2.Civ.14.K-2 →

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This material is in the public domain (CC0) and may be copied, edited, and shared freely, without attribution. Updated 2026-07-23.

Objectives

Students will state the simple problem a storm drain crew is called to solve.
Students will name two things that should never be washed into a storm drain.
Students will describe one way the drain crew makes their street safer.

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.

Also: grate, clog, crew

Teacher overview

Ms. Ochoa leads the storm drain crew for the town of Goosefoot, and her truck carries a long hooked rake, a shovel, and a wide vacuum hose. When rain is coming, the crew drives a list of drains that clog most often, pulls the leaves off the grates, and vacuums out the basin underneath so the water has somewhere to go. Her crew works alongside a street sweeper driver, who takes grit and litter off the road before it can ever reach the drain. This lesson lets second graders see the problem first, in a tray on a table, and then meet the two jobs that solve it.

Keep the demonstration slow. Let the water back up over the clogged grate and stay there long enough for the class to describe what they see before you name the problem for them.

Procedure

Set up the flood (7 min): Prop the grate at one end of the tray so it sits like a drain in a gutter. Pour water in and let students watch it run through. Then cover the grate with leaves, paper scraps, and sticks, and pour again. Let the water pool. Ask the class what just changed.

Name the problem (8 min): Write the class's version of the problem on the board in one sentence, for example, "Leaves cover the drain, so the water cannot get in and the street floods." Ask three students to add a question they still have about it. Record the questions beside the problem statement; you will return to them at the close.

Meet the crew (10 min): Describe Ms. Ochoa's crew arriving with the hooked rake and the vacuum hose, and describe the street sweeper driver making a slow pass down the curb the day before a storm. Say plainly that both jobs matter and that both take training and care. Ask what the crew would find under the grate on Goosefoot's busiest street.

Drain watch card (10 min): Hand out the drain watch card. Students draw the clogged grate from the demonstration, name two things that should not wash into a drain, and write the problem the crew solves. Circulate and prompt with "What did the water do when the leaves were on top?"

Closing check (5 min): Read the recorded questions from the board and ask which ones the class can now answer. As a quick formative measure, ask every student to hold up two fingers if they can name two things that do not belong in a storm drain. Any student holding up fewer than two gets a one-minute partner talk before the cards are collected.

Storm Drain Crew at Goosefoot School: A Grade 2 Careers Lesson — Grade 2 Careers & CTE

Name: ____________________________ Date: ______________

Student Handout

Read aloud: Ms. Ochoa works on the storm drain crew in the town of Goosefoot. Fill in your drain watch card.

Draw the drain grate you saw in the tray. Show what was on top of it.
What happened to the water when the grate was covered?
Name two things that should not go down a storm drain.
What problem does the storm drain crew fix?
Write one question you would ask Ms. Ochoa about her job.

From Water for Schools (waterforschools.org). This material is in the public domain (CC0) and may be copied, edited, and shared freely.

Answer Key

Answer: A drawing of a grate covered with leaves, sticks, or paper, with water shown sitting on top of it rather than going through.
Answer: The water stopped going down and pooled on top of the grate.
Answer: Answers will vary. Accept leaves, sticks, trash, food wrappers, paint, motor oil, grass clippings, or soap.
Answer: The crew clears the grate and the basin below it so rain water can get into the pipe instead of flooding the street.
Answer: Answers will vary. Accept any real question about the tools, the truck, the schedule, or what the crew finds under a grate.

Differentiation

Support (below grade level)

Give a half-drawn grate on the card so students only add what was on top. Offer a picture bank of six items for item 3 and let students circle two rather than write them. Read every item aloud twice.

Extension (above grade level)

Ask students to design a sign the crew could post next to a drain, then explain in two sentences who the sign is for and what they want that person to do differently.

ELL supports

Pre-teach grate, clog, and crew by pointing at the tray during the demonstration and repeating each word as the class watches the water. Accept drawings with labels for items 2 through 4, and give the frame "The crew takes off the ____ so the water can ____."

Extensions

Walk the class to a real storm drain on school grounds, stand back from the curb, and have students list what they see on the grate. Send the list to the school office or the town's public works department as a short report from the class.