{"id":604,"date":"2015-05-06T13:40:00","date_gmt":"2015-05-06T17:40:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/water.phila.gov\/blog\/sla-beeber-and-greenstem-grab-award-drinking-water-week\/"},"modified":"2023-01-19T15:48:43","modified_gmt":"2023-01-19T20:48:43","slug":"sla-beeber-and-greenstem-grab-award-drinking-water-week","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/water.phila.gov\/blog\/sla-beeber-and-greenstem-grab-award-drinking-water-week\/","title":{"rendered":"SLA Beeber and greenSTEM Grab Award for Drinking Water Week"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"SLA
\nSLA Beeber students accept the Schuylkill Scholastic Drinking Water Award on May 4. Credit: Melissa Bittner, Partnership for the Delaware Estuary.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

For most people, watering the garden is an inexact science at best. At worst, unnecessary watering is a double whammy of waste: throwing away good, clean water while increasing the risk of plant problems like mildew and root rot. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\nBut what if you could pop onto\u00a0your computer or phone and tap into a system that tells you just how much moisture is in your soil, how much sun and heat your plants are getting, and when watering is needed?<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\nThat\u2019s exactly what the students at the Science Leadership Academy at Beeber<\/a> (SLA Beeber) in the city\u2019s Overbrook neighborhood can do when they want to know whether it\u2019s time to turn on the hose at the campus rain garden, and it\u2019s all thanks to a Philadelphia Water partnership called the greenSTEM<\/a> (that\u2019s short for Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics) Network<\/a>.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\nFrom the greenSTEM website:<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\nThe greenSTEM Network connects students to real-time information about their school gardens. Through a collaboration between developers, scientists, designers, and educators, we provide public access to information collected by a network of low-cost, DIY sensor kits spread throughout the city for educational purposes. Our mission is to promote Philadelphia\u2019s Green City, Clean Waters<\/a> program through STEM education and support the development of the Fairmount Water Works Understanding the Urban Watershed curriculum<\/a>. <\/span><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The greenSTEM program\u2019s high-tech network of garden sensors is getting attention during National Drinking Water Week<\/a>\u00a0(May 3-9) after the Schuylkill Action Network<\/a> (SAN)\u00a0honored SLA Beeber\u2019s students with their annual Schuylkill Scholastic Drinking Water Award<\/a> during a May 4 presentation. SLA Beeber was one of three award winners in 2015. SAN also honored Reading Area Community College in Berks County and Blue Mountain Middle School in Schuylkill County for projects they completed on their campuses.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\nSLA Beeber students worked with Philadelphia Water to build and install the environmental sensors, called \u201croot kits,\u201d<\/a> in the rain garden and can now monitor soil moisture and temperature through a webpage that features an interactive tree<\/a>(Sorry, this content is no longer available)<\/em>\u00a0where the colors of leaves indicate whether a garden needs watering.\u00a0 Individual branches on the tree represent garden sensors at SLA Beeber, Greenfield Elementary<\/a> in Center City, George W. Nebinger School<\/a> in Queen Village and Cook-Wissahickon Elementary<\/a> in Roxborough.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cProjects like this one are very important for keeping the Schuylkill Watershed clean,\u201d Tom Davidock, senior coordinator of the SAN at the Partnership for the Delaware Estuary<\/a>, wrote on the group\u2019s website. \u201cSchools provide that direct link to communities and can teach all of us simple things we can all do to keep our rivers and streams healthy.\u00a0The students at the Science Leadership Academy at Beeber are involved in a small project that can have a big impact on the watershed.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\nCongratulations to the students at SLA Beeber and all the people at Philadelphia Water<\/a>\u00a0who make the greenSTEM Network the incredible program that it is!<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\nMore About greenSTEM: <\/span><\/strong><\/span>
\n\u00a0The greenSTEM Network started as a collaboration between the Philadelphia Water and members of Code For Philly<\/a>\u00a0at the TechCamp hackathon in February 2013. This unique partnership between a city agency and civic hackers furthers the relationships between technology, education, and environmental stewardship. Grant funding for the greenSTEM Network is provided by NOAA\u2019s Coastal Nonpoint Pollution Control Program and administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection. They have also received Seed Project funding from Drexel University\u2019s ExCITe Center<\/a>.<\/span><\/em>
\n\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For most people, watering the garden is an inexact science at best. At worst, unnecessary watering is a double whammy of waste: throwing away good, clean water while increasing the risk of plant problems like mildew and root rot.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"custom_css":"","custom_js":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[32,93],"class_list":["post-604","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-community","tag-education","tag-stem","wpautop"],"acf":{"suggested":null},"parsely":{"version":"1.1.0","canonical_url":"https:\/\/phila.gov\/blog\/sla-beeber-and-greenstem-grab-award-drinking-water-week\/","smart_links":{"inbound":0,"outbound":0},"traffic_boost_suggestions_count":0,"meta":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"SLA Beeber and greenSTEM Grab Award for Drinking Water Week","url":"http:\/\/water.phila.gov\/blog\/sla-beeber-and-greenstem-grab-award-drinking-water-week\/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/water.phila.gov\/blog\/sla-beeber-and-greenstem-grab-award-drinking-water-week\/"},"thumbnailUrl":"","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":""},"articleSection":"Community","author":[],"creator":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"@PhillyH2O Blog","logo":""},"keywords":["education","stem"],"dateCreated":"2015-05-06T17:40:00Z","datePublished":"2015-05-06T17:40:00Z","dateModified":"2023-01-19T20:48:43Z"},"rendered":"