Water, Biota, and the Built Environment
Fellows and faculty in the BioBuild program offered a half-day program for middle school students on July 10th and July 12th as part of the College of Engineering's IMAGINATION program. IMAGINATION is one of several summer programs sponsored by the Center for Enhancement of Engineering Diversity (CEED), which provides a hands-on science and engineering summer day camp for rising 7th and 8th graders.
BioBuild's session, entitled "Water, Biota and the Built Environment", increased student awareness of the strong connections between the natural and the constructed worlds. The session focused on how rainwater moves in a community and its potential impact on property and ecosystems. Over 30 rising 7th and 8th graders conducted permeability tests, took and analyzed water samples from Stroubles Creek and the Duck Pond, and mapped "hard" and "soft" surfaces on Tech's campus. Lastly, the students considered changes to the campus, such as the use of permeable concrete, that could improve rainwater management to benefit humans, plants, and animals in the communities where we live and work.
