Deadline: 31-Aug-21
Applications are now open for the Splash! School Grant Program to enhance student knowledge of freshwater resources issues.
Types of Grants
- Water Quality Field Study and Student Project: The goal is for students to understand how human actions affect the quality of freshwater resources and ecosystems. Students will test water quality and identify native or freshwater aquatic plants and invertebrates while visiting a wetland area near the school. The field study location should be located within an hour’s drive from the school, preferably in the school’s county or neighboring county.
- Water-Conserving Garden Project: The goal is for students to understand ways to minimize the negative effects of gardening, landscaping and agriculture on Florida’s water supply and water quality. Students should learn the importance of implementing best management practices and Florida-Friendly Landscaping principles, using non-potable water sources and reducing runoff from fertilizers and pesticides. Students could compare traditional methods to water-conserving methods, participate in water quality labs and make informational pamphlets or public service announcements to share with families and others.
- Classroom Resources and Community Awareness Campaign: The goal is for students to develop an appreciation of water as a limited resource and become stewards of their water. Through classroom activities, students will study the water cycle and sources of fresh water, learn that rain provides fresh water to the Floridan aquifer system (the region’s primary source of drinking water), build an awareness of the connection between land and water, and discover ways to reduce human impacts on their water supply.
- Freshwater Resources Educational Program: The goal is for students to learn about regional water resources, their importance and their protection. Students will visit a facility that offers hands-on environmental education for freshwater or estuarine studies.
Funding Information
- Amount: up to $3,000
Optional add-on
- Water Quality Field Study and Student Project:
- Conduct a habitat restoration, clean-up or other service-learning project as part of the field program
- Visit a spring, cave or sinkhole to examine karst topography
- Water-Conserving Garden Project:
- Visit a local commercial farm or nursery to learn about the water-conserving best management practices implemented there. In your application, include the location and a summary of the field study.
Key Concepts
- Water Quality Field Study and Student Project:
- A watershed is an area of land that water flows across as it moves toward a common body of water, such as a stream, river, lake or coast.
- They all live in a watershed and everything they do can affect the quality of their water. Identify actions to protect their water resources with this watershed pledge.
- Scientists use different types of equipment and tests to measure water quality.
- An ecosystem is a community of microbes, plants and animals, including humans that interact with one another and with the physical environment where they live.
- There are many types of ecosystems all connected by water.
- Water-Conserving Garden Project:
- Florida’s future depends on a continued supply of adequate amounts of freshwater for human consumption and natural systems.
- Pollution comes from many sources, and pollution on the land’s surface can end up in their drinking water.
- Plants need water and adequate sunlight to grow.
- Different gardening methods use various amounts of water.
- Florida-Friendly Landscaping™ saves water and protects water quality.
- Hydrology and soils determine the kinds of plants that grow in specific locations.
- Freshwater Resources Educational Program:
- Florida’s future depends on a continued adequate supply of fresh water for human consumption and natural systems.
- Most of the water used in Florida’s homes comes from groundwater.
- Groundwater is replenished by rainfall as water circulates through the water cycle.
- Pollution comes from many sources, and pollution on the land’s surface can end up in their drinking water.
- Thei all need to save water in their day-to-day lives. Identify actions to conserve their water resources with the Daily Water Use at Home survey or ideas from the Classroom Challenge.
- Classroom Resources and Community Awareness Campaign:
- For Grant Type 4, programming must educate students on at least one of the following:
- Watersheds;
- Wetlands;
- Water cycle;
- Water resources.
- For Grant Type 4, programming must educate students on at least one of the following:
For more information, visit https://www.swfwmd.state.fl.us/residents/education/splash-grant-overview
