Rainwater Harvesting Service Learning Project
Summary

Context
Audience
Skills and concepts that students must have mastered
How the activity is situated in the course
Goals
Content/concepts goals for this activity
- Students will learn about rainfall patterns.
- Students will learn the relationship between catchment area and rainwater volume collected.
- Student will learn about water use for various purposes and decide the use for their collected rainwater.
Higher order thinking skills goals for this activity
Other skills goals for this activity
Description of the activity/assignment
In this service learning project, students, teachers and community members will work together to design and construct a rainwater harvesting system for their school campus.
- Research RWH design basics and local conditions
- Explore how RWH could be used on your campus and develop a basic design.
- Present findings and action plan to community partners, school administration and student body.
- Enact the action plan to construct a RWH system on your campus and raise community awareness for water conservation
Determining whether students have met the goals

Teaching materials and tips
- Activity Description/Assignment:
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Read Texas Manual on Rainwater Harvesting (Acrobat (PDF) 1.9MB Feb9 10)
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Explore TWDB's Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
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Complete the Rainwater Harvesting Web Quest (Acrobat (PDF) 722kB Sep23 14) and you will gain an understanding of the history, benefits,and components of a rainwater harvesting system and learn how to start building your own system.
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Explore the reports for the winners of the Rain Catcher Award
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Propose a RWH design for your school and present to community partners
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Build a RWH system on your campus
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Celebrate your accomplishment and recognize community partners
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Read Texas Manual on Rainwater Harvesting (Acrobat (PDF) 1.9MB Feb9 10)
- Instructors Notes:
In this SL project as in all RWH systems, for RWH to succeed you need the following;
- Design and build a system that is suitable to local conditions and your needs.
- Students and community partners must have a genuine interest in conservation and recycling.
- Be able to do minor repairs and properly maintain the system
For an overview of Rainwater Harvesting, please review this power point presentation (PowerPoint 5.9MB Feb9 10) and consider sharing it with your project team.
For assistance in designing and implementing service learning exercises or courses, the SERC 8 Block approach is a valuable resource.
- Case Studies/Examples from the Texas Rain Catcher Award
- Hunt School Project (Microsoft Word 27kB Feb9 10) - Hunt, Texas
- Hunt School Project (Microsoft Word 27kB Feb9 10) - Hunt, Texas
Other Materials
Supporting references/URLs
- Texas Manual on Rainwater Harvesting (Acrobat (PDF) 1.9MB Feb8 10) http://www.twdb.state.tx.us/iwt/rainwater.asp
- Rainwater Harvesting Web Quest (Microsoft Word 2.4MB Feb1 10) http://www.twdb.state.tx.us/iwt/rainwater/docs.html