Stout Middle School, in collaboration with a team from the University of Michigan, has turned a local environmental issue into a set of lessons for sixth grade science students.
Students in Ms. Diana Ballout’s class held a science-fair type exhibit after school on Feb. 25 providing different information about flooding, flood prevention, and emergency preparedness. The displays included information about rain gardens, storm water management, flood barriers, emergency preparedness kits, flood alarms, and more. Many of the displays were interactive, showing how stormwater moves through rain gardens or pumps or can trigger a flood alarm.
Some Stout students live in parts of Dearborn that were hit hard by neighborhood flooding in 2021 and 2014. One display included pictures from 2014 showing when the emergency room at the nearby hospital flooded.
The presentation was the culmination of work by Stout and the University of Michigan to transform a pressing local issue into the centerpiece of a middle school science unit. Ms. Ballout, 19 parents, approximately 120 students across four classes, and U of M researchers co-designed the curriculum around flooding in Dearborn.
Parents played an active role throughout, sharing firsthand experiences and attending a family night that helped students connect scientific concepts to their own community.
“One of the main goals of the collaboration is to bridge the science learning that students do in the classroom to their families and communities, making our learning scientific and social,” Ms. Ballout said.
The Science for Climate Justice Community Night was touted as “an interactive, educational event exploring the impact of flooding and climate change in the Dearborn community.”
Students Ahmad Traore and Radwan Almuraisi were part of a team that explained what should be included in an emergency first aid kit.
“I think the lessons were very good, and they taught us a lot of stuff,” Ahmad said.
Radwan agreed.
“It taught us to make these safety kits, and hopefully it will help families keep their kids safe in an emergency,” he said.
Student Lureen Mukahal said she especially enjoyed working with the team from the University of Michigan.
“It’s been really fun actually. I’ve been really excited, and I love the lessons,” she said.
