Rain Barrels save you money 4d: Participating in a Community

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This blog post was written by Madison (Mady) MacPeek, a 9th grade Living Environment student at Lancaster High School, Lancaster NY.

     The students and teacher in S11 have been getting very green
lately. For the 2013 Erie County Department of Environment and Planning Earth Day Rain Barrel Painting Contest they have done just that. The Coca - Cola Bottling Company of Buffalo provided the blank barrels, but the students in Mrs. Balling's Biology class gave it personality. The rain barrel was first sanded and primed with Glidden Gripper.

Rain Barrel primed with Glidden Gripper.

     The design concept centered around the idea that water is necessary for all life on Earth, and the students painted the barrel during 5 minute class breaks between periods. 
The design sketched out on the barrel


The paints that we used.

The parts of the design were color coded to match paint colors that we had available.
















     The Erie County Department of Environment and Planning chose the theme "Rainwater is a resource, not just a runoff!"  The rain barrel features a beautiful scene, decorated with rhinestone raindrops, colorful flowers and complete with a river with fish and frogs.  


     



     After the contest, the finished barrel will be placed in a public area in Lancaster (still to be determined). The water the rain barrel collects will be used to do things like water plants, saving money, and saving drinking water. The contest was open to all middle schools and high schools around Western New York, and shows how even little steps can help our environment. We wish them good luck in the contest!

Update on April 24th, 2013 We won 3rd place!
There was a press conference at the Rath Building in Downtown Buffalo, NY. 
our certificate of participation

Mark Poloncarz
Top three (first place is bottom left, second place is bottom right, ours was third place)

 Here are pictures of all of the rain barrels... http://www2.erie.gov/environment/sites/www2.erie.gov.environment/files/uploads/pdfs/ECS_2013%20Rain%20Barrel%20Painting%20Contest%20photographs%20with%20school%20names.pdf

 There will be more pictures coming!

originally posted on www.ballinwithballing.blogspot.com
 
Location: 1 Forton Drive, Lancaster, NY 14086, USA

Comments

  1. Mrs. ClemensApril 14, 2013 at 12:12 PM

    I just wanted to say that I'm really enjoying your blog! I especially like how you are approaching your district's APPR plan. I've shared your blog with a few of my friends and actually just wrote a post on my own blog referencing your blog! http://www.clemensclassroom.com/1/post/2013/04/charlotte-danielson-and-me.html

    Thanks again for writing such a helpful and inspiring blog!

    ReplyDelete

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