Water Rocks! engaged nearly 10,000 elementary and middle school students during the 2021--22 school year. The Iowa State University Extension and Outreach youth water education program recently published its 2021-22 Water Rocks! Evaluation Report, which details its activities and programs, summarizes encounters with youth across the state, and includes feedback from teachers and students who have participated in virtual and in-person visits from the Water Rocks! team.
"This report highlights the work we've done in engaging with 9,702 elementary and middle school students during the 2021--22 school year, and reviews the effectiveness of our programming," said Ann Staudt, Water Rocks! director. "While this past year was still affected by the pandemic, we were able to get back into schools and classrooms for more than half of our visits, engaging in hands-on learning with some of Iowa's future scientists, teachers and leaders."
Working with schools throughout Iowa, Water Rocks! offered a selection of in-person and virtual program choices. In-person classroom visits reached 5,144 students with 227 presentations in 68 schools. In addition, 178 live streamed presentations and 32 experimental Spoken Earth Workshops -- offered in-person and virtually -- reached 4,558 students.
The report also contains examination of Water Rocks! programming through pre- and post-lesson student evaluations, teacher evaluations, and internal workshopping of program elements to ensure they continue to meet current needs and objectives. Demographic data for participants, presentation content, evaluations and feedback for each delivery method and topic are detailed in the report.
"Evaluation and feedback have been and continue to be cornerstones of the Water Rocks! program," said Staudt. "We measure our success based on students' learning and retention of important age-appropriate science concepts and terminology, tied to school curricular objectives."
In June 2022 Water Rocks! also premiered a new teaching tool for community and school use. Water Rocks!: The Musical is an original production available royalty-free to groups looking to carry water education to audiences in their communities and schools. A fully scripted and scored production package will be available later this fall from Water Rocks!.
"During the 2021-22 school year the Water Rocks! team met many challenges and opportunities with creativity and innovation, and I am delighted that we were able to report an upswing in our engagement numbers while also expanding programming in ways that will present chances to work with even more of our state's youth in the coming years," concluded Staudt.
To read the report -- including handwritten thank you notes from teachers and students -- visit www.waterrocks.org/2021-22-water-rocks-evaluation-repor
Looking forward to the year ahead, Water Rocks! is currently accepting requests for fall school visits. Topics available for request include:
- Water & Watersheds (Grades 3-8).
- Wetlands (Grades 3-8).
- Pollinators (Grades 4-8).
- Ecosystems & Biodiversity (Grades 4-8).
- Exploring Natural Resources (Grades K-2).
Requests can be made at https://www.waterrocks.org/request-a-visit
Water Rocks! is Iowa's unique, award-winning statewide youth water education program. Through a combination of STEM and the arts, especially music, Water Rocks! educates, challenges and inspires young people toward a greater appreciation of our state's water, soil and other natural resources.
Partners of Water Rocks! include: Iowa State University Extension and Outreach, Iowa Department of Natural Resources (United States Environmental Protection Agency, Section 319 of the Clean Water Act), Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture and personal gifts of support. Learn more at www.waterrocks.org .
Categories: Iowa, General