Ripple Effect

Ripple Effect Ripple Effect: Water Literacy for New Orleans Every New Orleans citizen must graduate high school with basic water literacy.

That starts this year with Ripple Effect. Teachers, designers, and water experts are working together to develop a design-based “water literacy” curriculum for New Orleans. All lessons and units are aligned to Next Generation Science and Common Core standards. The project is in its pilot year at KIPP Central City Primary, starting with grades K-4. OUR STORY
In 2012, one teacher and three architect

s created a water-workshop for 30 fourth graders at KIPP Central City Primary. What started as a one-day workshop about New Orleans became a three-week study of local geography and topography, subsidence, flooding, infrastructure, and international “water cities,” like Amsterdam. Students ended the unit by working directly with the visiting designers, as they used design to propose creative solutions to address the flooding issues in their own schoolyard. The Sewerage & Water Board of New Orleans issued a RFP in January 2014 for environmental professionals, organizations, and businesses to implement green infrastructure demonstration projects, education, and outreach initiatives. Ripple Effect was one of seven organizations to receive this funding. Today, we have six teachers, nine designers, and water experts from around the region collaborating on similar units of study for all grades at our school, kindergarten through fourth grade. Next year, we hope to expand upwards into middle and high school, all while adding to our library of elementary-grade units. HOW WE DEVELOP CURRICULUM
Teachers, designers, and water experts are working together to develop a design-based “water literacy” curriculum for New Orleans. The first units cover topics ranging from shaping the flow of water to the interaction of soils and water. Teachers conceive of each unit’s design challenge, collaborate with designers to refine their ideas, and test all lessons in their own classrooms. Designers ensure that the design process is fully integrated throughout the unit. They also contribute knowledge of visual, hands-on, and experiential learning. Water experts peer-review all units, helping to ensure that New Orleans water issues and science content are accurately represented in the classroom.

A huge thank you to all our generous donors!! $5,520 raised from 35 donors. Every dollar directly supports instructi...
05/04/2022

A huge thank you to all our generous donors!! $5,520 raised from 35 donors. Every dollar directly supports instruction in New Orleans .

GiveNOLA started at midnight and goes until 11:59pm tonight. Whether you give $10, $20, $200 or $1000, every donation ma...
05/03/2022

GiveNOLA started at midnight and goes until 11:59pm tonight. Whether you give $10, $20, $200 or $1000, every donation makes an impact. Every dollar we raise directly supports our Fellows—teachers who spend extra time on nights and weekends learning, practicing, and planning instruction for their students. These teachers pilot new curriculum and teaching tactics. They are the innovation core of the organization. Show some love for your city. Show some love for Ripple Effect!

If you love Ripple Effect and want to support our work, give whatever feels right to you. Whether it’s $5, $20, or $50, ...
05/02/2022

If you love Ripple Effect and want to support our work, give whatever feels right to you. Whether it’s $5, $20, or $50, every drop makes a difference. As always, GiveNOLA funds help cover stipends for teachers who do a Ripple Effect Fellowship.

Fellowships are the core of Ripple Effect innovation; every year, we use these small but intense experiences to develop and test new and improved approaches to teacher professional development, curriculum design, or assessment that then become part of RE’s larger projects with schools and districts.

05/02/2022

Painting the flow of the river as it spreads and slows to form a . Part of this year’s Invisible Rivers teacher fellowship in partnership with and

Shoutout to the amazing Karen Marshall who is leading all the field based testing procedures this weekend! We have our ...
01/10/2022

Shoutout to the amazing Karen Marshall who is leading all the field based testing procedures this weekend! We have our first outdoor field adventure with Invisible Rivers teachers on Saturday, so Karen and I headed out to Crevasse 22 to make short videos for testing salinity, temperature, PH, and turbidity. Our goal is to ensure all our teachers not only feel comfortable doing these protocols themselves, but that they also feel confident in getting an entire classroom of students to run these protocols independently. File this under every or Louisiana State Performance Expectation where students must ask questions that can be investigated, plan and carry out investigations, or analyze and interpret data.

THANK YOU to everyone who showed their support for Ripple Effect during our end-of-year Elevate campaign! Together, we r...
12/23/2021

THANK YOU to everyone who showed their support for Ripple Effect during our end-of-year Elevate campaign! Together, we raised over $7,000. All funds will help pay for this year’s Teacher Fellowship program, including stipends for teachers and visiting experts, transportation for teacher and student field trips, and the creation of new water literacy curriculum. What a wonderful way to end the year. Best wishes and happy holidays from the entire RE team and family.

We asked our board members and partners what they love about Ripple Effect. 1. Natalie Davis, RE advisor and collaborato...
12/22/2021

We asked our board members and partners what they love about Ripple Effect.

1. Natalie Davis, RE advisor and collaborator
2. Kristin Gunckel, RE advisor and collaborator
3. Heather Schwartz, RE board member
4. Claire Anderson, RE executive director and co-founder.

Want to stay in the loop on Ripple Effect news? Curious about water literacy resources, readings, quotes, and ideas from...
12/19/2021

Want to stay in the loop on Ripple Effect news? Curious about water literacy resources, readings, quotes, and ideas from our broad community of stakeholders, including educators, scientists, education researchers, artists, and water-focused practitioners? Our newsletter comes out 4-5 times per year, and is the best way to know what’s happening in the world of . Click the link in our bio to sign up. All we require is your name and email address.

Compassion is an imaginative space: if I see and value your humanity, and you see and value mine, what new possibilities...
12/18/2021

Compassion is an imaginative space: if I see and value your humanity, and you see and value mine, what new possibilities emerge when it comes to creating sustainable solutions? What might become of our relationship to one another? How might we relate differently to our environment? And how might we feel and think about people and places we will never see, but which are connected to us and our shared water systems?

Water literacy education brings these questions to the forefront of teacher and student learning. We know that climate and water issues require so more than technical knowledge to address. Scientists, engineers, policy makers, and other change-makers must also consider the political, ethical, and social factors that contribute to those issues in the first place. That’s why, when we teach children and youth about these issues, we have to also challenge them to think through: What’s right? What’s fair? What connections must be forged? What rifts can be healed?

These are the roots of authentic leadership and transformative change. Technical knowledge, yes, but partnered with a fierce commitment to care and compassion.

Compassion is an imaginative space: if I see and value your humanity, and you see and value mine, what new possibilities...
12/18/2021

Compassion is an imaginative space: if I see and value your humanity, and you see and value mine, what new possibilities emerge when it comes to creating sustainable solutions? What might become of our relationship to one another? How might we relate differently to our environment? And how might we feel and think about people and places we will never see, but which are connected to us and our shared water systems?

Water literacy education brings these questions to the forefront of teacher and student learning. We know that climate and water issues require so more than technical knowledge to address. Scientists, engineers, policy makers, and other change-makers must also consider the political, ethical, and social factors that contribute to those issues in the first place. That’s why, when we teach children and youth about these issues, we have to also challenge them to think through: What’s right? What’s fair? What connections must be forged? What rifts can be healed?

These are the roots of authentic leadership and transformative change. Technical knowledge, yes, but partnered with a fierce commitment to care and compassion.

We partner with teachers to make sure they have the resources content knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge to tea...
12/17/2021

We partner with teachers to make sure they have the resources content knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge to teach these topics with the sensitivity and depth they require.

If you want to support our mission, please consider a one-time or repeating gift to Ripple Effect Water Literacy Project...
12/15/2021

If you want to support our mission, please consider a one-time or repeating gift to Ripple Effect Water Literacy Project. Our end-of-year giving campaign, Elevate, ends Saturday!

Address

New Orleans, LA

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Ripple Effect posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Business

Send a message to Ripple Effect:

Shortcuts

Share