Spongy School - Rainfall and Flood Resilience - Ireland
How Spongy is Your School?
Rainfall and Flood Resilience Observation Project
Project Dates: January 6th - February 28th, 2025
Rainfall Observation Dates: January 13th - February 7th
- Measure and record rainfall daily using a provided rain gauge and report data to the GLOBE Programme database.
- Make a Rainfall Water Map. Students will mark puddles, water pooling, drainage issues or localized flood events. They will also estimate the proportion of permeable vs. non-permeable spaces around their school grounds. Some students may even choose to complete soil type and soil permeability tests. View the live rainfall and puddle mapping activities here.
- Study and create a ‘spongy school’ rainfall-resilient school design. Students will study nature-based drainage solutions to discuss suitable rainwater management solutions to build flood resilience
- Present findings and get expert recommendations. Create a plan to implement your chosen nature-based solution on school grounds!
The Project Resource Guide contains project key details, 5 lesson plans, 5 hands-on activities, a video resource library, project templates, and more! Make sure you take a close look at your resource guide below!
Primary Level Resource Guide: Download here
Second Level Resource Guide: Download here
Rainfall Observation Poster: Download here
Nature-based Sustainable Urban Drainage Solutions Poster: Download here
Nature-based Sustainable Urban Drainage Solutions Poster: Download here
- Daily: Report your Rain Gauge Reading to GLOBE on the Observer App on a phone/tablet OR on the browser here. Make sure you sign in with your Teacher GLOBE Account
- Weekly: Submit your weekly rain gauge readings and any observed rainfall-related water ponding/pooling/flooding in the GLOBE Ireland Rainfall and Flooding Tracker once a week, perhaps on a Friday. Access the link to report this here.
Your resource guide contains more detailed information about this process. Only schools in Ireland can use the Rainfall and Flooding Tracker.
The How Spongy is Your School Project- 2024 Assessment Criteria:
- Science:
- Project follows the scientific method of inquiry, problem, observation, and observation-based solutions are drawn. Rain is measured regularly at the same time, rain gauge is set up as advised. SCORE: 1-3
- Project compares with local, international, or national rainfall trends- e.g. other schools in the project, or NASA’s Precipitation Graph: SCORE: 1-3
- Project includes mention of past flooding or flood risk maps. SCORE: 1-3
- Project includes soil/surface testing. SCORE: 1-3
- Communication & Community:
- Project has 1-3 evidence-based calls to action. SCORE: 1-3
- School community engagement/project communication plans are made. SCORE: 1-3
- Project has a clear call to action developed in an engaging format (blog/ video/ art / music / presentation): Score: 1-3
- Action & Nature-based solutions designs:
- Site inventory Map is easily legible, and there is indication of the % permeable vs. impermeable space. Score: 1-3
- The plan has clear environmental, social, biodiversity, or climate resilience-based benefits. Score: 1-3
- The plan has an ideal aim and a staged timeline proposal. Score: 1-3
- The plan has a realistic evaluation of possible challenges/opportunities for implementation- e.g. A SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats). Score: 1-3
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Expert Webinar: January 2025
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Student presentations: February [TBD]
1) Can we report a daily rainfall reading to GLOBE if we missed reporting it on the exact day?
Yes! You can manually enter the date and time you want to report a rainfall reading for. So it is always possible to report your rainfall readings one at a time retroactively.
2) What do we do if we forget to read the rain gauge one of the days?
If you forget to read the gauge one day, it’s ok. Just read the gauge the next day- and when you report it on the GLOBE Observer change the *days accumulated rain to 2 or however many days it has been since you last checked.3) What if there is no rain to report?
No rain is equally important to report as lots of rain! If there is no rain in the rain gauge, report 0mm and if there is less than 1mm, report T for Trace. Tracking weeks without rain helps experts forecast drought and flood risk. For example, if we have a very dry summer, and the soil gets very dry, we may have a higher flood risk in the autumn when there are higher rainfall levels. Similarly, if there is a lot of rain for a whole season, and the soil is saturated (full of water)4) How do we report after the weekend?
Read your rain gauge on a Monday as usual. When you open the Observer App to report the millimetres of rainfall, change the *days accumulated rain to 3. That way the scientists will know that the amount of rain in the rain gauge fell over 3 days.5) Where can we view other schools' rainfall and flood observations?
Click here to view the the updating live map of school rainfall and flood/water pooling issues.-
Welcome from GLOBE Ireland to the 2024 How Spongy is Your School? Project: Watch here
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Mary Curley, Met Éireann: Rainfall and Flooding in Ireland. Watch here
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Dorien Janey, NASA Precipitation Mission. Watch here
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University of Malta Video: Watch here
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Q&A: Watch here
- View Rockford Secondary School's Project here
- View Gormanston Secondary's Project here
- View Marianum, Groenlo The Netherlands Project here
- View Rathmichael National School's Project here
- View Newtown National School's Project here
1) Send the latitude and longitude of your school location to Dorian Janny at dorian.w.janney@nasa.gov
2) Dorian Janney will send you a line graph that shows you the seasonal precipitation for the past 23 years as measured by the GPM mission. Learn more about the Tell Your Water Story Activity here.
2) Dorian Janney will send you a line graph that shows you the seasonal precipitation for the past 23 years as measured by the GPM mission. Learn more about the Tell Your Water Story Activity here.
If you have any questions, please email us at globe@eeu.antaisce.org
You can also follow along on our social media accounts @GLOBEIreland on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook!
You can also follow along on our social media accounts @GLOBEIreland on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook!
