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Activity (Hands-On)Grades 6 - 8

A Guide to Rain Garden Construction

A rain garden.Rain gardens are designed and installed to reduce stormwater runoff, provide water quality treatment and promote vegetative growth.

Students are presented with a guide to rain garden construction in an activity that culminates the unit and pulls together what they have learned and prepared in materials during the three previous associated activities. They learn about the four vertical zones that make up a typical rain garden with the purpose to cultivate natural infiltration of stormwater. Student groups create personal rain gardens planted with native species that can be installed on the school campus, within the surrounding community, or at students' homes to provide a green infrastructure and low-impact development technology solution for areas with poor drainage that often flood during storm events.

Rain gardens are a promising green infrastructure (GI) and low-impact development (LID) technology. Similar to stormwater ponds and treatment wetlands, they rely on ecological interactions in a natural system to provide stormwater retention and pollution removal. Unlike stormwater ponds and treatment wetlands, rain gardens rely on terrestrial forested ecosystems, and dissimilar to treatment wetlands are designed to drain in hours. Rain gardens are typically constructed with high-permeability media, consisting of soil, sand and organic matter, designed to maximize infiltration, improve water quality and promote vegetative growth (Roy-Poirier, 2010).

From an environmental perspective, rain gardens recharge groundwater, provide natural stormwater management, reduce energy usage, improve water quality, reduce the heat-island effects and increase habitat. Social aspects to consider are the beautification and increase in recreational opportunities, improved health through cleaner air and water and improved psychological well-being. Economic concerns that are met range from a reduction in future cost of stormwater management and an increase in property value and local tourism.

After this activity, students should be able to:

  • Explain the steps involved in creating a rain garden.
  • Summarize the importance of planting native plant species.
  • Create a personal rain garden.

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