CHT Foundation Supports Lloyd Center’s Watershed Information Pilot Project with $5,000 Grant

The Lloyd Center is pleased to announce that it has received a $5,000 grant from the CHT Foundation in support of the Center’s Watershed Information Pilot Project (WIPP). The grant will help to support the first year of WIPP, which aims to introduce two interactive, web-based learning tools into curricula associated with the now firmly established Climate Science Learning Program (CSLP) in two to four grade classrooms in Greater New Bedford during this school year.

‘This financial support will make a significant difference in the lives of the children we aim to reach through the development and implementation of the Watershed Information Pilot Project and the Climate Science Learning Project in local schools.’ commented Lloyd Center Executive Director Rachel Stronach, ‘We are very proud to have the support of the CHT Foundation in this unique and important way.’

The ultimate goal of WIPP is to build a twenty-first century platform for information sharing about watershed health and preservation, employing the necessary speed and comprehensive format to support timely, informed community decisions relating to climate change.  The CHT Foundation’s grant will help to make possible the first step in that direction.

As part of WIPP, students will use a data capture application for smart phones and computer tablets in the field to collect such information as temperature readings, pictures of the color of the water, the location of animal sightings, etc.  An online “data hub,” where students will be able to review, organize, analyze, communicate and share the data they’ve collected by logging into a website is also under development as part of WIPP.  Both technologies will be seamlessly integrated into the fifth grade Climate Science Learning curriculum.