First Installation: Nebinger Elementary School

The first greenSTEM installation took place last week at George W. Nebinger Elementary School in Bella Vista. The school not only has a new rain garden; it has a new, high-tech rain garden with sensors that allow students to monitor soil moisture in real time via the web. Students can use the data to schedule waterings, analyze meterological patterns, catalog plant species’ watering needs, and correlate environmental data. The sensor kit (called a Root Kit) is tucked inside a spider, the winning design from last month’s student design competition. Data from Nebinger’s garden can now be viewed live on this web page.

Thanks to Ms. Odoroff, her students, George Li from the Philadelphia School District for the technical assistance, and all the helpers who came out to oversee the installation. If the spider looks a little bit worse for the wear in the photo above, that’s largely due to our waterproofing efforts. We used Rust-Oleum LeakSeal (a spray-on rubber coating), and it left some residue. We also ended up poking a hole through the spider’s back for the Root Kit’s antenna; we got a better signal to the 4th floor classroom with the antenna exposed.

Up next: Cook-Wissahickon Elementary School.