STEM Outreach, DeSana Middle School

When concrete materials testing, environmental work, and education comes full circle…Geo-Hydro Engineers has had an ongoing relationship with Forsyth County Schools doing Construction Materials Testing, Geotechnical, and Environmental work for the school district.  In 2015, our CMT department conducted field density testing for the structural fill placement, shallow foundation bearing surface evaluations, laboratory and field concrete testing, and structural steel inspections during the construction of DeSana Middle School.  This past November Heidi Gilkenson, an Environmental Scientist in our Environmental Department, had the chance to step into DeSana Middle School for a grade level wide assembly with the sixth grade students.  This provided the students with a hands on experience learning about various soil textures and how they relate to Erosion and Sediment Control Plans.  During the assembly, the sixth grade students listened to an interactive presentation, then went back to their classrooms to further discuss soil textures and got hands-on feeling the differences between a sand, a silt, and a clay. Then the students were challenged with designing an Erosion and Sediment Control Plan for an Outdoor Classroom.  To determine the location of the classroom students considered the topography and soil types of the school property.  Students then implemented their Erosion and Sediment Control Plan ideas combined with their classroom locations by building a small scale outdoor classroom in a shoe box with temporary and permanent best management practices.   Below are the maps students used to determine the classroom locations and a picture of the assembly!