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SFU EDUC 816 students collaborated with City of Vancouver’s Green Infrastructure staff to develop education materials that build early public understanding, literacy, and stewardship around urban rainwater management, watershed protection, and nature-based solutions in line with the BC curriculum. 

The Journey of Water: From Rain to Salmon with Rainy the Raindrop is a cross-curricular, arts-integrated mini-unit designed primarily for Grade 2, with adaptable links to the BC curriculum from Kindergarten through Grade 5. The project uses storytelling, illustration, and hands-on inquiry to help students understand the water cycle, the differences between natural and urban water systems, and the importance of water stewardship in their local environment.

Centered around a personified character, Rainy the Raindrop, the unit invites students to follow water’s journey from precipitation through runoff, watersheds, and salmon habitat. Through four scaffolded lessons, students explore key scientific concepts such as evaporation, condensation, precipitation, runoff, permeable and impermeable surfaces, while also examining how human-built environments affect water quality and ecosystems.

A core feature of the project is its student-created comic book, developed over the course of the unit. This creative assessment allows learners to demonstrate understanding through visual storytelling, supporting diverse learning styles while strengthening skills in English Language Arts, visual arts, and communication. The comic format values imagination, lived experience, and student voice, positioning learners as knowledge creators rather than passive recipients.

The project is deeply grounded in place-based learning and Indigenous perspectives. It aligns with the First Peoples Principles of Learning, emphasizing interconnectedness, responsibility, and learning through story. Carefully selected Indigenous anchor texts support each lesson, helping students understand water not only as a scientific system, but as a living presence with cultural, spiritual, and ecological significance. The concept of stewardship is reinforced through examples of Indigenous leadership, youth activism, and reciprocal relationships with the land and water.

In its final lesson, the unit shifts from awareness to action by introducing rain gardens as a practical, locally relevant solution to urban water pollution and runoff. Students learn how green infrastructure can protect watersheds and salmon habitat, and are encouraged to imagine how they, their families, and their communities can help care for water systems. This emphasis on agency supports early civic engagement and environmental responsibility.

Overall, The Journey of Water integrates science, arts, literacy, social studies, and Indigenous ways of knowing into a cohesive learning experience that nurtures curiosity, empathy, and environmental stewardship. The unit is flexible, scalable, and designed to be extended through outdoor learning, field visits, community partnerships, and school-based action projects, making it a strong model for interdisciplinary, place-responsive education.