Ecological Design Challenge: Secaucus

• In this activity, students will design a plan to restore a tidal drainage ditch in Secaucus, New Jersey that was damaged by Superstorm Sandy.
  
• The plans must not damage the adjacent wetlands and must include criteria for successful completion and ideas for how the site will be monitored. 
• This activity is a part of New Jersey's Department of Environmental Protection's Building Ecological Solutions for Coastal Community Hazards educational program. 

Positives

• This activity gives students a chance to use critical thinking and problem-solving skills to address real-world problems.
  
• The instructions and images of the actual site are included in the PDF.

Additional Prerequisites

• Teachers may want to discuss types of structural features that can help prevent flooding and erosion before students begin the activity.
• This NJ DEP site provides photographs, site assessments, permitting documents, and other information about the project.
  
• Teachers may want to share this rubric with students to communicate clear expectations for the activity.

Differentiation

• Students could work individually, in pairs, or in small groups.
• Teachers could extend the activity into a larger project, including posters, slideshows, or diagrams to explain their plans.
• Engineering and design classes could build models (physical or digital) to understand how the current debris, vegetation, and soil are impeding the tidal flow and what elements must be removed to improve the flow.
• Other resources on this topic include this video on updating infrastructure to prevent flooding in the NJ Meadowlands, this New Jersey flood mapper, and this fact sheet on climate change in New Jersey.