E-STEM Stories: Branching Out shares stories of innovative E-STEM work from around the world. E-STEM engages students in meaningful, real-world environmental problem-solving that integrates science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). 

This post highlights Groundwork San Diego-Chollas Creek, a 2024 recipient of a Global E-STEM Award. These awards, which support both new and established global E-STEM initiatives, are made possible by Pratt & Whitney and the North American Association for Environmental Education (NAAEE).

This blog post was written by Allie McCarthy, youth and family programs director for Groundwork San Diego-Chollas Creek.

Picture the moment a sixth grader who once asked, "why would it flood?," walks through her own neighborhood and knows the answer and what she can do about it. That kind of moment is exactly why we do this work.

At EarthLab, the environmental education program and outdoor classroom of Groundwork San Diego-Chollas Creek, we believe that the most powerful learning happens when students can see themselves in the curriculum. Our community in Southeastern San Diego,  is one of the most environmentally and economically underserved in the region. Nearly 90% of students at Millennial Tech Middle School (MTM), our partner school, qualify for free or reduced lunch. Many have experienced flooding, extreme heat, and food insecurity firsthand. These aren't abstract environmental concepts for them. They're daily realities.

With support from a Global E-STEM Award, provided by NAAEE and Pratt & Whitney, we deepened our long-standing partnership with MTM in 2025 to deliver a full-year, interdisciplinary, project-based learning (PBL) curriculum across 6th, 7th, and 8th grades. In three seven-week units, 378 students investigated climate change, sustainable food systems, and watershed science—all rooted in the place they know best: their own neighborhood.

Sixth graders began the year by diving into climate science fundamentals—weather vs. climate, heat islands, drought, flooding, and energy—through hands-on experiments like greenhouse gas demonstrations, permeability boxes, and thermal heat mapping. But the real learning happened outside the classroom. Students walked their own streets, observed cracked sidewalks and treeless blocks, and asked: What would it look like if our neighborhood were designed for the climate challenges we actually face?

Each class was assigned a climate solution theme—Water, Heat, Energy & Food, or Outdoor Access—and students built 3D models of redesigned, climate-resilient neighborhoods to present at a public showcase. The results were remarkable. Pre/post surveys of 92 students showed the strongest gains in climate adaptation knowledge, particularly around heat and flood resilience. Even more striking were the attitude shifts: Students increasingly believed that climate change is a local issue, and they reported a much stronger sense of personal agency.

Student interviews illuminated what the data couldn't fully capture. One student reflected: "I feel like this project gave us a chance to share our ideas, work together, to build... not just when we're older, but also now we can start thinking of solutions and trying to make an impact to change the community." Another described her eureka moment walking near Chollas Creek: "I used to think 'why would it flood?' Now I know why, and I know how to prevent it."

The 7th grade unit brought climate education into the food system through a truly cross-curricular EcoBlock project. In Science, students designed sustainable neighborhood gardens complete with rain barrels, composting systems, chicken coops, and hydroponic growing beds. In math, they calculated ratios and proportions to scale up climate-friendly recipes using low environmental impact ingredients and then actually cooked them. In history, they drew parallels between Roman aqueduct engineering and modern California water systems. In English, they wrote original community garden stories inspired by the novel Seedfolks.

The interdisciplinary integration was a standout strength. Teachers across subjects noted that EarthLab's presence transformed the way students engaged. "At the beginning of the unit, you could see them struggling a little more with the ratios," the math teacher noted, "and then by the end, they were much more comfortable. They were saying, 'Let's do this, and tomorrow we go to EarthLab!'" The unit culminated in an E-Game Family Night showcase, where students proudly presented their EcoBlock models, cookbooks, and stories to family and community members.

Survey data from 78 students showed consistently high STEM identity (87% overall), strong social-emotional learning indicators, and deep environmental connectedness—with over 90% of students saying they understand that their actions affect the environment and expressing a desire to protect it. Project artifact assessments highlighted exceptional performance in community connection, effort, and creativity.

For 8th graders, the focus shifted to the Chollas Creek watershed, the waterway that runs through the heart of their community and has flooded their streets. Students built a multidisciplinary understanding of the watershed through every subject: a historical timeline of events affecting Chollas Creek Watershed pre-colonization to 2024; persuasive letters to city officials advocating for green infrastructure; watershed slope calculations using real elevation data; and hands-on physical watershed models testing how slope, channel curvature, and floodplain materials affect flood dynamics.

The timing was deeply meaningful. Recent flooding in Southeastern San Diego had displaced some students from their homes, and teachers noted that this made the unit feel urgent and real in a way that no textbook could replicate. "A project like this is accessible because every student can find a role," one teacher explained, "but it's also meaningful because we just experienced flooding. It felt like something that was real versus something that is involved but not necessarily relevant."

Post-survey responses reflected this engagement: Nearly half of students described the project positively, highlighting the hands-on activities, place-based connections, and the opportunity to see their own neighborhood from an aerial watershed perspective. Teachers reported that typically disengaged students stepped into unexpected leadership roles during the watershed model build—a testament to what happens when curriculum connects to lived experience.

Across all three grade levels, a few themes emerged again and again. Students are most engaged when learning is hands-on, community-based, and connected to real environmental challenges they can see and feel. Place-based E-STEM doesn't just teach science—it builds agency. It tells students: your neighborhood matters, your ideas matter, and you have the knowledge and tools to make a difference.

The Pratt & Whitney E-STEM award was instrumental in making this work possible. It enabled us to deepen the curriculum, invest in materials and instructional capacity, and ensure that EarthLab Educators could be present in classrooms day after day—not as a "special visitor," but as a genuine instructional partner. Teachers emphasized this point consistently: the PBL could not have happened without us embedded alongside them.

To others working on E-STEM projects, our advice is this: trust the community. The most powerful moments in our program happened when students brought their own experiences into the curriculum—when a lesson about watersheds lit up because students had lived through a flood, or when a recipe-scaling activity clicked because a student connected it to cooking at home. Don't treat the neighborhood as a backdrop. Make it the curriculum.

We're proud that the EarthLab program achieved a 90% effectiveness rate for delivering meaningful outcomes in climate literacy, STEM identity, civic engagement, and environmental stewardship. But the number we hold onto is this: 340 young people in Southeastern San Diego ended 2025 with a stronger sense that they understand their community's environmental challenges — and that they can do something about them.

That's what E-STEM is for.