Last week, we talked about the green infrastructure often included in our school yards to combat the pollution caused by Combined Sewer Overflows (CSOs).

Of course, the Trust for Public Land is not the only organization or group working on this pollution problem. We like our playground stewards to understand how their schoolyards fit into climate resiliency efforts across the 5 boroughs. Climate and Urban Systems Partnership or CUSP has created an online crowd-sourced map of NYC. Any person can submit a data point that shares a location in the city impacted by climate change (red), helping to mitigate the effects of climate change (green), or that serves as resource for learning more (blue) about climate change resiliency.

If you have access to tablets in your classroom or a computer lab, your students might enjoy a virtual scavenger hunt through this city’s most awe inspiring, super-storm fighting adaptations. Create your own by perusing the map and making up questions based on your goals and students’ interests. I found it useful to provide search words and filter instructions for each question. Leave a comment if you’d like to be sent a copy our of our scavenger hunt!

Here are some CUSP Map highlights that usually pique the interest of our young citizen scientists:

This giant, inflatable subway tunnel balloon that could have prevented the costly flooding caused by Hurricane Sandy:

This park built on top of the North River Wastewater Treatment Plant:

Hurricane Evacuation Zones:

Their schoolyard! (If the students I’m working with have a green-infrastructure schoolyard, we add it as a data point on the map).