SLAP stands for “sea level awareness project.” It’s a local community activist project designed to raise awareness of the danger of sea level rise in my community here in Ventura. If Greenland completely melts (which, scientists say could happen before 2100,) sea level would rise over 20 feet worldwide.  My town, Ventura would be half way underwater. So we (a group of about 50 5th-8th graders) are working on installing over 100 poles in my city to warm of the potential sea level rise. We have split into 5 groups:Design, engineering, permissions, fundraising, manufacture, and media. The current SLAP pole design looks like this:

So I envision a line at the top that says “You’d be 9 feet under water” or however many feet you are 

underwater. This pole would be placed 11 feet above sea level, because the line is 9 feet up the pole, and 9 plus 11 is 20 feet above sea level. There’

  s also a solar powered blue light at the top so you can see it during the night. It also makes it look pretty!

 

On the first side, there are about 5 icons, explaining what would be lost at each sea level rising point. We’   ve come up with the power generating station, the beaches, and the waste treatment center so far, but we need to think of a few more.

The reason we need these icons is just so people don’t look at the pole and say, “oh, yay I’m safe! My house is above the line!”

    Well these icons let you know that if sea level rises just a few meters, the whole city is at stake, not just the people below the line.

The first side also has a foot ruler…

   showing how far above sea level you are. This pole is 10 feet above sea level, so the ruler starts at 11 feet.

 

The second side tells you why you would be 9 feet underwater. This is where we have a message like this, “If we do nothing about global warming, sea level would rise 20 feet by the end of the century” And then it will say, “let’s not do nothing”    

And this side will also have all the information about the project. It will say the name “

   SLAP-sea level awareness project.” And it will also have the sponsor. An organization or business can pay $50 or something to get their name on the pole. Each pole will have the name of the business that sponsored it.

 

The third side will say what you can do about it. We’   ll come up with a few simple things to put on there.

 

And then the back side will have this iMatter series on it.

 

So, we’ll be placing over 100 of these poles all around Ventura, warning people of the sea level rise.  


Each slap pole will be strategically placed so that a blue line at the top would be where future sea level rise would be. For example, if a pole is 11 feet above sea level, the line is 9 feet up the pole.