In this article, the author talks about a rain garden project at Hampton Elementary School in Bay City, Michigan. The goal of the project was to slow and filter silt-laden runoff (from parking lots, sidewalks, and playground) on its path to Saginaw Bay in Lake Huron. In addition, doing so, the rain gardens would demonstrate to the township, city, and the rural farming community a proven method of reducing storm water runoff. The rain garden project wove together science, technology, and society. The rain gardens, which hold more than 3,000 native plants, were the first public rain gardens in Bay County, Michigan. (Contains 8 notes.)