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Students act as stewards of the environment and learn valuable skills in the process.
Fifth-grade students, their teacher, and adult chaperones walked from their school to a nearby pond, lugging a wagon filled with an assortment of scientific testing tools. They picked up speed as they crested a hill and the pond came into view. It was far from a beautiful sight; the pond water was murky, and the shore was a minefield of goose droppings. They unloaded their equipment and started collecting data by testing the water quality in the pond and surveying the level of goose droppings in the surrounding area.
Once the samples and data were collected, students loaded up their tools and returned to their classroom. Back inside, they worked with a community partner- staff from the local conservation district-to discuss their observations and potential solutions. The pond was located next to the conservation district's office; the staff knew the pond was dirty but needed help implementing a solution. The water in the pond was polluted with rain runoff from nearby roads and parking lots. The grass was mowed short to the edge of the pond, creating an attractive habitat for the Canada geese that left behind droppings that also added pollutants to the water.
The students who adopted this pond were learning that young citizens can use science to improve their local community. They identified a real-world problem, collected and analyzed data, and developed and implemented a solution. Through this process, the students honed their content knowledge of related Next Generation Science Standards and felt empowered to protect the environment around them. They became ambassadors for positive change and stewards of the environment.
The teacher of these students is a participant in a local environmental initiative that helps teachers engage their students in water quality projects. She attended a summer professional development institute that incorporated the teaching resources shared in this article. Her students learned that a polluted pond can impact the entire aquatic ecosystem, and native species may not be able to survive when their habitat is contaminated. The loss of one species often impacts the survival of other species in the food web, creating a domino effect of species loss in the pond environment and surrounding area....