I teach at a high school that was named a 2008 North Carolina Honor School of Excellence based on the state's standards. I am always looking for ways to engage my students and raise our environmental awareness. Ours is a very high performing school which just so happens to be luckily located by the Bogue Sound, a body of water connected to the Atlantic Ocean.
We live in an area that is undergoing rapid change and development, all of which is not necessarily viable and good. One of the environmental tipping points of our area might just be the decline of the quality of the water that surrounds our community.
As a teacher, I would like to facilitate the study of the water salinity that surrounds us, testing estuarine water, the sound and the ocean. I would like to provide my marine Science and/or Environmental Science students with refractometers that are easy to use but accurate. I would like for my students to test the salinity of the water at different sites around our school campus and community and at different times of the year. With the refractometers, we should be able to test the waters, then we can use the data to compare influences in our outcomes: Will weather be a factor? Will temperature affect salinity? Does depth affect the sample? How are organisms affected by salinity rates? Once all the data is collected, my students can research our findings and make our data analysis charts.
What a real world application to give my eager students! This environmental activity will prepare them for college research.
Won't you support our study?
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As a teacher-founded nonprofit, we're trusted by thousands of teachers and supporters across the country. This classroom request for funding was created by Mrs. Sheila Moore and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.