My students need a Leaf Pack Stream Ecology Kit to study macro invertebrates in a continuation of their year-long hands-on study of water quality at a local lake.
Perhaps explained best in the words of a student, my class is learning and protecting the environment at the same time, "This study changed my point of view because I never knew there was so much trash at [the lake]. My eyes were opened up because now I know how important it is to keep it clean."
My students are seventh graders at a public school in Florida.
Because my science class is held in a normal classroom setting without a lab environment needed for many experiments, students are not able to participate in as many hands-on labs as is necessary for meaningful science learning. As a result, we have taken the classroom outside to an outdoor lab environment at our local lake. Here, students connect their classroom learning to a body of water that holds deep meaning to them personally, and have the space necessary to conduct the experiments they need to enhance learning. This year, students studied water quality and made iPod movies documenting litter and erosion at the lake. Finally, they developed solutions like the "Adopt The Lake" program, to mobilize one student group per month to pick up litter at the lake. Students will also participate in an erosion prevention project at the lake.
My Project
Student studies of the water and ecosystems at the local lake are not just for play. Data is uploaded to Google Earth for archiving and is shared with the park ranger. Each year, students use data collected to identify an environmental problem and then make a service plan to solve the problem. Their work benefits over 40,000 visitors to the lake each year, as well as the local community as the lake's water quality and ecosystem is improved. This leaf stream kit will allow students to broaden their studies to include a study of macro invertebrates, another indicator of water quality. The collection of more data will help improve the quality of analysis. This would not be possible without the kit due to the dangers of dip netting along the lake's banks. "I may be one student from this School, but if I tell ten people maybe they will tell ten more people, then my everyone will hear my voice," explains a seventh grader of his work on the project.
This project is vitally important both to my students' understanding of environmental science, and to our community as well.
Students act as watchmen for the lake, identifying problems and finding solutions.
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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. Stewart and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
