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Fall 1993 |
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Partnership fosters science and serviceSEWAGE: "How Sweet It Is!"Kits, kids, and computers keep watch on Midwest riversHow one science teacher spent his summer vacationWatershed study involves hundredsCultivating partnerships for scienceAbout Hach analytical systems |
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Partnership fosters science and serviceHigh school students in Philadelphia, Penn. are using Hach water analysis equipment to monitor toxic contaminants in nearby creeks. In a partnership with the regional EPA, state fish commission and a local watershed citizen's coalition, students monitor the creeks using colorimeters, spectrophotometers, conductivity meters and turbidimeters. They experience hands-on science and acquire practical skills while officials collect valuable data for environmental planning and protection. School-based community service is coming of age. In Austin, Tex., a nonprofit river watch foundation has recruited high school teachers, students and other concerned citizens to monitor water quality and identify pollution sources along the Colorado River. In Tennessee last spring, 1200 junior high school students tested a 2350-mile stretch of the Mississippi River simultaneously for nitrates and phosphates as part of the "Year of the Gulf of Mexico" observance. And in Philadelphia, Penn., students are working with regulatory agencies and conservation groups to monitor the quality of recreational waters and identify pollution sources. In an economy where environmental awareness has never been higher and funding sources have never been scarcer, school-based community service projects are flourishing, due in part to the commitment of students, dedication of teachers, encouragement of citizen's groups, and technical support from government agencies. Some projects are used as a teaching method. Others are adjunct to regular coursework designed to instill an appreciation for community values. Supporters and sponsors come in all shapes and sizes: from the regional offices of the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, to the boardrooms of major manufacturers and laboratory research sites, technical experts are giving of their time and money to help young people. Community service programs also benefit
the firms and agencies offering support. According to
James Kennedy, environmental technologist and teacher at
Philadelphia's Lincoln High School, the EPA provides
speakers and teaching resources to their environmental
technology program, and also offers student employment
opportunities during summers and college breaks.
"EPA people are able to mentor our students. They
train them at school and on the job. The students gain
valuable experience and achieve status within the agency,
so after college Chuck Kanetsky, Regional Water Quality Monitoring Coordinator at the EPA, is enthusiastic. "I've worked with volunteer groups and provided assistance with selecting sampling locations, identifying pertinent parameters and appropriate methods. I've given them manuals too. We don't have a lot of funds to share with these volunteer programs, but we can offer technical support. It's good to have so many people concerned about the environment. It's good for the EPA and it's good to get more people involved so we can identify pollution situations and remedy the problems." According to participating teachers, ambitious water quality testing programs wouldn't be possible without the availability of easy-to-use Hach test kits and instruments. Hach systems offer quality, convenience and safety. Here's what Kennedy has to say about the portable DR/2000 Spectrophotometer. "We're astounded at it capabilities, simplicity and ease of use. The kids love it. The beauty of the instrument is that you get instant results, and it's very accurate." Students at Lincoln are using the DR/2000 to test aluminum, cadmium, barium, dissolved oxygen, nitrogen-nitrate, cyanide, chlorine and other parameters in nearby streams. When asked how other teachers could enlist the help and support of government agencies and businesses in their area, Kennedy replied, "It's simple. Just ask. Every time we've gone to the EPA or the Department of Agriculture or the state fish commission or private companies for help, they've been responsive. Everyone wants to help young people. I've never found a situation where a regulatory agency doesn't want to help our students."
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SEWAGE: "How Sweet It Is!"In Vermont, a new environmental/career education program raises student awareness of vocations in water quality control. Teachers and students gain an appreciation for the complexities of wastewater treatment, an awareness of environmental issues and related careers, and get hands-on experience with analytical methods and equipment used by industry professionals. Remember the "Honeymooners," a popular TV show in the 1950s? Remember how frequently Bus Driver Ralph Cramden and Sewer Worker Ed Norton complained about their jobs? Their wacky fiascos gave audiences plenty of laughs--sometimes at the expense of Ed's profession. While Ralph frequently exclaimed, "How sweet it is," he was never this complimentary when describing Ed's professional duties. Today, a negative stereotype concerning "sewer worker" survives among those not informed about the complexities of wastewater treatment. The valuable services provided by these professionals are often overlooked. Trying to change attitudes, Jon Jewett, Vermont Agency of Natural Resources, speaks to junior high school students about wastewater treatment and careers in this field. Initially, students wrinkle their noses and giggle. After hearing Jewett explain the importance of wastewater treatment for public health and the environment, students are eager to learn more. With the help of Hach test kits and environmental teaching packets, Jewett can more easily explain the need for qualified people in the wastewater treatment field. Today, the New England states face an alarming 50 to 60 percent shortage in trained wastewater treatment personnel. A task force surmised that the declining pool of qualified professionals may be a result of less public awareness and reduced emphasis on water quality control. And wastewater treatment employees are discouraged by the lack of recognition they receive. One way to combat this decline in qualified professionals is to increase career awareness among junior high and high school students. Jewett developed the "Science Teachers Environmental Awareness Program" to provide science teachers with the basic tools and techniques to give students hands-on water quality testing. During the program, teachers test common water quality parameters--pH, chlorine residual, dissolved oxygen, nitrate and nitrite. Teachers get students to test local water sources with Hach test kits, which are specially designed with students in mind. Students learn about wastewater/water career opportunities, get hands-on experience running tests they would use on the job, and learn about the environmental impact of polluted water. Jewett said the Hach test kits, purchased and donated by the EPA, are inexpensive and easy for junior high school students to use. The teachers found Water Water Everywhere, an environmental education curriculum package, extremely useful. Hach has put together several water quality test kits for educators. To learn more, request free literature on the reply card.
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Kits, kids, and computers keep watch on Midwest riversA hands-on, interdisciplinary program empowers students to provide data to public agencies that determine river management strategies. With economical, easy-to-use Hach test kits, students can quickly evaluate water quality and take steps to remediate pollution sources. The Mississippi, Illinois, Des Plaines, Green, Kaskaskia, Wabash and other Midwest rivers are under scrutiny. The Illinois Rivers Project, located at Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville, has literally hundreds of helping hands and watchful eyes monitoring more than 10 rivers in the Midwest. Under the guidance of Dr. Robert Williams, over 100 high schools are now participating in the project, with 105 schools along the Missouri River to join soon. Thanks to the project, these students are learning to think globally and act locally. The project was developed to increase scientific literacy and includes science, social studies and language arts in the study of the rivers. The hands-on, interdisciplinary approach has been a huge success by all accounts, according to Cindy Bidlack, Project Coordinator and a former teacher at one of the high schools. For scientific studies, the students use Hach kits to determine dissolved oxygen, pH, nitrate, and phosphorus in the water. Other parameters monitored include fecal coliforms, turbidity, BOD, temperature and total solids. Why Hach kits? Cindy says the students find them fast and easy to use. Their portability makes them versatile, so measurements can be done at the river or in the classroom. They're rugged enough to withstand the bi-weekly toting and use without breaking. The powder pillows makes the kits operational and almost foolproof. Once the students do the analyses, the data is fed into a computer network that links all the schools and the project headquarters. This data will be used to catalog river history in a truly unique manner. The data is also transmitted to the Environmental Management Technical Center (EMTC) at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Onalaska, Wis. Frank D'Erchia manages the Geographic Information System at the EMTC. He says the data from the students helps them analyze trends on the Mississippi, especially long-term trends. Researchers use the information to study the relationship of how the river is used and affected by human populations. The database is also used to improve river management strategies and publish papers about river trends. The Army Corps of Engineers and other state agencies also use the database for river projects. In several places, the students have initiated clean-up efforts. One small community without a sewer system was leaking raw sewage into a river. The students filed a complaint with the state and the town now has three years to comply with the state wastewater regulations. In another case, a teacher noticed construction debris was being dumped in the Fox River. He notified the students on the riverwatch team and the students then notified the EPA, county health department and Army Corps of Engineers. The agencies contacted the property owner and ordered him to stop the dumping. What's next? Cindy says the students will be starting to monitor zebra mussel movement into the Midwest. The Illinois Natural History Survey and the Water Resources Center at the University of Illinois have given the project a grant to build 200 zebra mussel traps. This is the only high school study in the United States that is doing this type of monitoring, according to Cindy. The students will actually watch river history in the making and may help control the spread of the mussels. The Illinois River Project has also been successful for the educators involved with it. The National Science Foundation has provided a grant to write rivers curricula for high schools so more students can enjoy learning from this unique approach. The curricula cover chemistry, geology, geography, biology and language arts.
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How one science teacher spent his summer vacationRon Jensen, a chemistry teacher at Fort Collins High School (Colorado) is one of many science educators who have taken advantage of the three-day workshops offered free of charge by Hach. This summer, he received first-hand experience as a consultant, with responsibility for helping teachers incorporate Hach equipment and testing methods into meaningful science units and field experiments. Following is his report. When I first attended a Science Educator Workshop at the Hach Technical Training Center (HTTC) in Loveland, I enjoyed the experience very much. I came away with the impression that Hach Company was a real first class operation: great equipment; knowledgeable, friendly people; even air conditioning in July. My students have been using Hach equipment and testing methods for two years now and they love it. So do the other high school instructors. It is so thrilling to show students that science has real application and community impact beyond the classroom. It is also exciting for me as an instructor to break out of the "canned lab" mold and into a format of experimentation where results are not always known in advance. We have done everything from testing local rivers and creeks for dissolved materials to comparing expensive bottled water to city tap water. Most students no longer spend money on bottled water! My summer as an HTTC consultant has been spent in a number of interesting ways. For one, I've devised methods for using Hach equipment to teach theoretical chemistry at the high school level. The laboratory investigations I have written, using the DR/2000 and Digital Titrator, should help teachers give students hands-on, minds-on experience with such difficult concepts as equilibrium systems, solubility product constants and chlorophyll absorption spectra. The HTTC staff and I have also enjoyed working on the development of an interdisciplinary, project-oriented curriculum. We have cooperated with representatives from Colorado State University who are interested in improving secondary science education. And we drafted a National Science Foundation grant aimed at putting water testing equipment into every junior and senior high school in the local school district. I would like every student in the district to have the same opportunity my students have had. All and all, it has been a terrific and productive summer, and I am grateful to Colorado State University and the EPA for extending this opportunity to me. We came up with so many great ideas, I hardly know where to start!
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Watershed study involves hundredsAn innovative new program at Saturday Academy based in Portland, Oregon, is providing the perfect answer to teachers', students' and scientists' needs. Teachers want to get their students in the field, performing real science. Students want to participate in activities that are meaningful and offer tangible results. And scientists want to find ways to collect meaningful data and conduct wide-ranging studies, even when budgets are tight. This innovative program achieves these goals, and more. The Student Watershed Research Project (SWRP) currently takes in 24 streams in two western Oregon watersheds and hundreds of students in nearby middle schools and high schools. Jane Blair, laboratory manager at the Oregon Graduate Institute, helps coordinate the program through the school's department of environmental science and engineering. In one year, the program participation level has mushroomed. "We started out by training 14 teachers from a handful of schools. This year we have 24 teachers and hundreds of students monitoring 24 different streams throughout the watershed. The data is shared with cooperating scientists and public agency personnel to help in natural resources management." The program is funded, in part, with a three-year grant from the National Science Foundation. The community is also supportive: the water district, sewerage agency, and local utilities helped provide money to purchase testing instruments and supplies. The sewerage agency also supports an extensive quality control plan. According to Blair, after five days of training at Pacific University, each participating teacher receives a DR/700 Colorimeter and reagents for testing ortho- and total phosphorus, chlorides, ammonia and nitrate. The portable colorimeter remains with the teacher on a permanent loan basis; one stipulation is that students must conduct two field studies on two stream sites--once in the fall and again in the spring. "It works very well for our purposes. We needed digital accuracy and something that was easy to use. The DR/700 was a clear choice." The DR/700 is a lightweight, portable colorimeter, capable of analyzing up to 75 important water quality parameters. Interchangeable filter modules are programmed with the calibrations unique to each test, eliminating time-consuming calculations. A rugged case holds the instrument along with reagents, accessories and the manual for go-anywhere testing. Other stream quality factors are being studied by the students, including pH, temperature, alkalinity, dissolved oxygen, coliform contamination, plant biodiversity, macroinvertebrates, wildlife and mapping. "We're using the Hach color comparator for pH and a titration procedure for dissolved oxygen and alkalinity. These activities really teach young people how to do science." A unique feature of SWRP is the electronic bulletin board accessible from any participating school. Dubbed "Ask an Expert," the system enables students to go on-line and dialogue with anyone at cooperating agencies. For instance, students can contact scientists at the state department of environmental quality, the Metro Planning Agency, the natural resources department or any one of a dozen sites, to receive direction, encouragement, and technical support about any and all aspects of the scientific process. A special software package generated for this program enables students to key testing results into their school's computer and download the file to Jane Blair's custom data base. "It's really easy for us to accumulate data this way. I compile the results from each sampling site, audit the information, and produce reports that will be useful in long range studies. What we hope to avoid is stream degradation. With this much student power we'll be able to detect degradation before it becomes a huge problem." For more information about SWRP, contact the Saturday Academy at (503) 690-1190.
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Cultivating partnerships for scienceBy Jim Schuth Budget-strapped educators know they must begin to seek help from non-academic, community sources. Partnerships with business, industry and governmental agencies are the way to go. This newsletter shows what some schools are doing with nontraditional funding sources. Rather than asking for donations or begging for obsolete equipment, teachers are cultivating partnerships. And a partnership benefits everyone involved. How do you start a partnership? First, decide which companies and agencies have resources that are most appropriate for your project. Find the names of key decision makers and contact them. Prepare by clarifying what your project is trying to accomplish. For example, what are your goals? Is this a short- or long-term project? What specifically do you need? How will this benefit your students? How will this benefit your non-academic partners in meaningful ways? Try to go beyond "This will be great public relations for your company." Ask specifically for what you need and explain how it will be used. Are you requesting instruments on a temporary or permanent loan? Do you need a one-time donation or an on-going commitment of support? Refrain from asking for high profile, big ticket, glamorous instruments if you don't have the time, money, or training to manage them. Be able to estimate how many students will actually get hands-on experience with this instrument. Remember, you're more likely to get support for your project if it's benefitting a large number of students over a long period of time. Student service projects are also a great way to raise additional funds. How about having your students earn money by running a few simple tests on their neighbor's drinking water? Or setting up a service to do storm water testing as a back-up for the local water utility? Or analyzing soil samples in the spring to help home gardeners plan for fertilizer application? Brainstorm with educators and business people for ideas. Whatever innovative project you come up with, have fun. Good Luck! Editor's Note: Jim Schuth, instructor at the Hach Technical Training Center, demonstrates environmental testing during the free, three-day Science Educator's Workshops held during the summer.
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About Hach analytical systems....For almost 50 years, Hach has been supplying economical, accurate testing systems to educators, municipalities, business and industry. When you choose a Hach test kit or an analytical instrument to test your samples, you take advantage of many features particularly suited to educational needs. All Hach analytical systems offer:
See the reply card to find out how you can receive information about analytical products configured especially for educators.
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This page was last updated 08/16/06 |
