Teaching Water Science Online Spring '94

Hands across the water: Schools in U.S. and Mexico work to preserve common watershed

Are your high school students as excited as these are about chemistry?

Hach in the junior college: Getting to the root of soil quality

Mississippi River testing event excites students and teachers

School children along the watershed of the Mississippi River used Hach test kits to measure nitrate and phosphate in a grand-scale testing event last year. The event was held in conjunction with the "Year of the Gulf of Mexico," proclaimed as an occasion to recognize and support efforts to preserve "America's Sea." Students prepared for the event--sponsored by representatives from science, government and industry--by studying about watersheds, pollution and run-off.

Even if Vice President Al Gore had not made a surprise appearance at the Mississippi River Project, held in conjunction with the "Year of the Gulf of Mexico" event last year, participants would have still been very enthusiastic. Imagine an opportunity for over a thousand students to cooperate in an interstate science experiment aimed at evaluating the impact of Mississippi River nutrients on marine life in the Gulf of Mexico.

"It was incredibly exciting for my kids," reports Donna Thomas, a teacher at Craigmont Junior High School in Memphis, Tenn. "They were among the 1,200 students positioned at 26 sites along a 2,350-mile stretch of the Mississippi--simultaneously drawing samples from the river and testing for nitrate and phosphate."

It is believed, of course, that an overabundance of nutrients carried by the Mississippi River is largely responsible for a tragic 3,000- to 4,000-square mile dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico.

Students prepared for the event by learning about watersheds, pollution and run-off problems during sessions conducted by technicians from the U.S. Soil Conservation Service and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers--two of the project's sponsors. The event was coordinated by Mote Marine Laboratory of Sarasota, Florida, and other sponsors included the Clorox Company and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Donna first learned about the river project when a technician from the U.S. Soil Conservation Service addressed her school last year on soil ecology in conjunction with the National Geographic Society Kids Network. She agreed to participate in the Mississippi River Project and later received a shipment of Hach nitrate and phosphate test kits--her first experience with Hach kits.

According to event coordinator Honey Rand at Mote Marine Laboratory, Hach test kits were selected because they are sensitive, safe and easy to use. Donna was certainly impressed with them. "It was as simple as filling the test tubes with water, emptying foil packets into the tubes, and holding them up to a color wheel. There was no mixing, and the students learned the procedure quickly." To validate the results of the tests, cross-validation samples were collected at each site by the U.S. Soil Conservation Service, and processed by environmental chemists at Mote Marine Laboratory. Overall student test results were wildly inconsistent. The findings of Thomas's students were fairly consistent.

"My students," reports Thomas," had the added privilege of accompanying Vice President Gore on a paddle-wheel boat to the Mud Island test site and then participating in a satellite discussion on environmental issues with students from three other schools.

"I think it was very enlightening for my students to learn that environmental concerns are not just science-based, but have a lot to do with politics as well."

Mississippi River testing event excites students and teachers

Are your high school students as excited as these are about chemistry?

Hach in the junior college: Getting to the root of soil quality

Hands across the water: Schools in U.S. and Mexico work to preserve common watershed

A model of international cooperation in the stewardship of natural resources, Project del Rio involves high school students in the U.S. and Mexico in the monitoring of their common watershed: the Rio Grande River. Students use Hach test kits, a bilingual procedures manual, and an abundance of other resources to measure water quality and study its impact on their communities. Students share their findings on a bilingual computer network, invite input from experts in the community, and propose solutions in a cooperative Student Congress.

El Paso, Texas and Juarez, Mexico may be just a stone's throw across the Rio Grande River (called Rio Bravo in Mexico), but their differences--in language, culture, political outlook, and income levels--are vast. Thanks, though, to the efforts of Project del Rio--a cooperative water quality monitoring program aimed at preserving a common watershed--many of these differences are melting away.

Project del Rio models itself after river quality monitoring programs already established by GREEN, the Global Rivers Environmental Education Network based at the University of Michigan. But it is the first project of its kind to involve students from two countries, focusing on the same river at the same time.

"The project is designed as a three-week unit for science and social science classes to be introduced in high schools on both sides of the border," says Lisa LaRocque, Director of Project del Rio. "The goal is for students to create water quality profiles at various spots along the river and then investigate mutual environmental concerns."

To accomplish these goals, ample resources are the first order of business. Project del Rio provides training for high school teachers and students, sometimes with the help of students from universities, and also supplies each school with water quality test kits, a classroom set of bilingual field manuals, computer network capabilities, maps, videos and other educational resources. According to Ms. LaRocque, the Spanish versions of these resources constitute a treasury of curriculum materials not previously available to Mexican schools.

Students study the watershed, sample designated sites and measure nitrate, phosphate, fecal coliform and seven other water quality parameters, using Hach test kits, equipment, and procedures. They then share their findings with other schools via a bilingual computer network.

In ongoing classroom and computer discussions, students examine ecological, political and social influences on water quality. Community leaders with expertise in water quality management, government and business provide input by plugging into the computer conferences. The project then culminates in a Student Congress where students from each school meet face-to-face to discuss results, issues, and solutions; then they attend action-taking workshops led by professionals from both the U.S. and Mexico.

"Educators in Mexico were very happy when this program was introduced," says Patricia Martinez Tellez, project coordinator for Mexico. "They are very concerned about environmental pollution but have simply never had the opportunity to conduct this kind of research. The project has really improved the quality of our classroom materials, not to mention our environmental awareness."

Roberto Contreras, a high school student from Juarez, described the process of broadening environmental awareness in a recent GREEN newsletter: "If one person begins to change, he modifies his teammate's attitude. Each person in this group then changes their own family. Each member of those families then changes their own friends. This chain continues until the whole population has changed its attitude."

Thanks to Project del Rio, attitudes are indeed changing. Area corporations are getting involved by showing financial support and demonstrating increased environmental responsibility. Water-related internships are being arranged for minority and low-income students. And many students are going beyond the project's core requirements to study heavy metals, review water quality assurance programs, and participate in social studies teams.

"The number of schools participating in Project del Rio has grown from 12 to 60 in the last three years," says Lisa LaRocque. "Our goal is to enlist the support of at least 100 schools in the U.S. and Mexico, so we can monitor all 1,800 miles of the river--from its headwaters to the Gulf of Mexico."

Mississippi River testing event excites students and teachers

Hands across the water: Schools in U.S. and Mexico work to preserve common watershed

Are your high school students as excited as these are about chemistry?

Hach in the junior college: Getting to the root of soil quality

Move over, Bookmobile

Meet Science in Motion, a mobile teaching program developed by the chemistry faculty of Pennsylvania's Juniata College with grants from the National Science Foundation and the chemical industry. High school students in 16 Pennsylvania school districts now experiment with advanced laboratory equipment to get an idea of what a real scientist might do. The equipment--ranging from Hach's DREL/2000 Water Quality Lab to nuclear scalers and radon monitors--is housed inside a colorful delivery truck that comes to the school and goes right to the testing site.

With limited budgets, teachers need all the help they can get--the kind of help provided by the Juniata College Science in Motion program to 16 school districts in Pennsylvania. Juniata chemistry faculty and local high school teachers developed the Science in Motion program with grants from the National Science Foundation, the chemical industry and others.

The program's most prominent feature is a colorful delivery truck, which transports a variety of up-to-date laboratory and field-testing equipment around the state. A certified high school chemistry teacher drives the truck and helps teachers instruct students on how to use the equipment. High school teachers borrow the equipment to enhance their curriculum.

The truck is equipped with advanced laboratory equipment such as nuclear scalers, radon monitors and IR spectrophotometers. It also carries a variety of field equipment, including Hach's DREL/2000 Water Quality Laboratories. Used frequently at the Juniata College field station, the DREL/2000 portable labs enable students to conduct field testing and develop their own research questions and answers with tests included in the DREL/2000.

"Students really like the DREL/2000," says field station director Check Yohn. "It helps them set up real-world experiments they can understand." For example, many students have investigated water quality changes in a wetlands system. With the DREL/2000, they monitor dissolved oxygen, nitrate, phosphate and other parameters to compare water entering and leaving the wetlands.

Currently, Juniata College chemists and high school teachers are developing a monitoring network for Huntingdon County watersheds. Teachers and students will measure several water quality parameters and compile the data. Then they will pass it along to the Department of Environmental Resources. With hands-on experience like this, students get enthused about chemistry and the role it plays in their lives.

Mississippi River testing event excites students and teachers

Hands across the water: Schools in U.S. and Mexico work to preserve common watershed

Hach in the junior college: Getting to the root of soil quality

Are your high school students as excited as these are about chemistry?

Students in Wendy Hanophy's ecology class at Horizon Senior High School in Brighton, Colo., weren't always excited about chemistry. But they are now, thanks to their new DREL/2000 portable water analysis laboratory and a specialized course conducted at the Hach Technical Training Center. Now they use the laboratory and other Hach equipment during classroom experiments--and when they are collecting important water quality data for the Colorado Water Watch Network.

After high school teacher Wendy Hanophy attended a summer workshop for science educators offered by the Hach Technical Training Center (HTTC) in Loveland, Colo., she couldn't wait to transfer what she had learned to her classroom. She secured grant money for a DREL/2000 water analysis laboratory, and then arranged for HTTC to conduct four specialized training sessions for about 160 Horizon High School students and six teachers.

"The kids love pushing buttons on the DR/2000 Spectrophotometer," said Ms. Hanophy. "It is far more exciting than conducting analysis with most traditional high school lab equipment. Their enthusiasm grows when they realize they can get accurate results so quickly."

Hanophy's kids use Hach procedures to experiment with other intriguing tools inside the DREL/2000 laboratory: a Digital Titrator, a portable pH meter, TenSette� Pipets, sampling bottles, powdered reagents and apparatus. Two comments repeatedly overheard in her classroom laboratory are: "This is really cool," and "This is great stuff."

Ms. Hanophy is also delighted with the safety of Hach equipment. "Some of my ecology classes must be conducted very carefully, especially when we use caustic chemicals such as sulfuric acid and sodium hydroxide to analyze soil and water. Using Hach reagent packets reduces contact--and the DREL and portable pH meter get us away from bulky equipment and glass breakage problems, too," explained Hanophy.

Horizon students compile baseline data for the Colorado Water Watch Network. They use Hach equipment to test for dissolved oxygen, total phosphorus, nitrates, nitrites and ammonia.

"The quality of education we now offer at Horizon High School School in ecology is much higher and more relevant than before our Hach experience," says Hanophy. "Student demand for training in these areas has increased dramatically."

Mississippi River testing event excites students and teachers

Hands across the water: Schools in U.S. and Mexico work to preserve common watershed

Are your high school students as excited as these are about chemistry?

Hach in the junior college: Getting to the root of soil quality

So where do I begin?

By Jim Schuth

"What are you trying to accomplish?" I respond to the title's question. "Do you want a general survey of environmental water quality? Will you couple testing with a related unit? Are you finding some practical applications of scientific theory?" The answers will help you design a program tailored to your interests and your students' abilities.

Say your focus is environmental water quality. The next question is usually, "What parameters are important in my region?" Consult your local public health department, forestry or extension agent to find what parameters are most often tested in your area.

Start with total hardness, total alkalinity, pH, dissolved oxygen, nitrate, phosphate, copper, iron, and sulfate. Total hardness and total alkalinity analyses can be performed titrimetrically. Dissolved oxygen, another important water quality parameter, can also be measured titrimetrically using the modified Winkler method, or colorimetrically.

Use colorimetric analysis to test for pH, nitrate, phosphate, copper and sulfate. Use either visual comparators or colorimeters to find concentration levels. More precise testing can be accomplished with a meter system using electrochemical analysis. Measure dissolved oxygen, pH, nitrates and other parameters electrochemically.

For more information, refer to Water Quality in Warmwater Fish Ponds, by Claude E. Boyd, 1979, Auburn University. Quality Criteria for Water, EPA 440/5-86-00, available through your government bookstore, explains how the levels of certain analytes can impact aquatic life. The Hach Water Analysis Handbook (see reply card) details the procedures for performing dozens of common water quality tests.

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.

Mississippi River testing event excites students and teachers

Hands across the water: Schools in U.S. and Mexico work to preserve common watershed

Are your high school students as excited as these are about chemistry?

Hach in the junior college: Getting to the root of soil quality

All students deserve a chance to make their educational training and hard-won skills pay off in a meaningful job. But job prospects for thousands of college graduates diminish every year. Now, more than ever, junior and technical colleges are becoming an attractive option for students, because programs are more likely to be tied to specific skills needed for a future job. Instructors from a community college report Hach instruments and procedures are helping students lay some practical groundwork for future employment. Not only are Hach products ideal for education and training, but students often end up using the same equipment in the laboratories where they eventually find work.

Students in Lane Yocum's two-year program at Southeastern Community College in Beatrice, Neb., get a real head start in the field of agricultural science. Lane prepares them for an Associate degree in Applied Science of Agriculture with training in basic soil science and plant nutrition, together with courses on irrigation water and agricultural chemicals.

"When students enter the program, their career goals range anywhere from agronomy and environmental science to diversified agriculture," says Yocum. "More and more, though, we're seeing our graduates move into the consulting business. They buy inexpensive testing equipment--like the SIW-1 Test Kits we recently purchased from Hach for our classroom laboratory--and then contract with larger farms to scout for insects, test soil and forage, make fertilizer recommendations and establish optimum irrigation schedules."

For Yocum, the SIW-1 Test Kit has been an indispensable tool for teaching the basics of soil and irrigation water testing. His class uses samples from the on-campus study farm and passes on results to another group of students who make fertilizer applications. Data is used to characterize the soil, analyze fertility, and evaluate the quality of the irrigation water.

"We used to send our samples to a commercial laboratory," says Yocum, "but with the DR/2000, we feel comfortable enough with the results to make our own recommendations. The procedures manuals that come with Hach instruments and kits are real easy to understand and nicely complement our other curriculum materials. We've also gotten a lot of mileage out of the Soil Interpretation Manual, which came with the SIW-1 Test Kit."

Lane recently took two of his students to a free workshop on soil analysis at the Hach Technical Training Center. The students, both of whom work as analytical assistants in the school laboratory, appreciated the workshop and reported that many of their questions had been answered.

Mississippi River testing event excites students and teachers

Hands across the water: Schools in U.S. and Mexico work to preserve common watershed

Are your high school students as excited as these are about chemistry?