Nicodemus Wilderness Project -- Global Registry of Apprentice Ecologists

Each year I get to teach a water quality lesson to area 6th graders. They come to the community center and at the small spring-fed creek, I teach them about the importance of our water resources, how we test them, and what we can do to improve the streamâ€™s health. I get to teach them the impacts of excess nutrients in our water and then we test the water. The nitrates test turns pink - itâ€™s like a magic trick! We talk about organisms in the water, that they need oxygen - and when I show the dissolved oxygen titration test, itâ€™s another wonderful color changing â€œmagic trickâ€ for the kids. The best part is when we get to jump in and collect macroinvertebrates with a kick net! We rate each insect to determine the health of the stream, and then take plenty of time to splash around more and catch crawdads!
Over the years I have noticed an increased interest in stream testing in the junior high and high school science clubs. The sponsors give me a call, the kids are asking to go out to the stream again! Itâ€™s such a fun project, and I love that the students love it as much as I do!