Activities Related to the Nahant Marsh Case Study

On this page: More Thoughts About Nahant Marsh / Floating Wildlife Habitats / Service While Learning / Secchi Dip-in / The Globe Program

More Thoughts About Nahant Marsh

The Nahant Marsh Case Study is interesting because it raises so many topics for consideration. The topics are from a variety of disciplines, such as science, math, social studies, communications, the arts, physical education, special education, and technology education. The statements and related questions on the "More Thoughts..." page might lead you and your colleagues to discussions, research, and projects that integrate the different disciplines into a "big picture."

Floating Wildlife Habitats

Ted Andresen of Florida maintains his web site to encourage others to build their own floating habitats. Floating habitats give waterfowl and turtles a safe place to feed, nest or bask in the sun. You can build a float in a few hours for less than $20 in local materials. Plans and building instructions are free at the web site. If your school has a wetland in an outdoor education setting, you might investigate these habitat ideas. You could visit with your local County Conservation office or Fish and Wildlife Service to learn more about carrying out such a project.

Service While Learning

Your school may be one that emphasizes student opportunities to serve while learning. Or your students may take it upon themselves to be of service, as Chad Pregracke from Illinois has done with his Mississippi River Beautification and Restoration Project, which began in 1997 when he was still a teen. In his efforts to extend the Mississippi clean-up, Chad quickly determined that he needed financial support for gasoline and equipment. To meet this need, he has applied his skills to developing sponsorships in the community as well as to organizing a much larger operation. Chad is a modern-day hero, whose opportunity to learn occurred not just at the high school and community college he attended but also in the context of his home, community and, above all, his treasured Mississippi River. Read more at http://www.cleanrivers.com/.

Mike Shupe teaches Environmental Science at Davenport Central High School. This college credit course, which as service learning built in as a course requirement, articulates with the environmental science course at Scott Community College. See pages from his class's scrapbook for examples of service projects his students designed.

Check out the Great American Secchi Dip-in web site at http://dipin.kent.edu/

Get involved in the real-life collection of data:

When the first Secchi Dip-In was proposed in 1994, [the Kent State Department of Biological Sciences] could only hope the project would make it past one or two years. Thanks to the support of 231 programs, more than 5,500 volunteers, the North American Lake Management Society, and the Environmental Protection Agency, [the Secchi Dip-In has run its] seventh Dip-In. The Dip-In database has grown to over 14,000 records on more than 4,500 separate water bodies (not including different sites, such as along rivers and estuaries). These aren’t just statistics; these are records of water quality information gathered from around the world by volunteers. These are people taking time out of their busy schedules to provide an international picture of transparency and water quality. The Dip-In is the beginning of a volunteer monitoring network of networks, a virtual Web of environmental concern and communication.

"A Secchi disk is an 8-inch (20 cm) disk with alternating black and white quadrants. It is lowered into the water of a lake until it can be no longer seen by the observer. This depth of disappearance, called the Secchi depth, is a measure of the transparency of the water...Transparency is an indicator of the impact of human activity on the land surrounding the lake. If transparency is measured through the season and from year to year, trends in transparency may be observed. Transparency can serve as an early-warning that activities on the land are having an effect on a lake." (Kent State University Department of Biological Sciences, June 2000)

The Globe Program

Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment (GLOBE) is a worldwide network of students, teachers, and scientists working together to study and understand the global environment. Students and teachers from over 8500 schools in more than 85 countries are working with research scientists to learn more about our planet. GLOBE students make environmental observations at or near their schools and report their data through the Internet. Scientists use GLOBE data in their research and provide feedback to the students to enrich their science education. Global images based on GLOBE student data are displayed on the World Wide Web, enabling students and other visitors to visualize the student environmental observations.

Around the world, K-12 students are making scientific observations and reporting their data to the GLOBE Data Archive for use in research. For a school to participate in GLOBE, at least one teacher must be trained in the GLOBE science measurement protocols and education activities by attending a GLOBE Teacher Workshop. Go to http://www.globe.gov/fsl/workshop/registration.pl?lang=en&nav=1.

Do you want to add ideas?

Send web sites, activities, and ideas to ATEEC at ateec@eiccd.cc.ia.us.