Aquatic Ecology
__Outdoor Education__________
Aquatic Ecology
May to October
Instructors will take students to a trail in Summit County where they can make observations about a local river. They may perform a biological survey where students look for macroinvertebrates along the river’s edge. They may perform a chemical survey where students use test strips to measure the amount of different chemicals in the water. They may also perform a physical survey where students take measurements of the river’s width, depth, and flow rate to calculate cfs.
Program standards
NGSS-5-LS2-1, NGSS-MS-LS2-3, NGSS-HS-LS2-6
Exploration
Students will learn about Aquatic Ecology through exploration focused activities. This may happen through observation making, then asking questions or playing a game about their observations. If teachers choose an exploration lens, they may want their students to focus on one of the following topics within Aquatic Ecology.
Adaptations
After making observations through performing a stream survey, students will be asked to make inferences about how the characteristics of aquatic organisms help them survive in our rivers.
Water Quality & Human Impacts
Students will be asked to consider how the results of their stream survey indicate the health of the river. They will also be asked to consider how humans impact the health of our rivers.