SEASONAL CHANGES IN RIVER WATER QUALITYVasiliki Partinoudi, Seacoast School of Technology, Exeter, NH

My participation in TESSE changed the way my students see the world around them!!!We all have a better understanding of how interconnected everything is.

Acknowledgements: Support for this program is from the National Science Foundation’s GEO-Teach program grant GEO-0631377: “UNH GEO-Teach: Transforming Earth System Science Education (TESSE)”

Assignments Created as a result of TESSE

Four surface water quality sampling events

Discussion of data collected

Discussion of factors affecting data

Discussion of the earth systems involved and their interactions

Lesson Plan Descriptions

The purpose of this teaching unit was to show my students how surface water quality changed depending on the season and what the factors were that were driving these changes.

On this project we worked together with the Town of Exeter Conservation Committee who provided assistance at each sampling event and the necessary equipment.

We collected river water samples in September, October, November and December. During each sampling event we collected pH, DO, conductivity, temperature and turbidity data.

The purpose of this lesson module was to compare the data collected for each parameter over time and understand what the reason behind the changes was.

Students learned how to follow protocols for collecting and processing samples, maintain and calibrate meters and equipment and how to manage data.

How have your courses changed by your experience with TESSE?

I teach 2 mixed level pre-engineering classes to students from 7 high schools. Most of them have not yet had a science class that looks into each of the systems comprising our planet.

TESSE gave me the tools necessary to take my class to the next level and venture out of the ordinary!

This was a unique opportunity for my students to experience environmental sampling as well as volunteering in their community.

How has your teaching changed by your experience with TESSE?

TESSE was a real eye opener for me as a teacher.

For the first time I questioned the factors affecting the data collected and tried to find a relationship between the data and the reasons why it is what it is.

After this experience I will never look at data without questioning the systems involved and their interaction.

I learned that providing an extensive and authentic research experience incorporating inquiry-based learning to high school students is possible and preferable.

Artifacts of Student Work and Descriptions of student products

Extensive class discussion of:•Factors affecting surface water quality•Factors affecting sampling equipment performance•Observation and explanation of data collected•Earth systems involved and their impact•Sphere interactions•Data plotting using Excel•River water transformation to drinking water•Predictions of water quality in the future•The value of volunteering in our communities

Impact of TESSE on Field Trips

42 students participated in the sampling events

We took 4 fieldtrips to the Exeter River and collected samples

We looked at the world around us and wrote down our observations related to the weather and the world around us

We discussed what we saw, what earth systems were involved and how each system impacted the river water quality

Visit to the Exeter Water Treatment Plant