Water What-ifs

Introduction

• Monitor and evaluate the water quality of streams, lakes, ponds and rivers and create a database of information to be shared from year to year. 

• Encourage students to develop and use critical thinking skills to determine how certain factors can change the quality of an aquatic ecosystem. 

• Provide inquiry based lessons which may be used to create a water unit to supplement the water quality testing project. 

• Encourage collaboration between teachers and students who may not otherwise have the opportunity to interact.

• Allow teachers to learn new skills at their convenience by providing an online tutorial on the basics of web use and water quality testing using LaMotte test kits and CBL (Calculator-Based Laboratories) technology. 

• Provide a way for teachers to link water quality testing and the associated lessons to the National Science Education Content Standards, the North Carolina competency goals for middle school students, the North Carolina earth and environmental science competencies and the Delaware science standards. 

• Provide a research tool to determine if teachers can be taught as effectively through the use of a web tutorial as they can in a face to face workshop situation.

As you travel through this web site, please remember that your comments and suggestions are appreciated. Sharing of ideas and strategies with other teachers and students is the main goal of the Water Quality Forum. Please freely share your successes and ask for help with any problems you may encounter! Good luck!