Transfer and Activities

            Students will participate in learning activities and  protocols presented in GLOBE and "Adopt a Stream" programs.  They will specifically collect data on soil, land cover, atmosphere, hydrology, and  seasons.  This inquiry based project will carry students through a seven year study.  Each topic of the curriculum will build from grades 6 - 12 (beginners to advanced).
            Imagine students running back to science class during class changes to see what macroinvertebrates other students had discovered from the campus stream while they were in other classes.  Involving students in field based science adds a relevancy to science classes that produces excitement.  As a result of the environmental science institute experience, students will be involved in not only monitoring their own campus stream but will share that information with a global network.
            The outdoor classroom on the school campus provides a natural laboratory for field-based environmental science projects and data collection.  The campus stream, meanders through the outdoor classroom, flows into Lake Lanier, a 36,000 acre Army Corps of Engineers-maintained reservoir used for hydroelectric power generation, water supply and recreation.  Every citizen in our area is impacted in some way by the quality of the water in Lake Lanier. Students will gain information regarding the "life signs" of their campus steam by performing a variety of water quality tests and interpreting the data. Tests will be run for macroinvertebrates, dissolved oxygen, temperature, pH, water clarity, phosphorus, nitrogen, chlorine, and alkalinity.  TI-83 calculators and CBL sensors will be used to collect and store data collected in the outdoor classroom.  A laptop computer and their interfaces will allow teachers and students to analyze data on-site when appropriate.  The data will be downloaded to computers in the classroom and analyzed, and conclusions will be compared via the Internet with data collected by students through the GLOBE Project.  High school students will demonstrate activities to West Hall Middle School science classes via a mentoring format.  Community involvement will occur through community organizations such as the Adopt-A-Stream program and the Lake Watch group.  Technology and resources to be used include the West Hall Outdoor Classroom, graphing calculators, CBL systems and probes, computers, Internet, satellites, Landsat images, STELLA computer modeling, and GIS.

    Activities

       
         I.  Grade 6 - 7  Physical Science and Life Science (Standards)
                    A. Soils
                         1. Determining Slope Angle Using a Clinometer
                         2. Digging Your Pit
                         3. Star Sampling
                    B. Land Cover
                        1. Selecting Your Study Site
                        2. Laying Out Your Biology/Land Cover Quantitative Study 
                            Site
                        3. Taking Biometrics Measurements
                   C. Atmosphere
                        1. Placing the Shelter
                        2. Calibration
                        3. Measuring Air Temperature: Procedure
                        4. Measuring Rainfall
                        5. Measuring Solid Precipitation
                        6. Measuring the Liquid-Water Content of Daily Solid Precipitation
                        7. Observing Cloud Cover
                    D. Hydrology
                         1. Measuring Water Temperature
     
                      
     

        II.  Grade 8  - Earth Science  (Standards)
                    A.  Soils
                         1. Soil Sampling
                         2. Drying the Samples
                         3. Collecting Along a Transect
                         4. Depth Profile
                         5. Weighing and Drying the Samples
                         6. Calculating Soil Moisture Content
                    B. Land Cover
                        1. Selecting Your Study Site
                        2. Laying Out Your Biology/Land Cover Quantitative Study 
                            Site
                        3. Taking Biometrics Measurements
                    C. Atmosphere
                        1. Placing the Shelter
                        2. Calibration
                        3. Measuring Air Temperature: Procedure
                        4. Measuring Rainfall
                        5. Measuring Solid Precipitation
                        6. Measuring the Liquid-Water Content of Daily Solid Precipitation
                        7. Observing Cloud Cover
                    D. Hydrology
                        1.  Measuring Water Temperature
                        2.  Measuring Dissolved Oxygen
                        3.  Measuring Water pH
                        4.  Measuring Alkalinity
                    


          III.  Grade 9 - Physical Science (Standards)
                    A. Soils
                         1.  Calculating Soil Moisture Content
                         2.  Installation of Gypsum Blocks
                         3.  Calibration of Gypsum Blocks
                         4.  Creating a Calibration Curve
                         5.  Reading the Soil Moisture Meter
                    B. Hydrology
                        1.  Measuring Water Temperature
                        2.  Measuring Dissolved Oxygen
                        3.  Measuring Water pH
                        4.  Measuring Alkalinity
                        5.  Measuring Electrical Conductivity

     


           IV. Grade 10 - Biology
                    A. Land Use
                        1. Selecting Your Study Site
                        2. Laying Out Your Biology/Land Cover Quantitative Study 
                            Site
                        3. Taking Biometrics Measurements
                       
     
     

            V.  Grade 10, 11, & 12 - Chemistry (Standards)
                     A. Soils
                     B. Hydrology
                        1.  Measuring Water Temperature
                        2.  Measuring Dissolved Oxygen
                        3.  Measuring Water pH
                        4.  Measuring Alkalinity
                        5.  Measuring Electrical Conductivity
                        6.  Measuring Nitrates
                        7.  Measuring Total Phosphates
                        8.  Measuring Turbidity
                     C.  GREEN - Project WET
     

     
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