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Watershed Assessment Workshop For Teachers At Mansfield University June 15, 16
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A Watershed Assessment workshop for teachers will be held at Mansfield University June 15 and 16. The workshop will focus on conducting a watershed assessment through discussions of water quality, pollution sources and field work showing how an assessment is conducted.
The workshop will include basic water chemistry (focusing on acid mine drainage), macroinvertebrates, fish shocking, conducting an actual assessment, the development of restoration or protection plans from the assessment results and remediation strategies.
Field work will be an integral part of the workshop in order to demonstrate the use of field equipment, to identify pollution sources, and to learn sampling techniques.
As part of the workshop, each participant will be given equipment to take back to their classroom. It will allow participants to have the necessary equipment to get their students out on their local streams performing watershed assessments.
It will allow them to collect baseline data in order to determine what pollution issues are in their watershed. We will provide a coliform test kit, pH/conductivity meter, LaMotte Test Tab Water Investigation Kits, D-frame aquatic nets, and a Water Quality Testing CD.
The participants must agree to adopt a local stream and perform a baseline assessment, along with presenting it at a public forum. The forum may be a science fair, service night, or at a local watershed meeting. This task will insure the participating teachers are using the equipment fully.
The workshop will be a combination of lecture, in-class activity and field work and site visits. Specific lectures will include topics such as defining a watershed assessment, discussion of water quality, biological monitoring and physical characteristics.
We will follow with discussing protection and restoration plans and how each can be used effectively in reactive and proactive management techniques. We will touch briefly on wetland identification and their importance in watershed management.
We will intersperse the lectures with in class assignments dealing with water chemistry, flow calculations, aquatic insect identification, and soil color, texture and structure. Field trips will include walking a segment of a mine drainage impacted stream, identifying discharges and performing water quality tests.
We will then visit a healthy stream to identify aquatic insects, conduct fish shocking and discuss the importance of riparian zones. We will then visit mine drainage treatment sites, both active and passive. We will complete the day with a visit to a wetland to talk about field identification. An itinerary will be sent closer to the workshop date.
This dynamic conference will be held at Mansfield University. It will be participant’s responsibility to secure housing. The cost of the conference, $40, will include breakfast and lunch each day, field trip transportation, and all take-home materials. We have limited space available, so please register immediately to secure your spot!
For more information or a copy of the registration form, please send email to: jdemchak@mansfield.edu or phone Dr. Jennifer Demchak at 570-662-4613.
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3/1/2010 |
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