Sally Harrington
Media Relations Office
(216) 433-2037
s.harrington@grc.nasa.gov

Students Conduct Hands-on Environmental Survey in Metroparks

Fifth-grade students from Pine Elementary School in North Olmsted will be “junior environmentalists” as they collect and analyze water, soil and plant samples in an environmental survey that is part of their science curriculum.

The hand-on project will take place at Huntington Reservation of the Cleveland Metroparks on Wednesday, May 24, from 9:20 a.m. to 1:20 p.m.

Several activities are planned to help student learn the scientific procedures used to determine the state of our environment and how professionals deal with environmental issues. The students will:

• Learn about erosion and its effects.
• Collect water so they can identify tiny invertebrate “critters” from a stream bottom and learn how the type and amount of them indicate the quality of the water.
• Take a nature walk that will reveal the diversity of the ecology of the area as they identify bugs and plants. 
• Try on the protective clothing and gear used when cleaning up hazardous waste sites.
• Learn about the material used by emergency response teams to clean up oil spills.

This educational experience will be lead by Dan Watson, an environmental specialist from NASA Glenn Research Center, currently on a detail to the U.S.Environmental Protection Agency’s (USEPA) Cleveland Office developing and conducting outreach programs. He has enlisted a group of volunteers from the Environmental Management Office at Glenn, the USEPA and the Bay Village Fire Department, who will assist him in guiding the students through the day’s activities. North Olmsted Mayor Norman Musial will stop by to talk with the students during the morning.

Later in the week, Watson will set up a laboratory in the students’ classroom so they can analyze water samples collected on their field trip to determine the bacteria count and the levels of several other pollutants in the water.

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