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OTTER POINT CREEK ENVIRONMENTAL SURVEY
Science as a Tool
An Interactive Exercise Combining Middle School, Field,
Laboratory, and Classroom Experiences.
ON THE WATER AND IN THE LAB
The Otter Point Creek Environmental Survey is an unusual fieldtrip
designed to provide middle school students an opportunity to
experience environmental field and lab work with applications to
real world situations. With pre-visit and post-visit components,
this program is intended to raise awareness of environmental issues
in a fun, engaging, and hands-on way.
- Involve the students in a scenario that is both realistic
and meaningful. The activity can easily relate to real world
connections, and the processes involved will hold more meaning
and value to the students.
- Expose the students to real world field monitoring and
laboratory experiences with regard to environmental science,
and make connections to actual applications.
- Present students with a fictional, but reality based,
dilemma in which they must gather facts, evaluate alternatives
and consequences, and provide final judgment. In this manner,
the students will be challenged to work as a team, draw upon
multiple disciplinary skills, and make decisions based upon fact,
experience, and predicted outcomes.
PROGRAM DESCRIPTION
In this real world scenario, students are asked to play the role
of an environmental survey team hired to help Harford County
Government’s Planning and Zoning Department determine whether
or not to give a permit to a private company for a marina expansion
project on Otter Point Creek.
Students are asked to take many controversial viewpoints into
consideration, for example, environmentalists, county citizens,
and local businesses. With the aid of local maps, an explanatory
video, and background research in the classroom students are ready
for their site visit where they will conduct the necessary field
research. Field research includes water quality testing on a
pontoon vessel and a lab experience to analyze their findings.
After reviewing and analyzing all of the collected data, students
are tasked with deciding the fate of the marina expansion project.
IN THE CLASSROOM
The program encourages pre-trip and post-trip components in the
school classroom. Using the information provided, students survey
local maps, learn water quality terminology, research local environmental
issues, and wrap up their conclusions as a way to enhance the field experience.
ON THE WATER
Students climb aboard The Water Strider, our 25-foot pontoon boat,
and set out to collect field samples on Otter Point Creek.
Students gather valuable water quality data including pH, D.O.,
turbidity as well as mud samples and plankton samples to help them
determine the future of Otter Point Creek.
IN THE LAB
Wearing a lab coat and goggles, students play the role of a Lab
Biologist. Actual techniques to analyze water samples are taught
and then used by the students. Using their own field data and
collected samples, students learn to measure the BOD (biological
oxygen demand), TSS (total suspended solids), D.O. (dissolved oxygen
levels), and the level of FC (Fecal Coliform) in a sample of water.
With the help of the instructor, students discover what the numbers
reveal about their samples. Finally, the students determine the overall
health of Otter Point Creek and the fate of our local waterway.
PROGRAM INFORMATION:
- The program cost is $150.00/day
- 30 Middle School student maximum per day, due to pontoon
boat restrictions
Kriste Garman, Park Naturalist
Anita C. Leight Estuary Center
Harford County Parks & Recreation
Phone: 410-612-1688
Fax: 410-612-1690
Email: ksgarman@harfordcountymd.gov
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