Caring For Environment Starts Early
Six students in Shenandoah University's Environmental Education (ES 340) course taught a unit on aquatic ecology to seventh-grade life science classes at Daniel Morgan Middle School April 6, 7 and 8.
Blue-green and green algae, including a species of Spirogyra, float on the surface of SU's Racey Ponds.
Six students in Shenandoah University's Environmental Education (ES 340) course taught a unit on aquatic ecology to seventh-grade life science classes at Daniel Morgan Middle School April 6, 7 and 8.
The Shenandoah students prepared for this service-learning project for six weeks.
They began by reviewing Virginia's Standards of Learning (SOLs) to find those that matched environmental concepts they had learned in their courses.
The SOLs for seventh-grade life science fit particularly well with the experience many of the SU environmental studies majors had acquired in aquatic ecology and water pollution.
DMMS teachers Michelle Balio and Donna Bishop agreed to have their six life science classes work with the university students.
This project grew out of a 2004-05 partnership between the Winchester City Public School System and Shenandoah University, which paired city middle school teachers with SU professors in their respective content areas.
"The globs of scum floating on the surface of the Racey Ponds on campus are a mix of various species of algae. Excessive algal 'blooms' like this are caused by nitrogen and phosphorous from fertilizers, sewage and animal waste. Dying algae deplete dissolved oxygen, causing aquatic life to die. This is among the most prevasive water pollution problems in the Shenandoah Valley region and the Chesapeake Bay."
- Dr. Woodward Bousquet
On April 7, the second day of the three-day unit, young students headed outdoors onto the DMMS property. Under the guidance of Shenandoah students, the Daniel Morgan classes studied five ecosystems on the school site: meadow, forest, stream, marsh and pond.
Not many schools are fortunate enough to have such easy access to this variety of plant and animal habitats.
The three-day Aquatic Ecology Unit included an introduction to "Biomes, Ecosystems and Niches."
In classrooms and in teams of two, Shenandoah students introduced the concepts of biome, ecosystem (habitat)
and niche to the youngsters.
These activities and discussions set up Wednesday's outdoor unit.
SU student teams were Marie Dahl and Brandon Millholland, Jared Davis and Daniel Milhon, and Stacey Keenan and Andrew Fisher.
On the second day, teams went outdoors to investigate Daniel Morgan's ecosystems.
On the final day, everyone discussed the single question, "What does it all mean?"
The discussion centered on protecting ecosystems and water quality.
Indoors, in teams of two again, Shenandoah students asked DMMS students to explain what they learned outside the day the day before.
The SU students connected these observations to the water cycle, the region's watersheds and SU’s research findings that connect the DMMS schoolyard to the Chesapeake Bay.
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