During the 2024–2025 school year, Carver Elementary implemented a student-led year long macroinvertebrate survey as part of our pursuit of EcoSchools Green Flag certification. Rooted in the EcoSchools Framework, this action supported the Curriculum, Community and Leadership, and Wildlife and Biodiversity pathways by engaging all 675 4th and 5th grade students in hands-on environmental monitoring aligned with Georgia Standards of Excellence and NGSS three-dimensional science instruction.

The initiative was led by our student environmental action team, The Guardians of the Triangle, and conducted within our bioswale and adjacent wetland area. Students used professional field methods adapted from Georgia Adopt-A-Stream to independently sample, sort, and identify freshwater macroinvertebrates. These field investigations served as authentic scientific experiences that emphasized place-based learning, systems thinking, and ecological literacy. Students used dichotomous keys, magnifiers, field guides, and observation trays to collect data and calculate pollution tolerance indices—directly connecting their findings to water quality and local biodiversity.

We engaged community partners including the Georgia Southern University Freshwater Ecology Lab, whose graduate researchers provided expertise during field days and supported student-led bioblitzes. Our collaboration with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Georgia DNR, and Ogeechee Riverkeeper reinforced the scientific accuracy of our protocols and allowed students to understand their role in larger watershed stewardship efforts.

All 4th and 5th grade classrooms participated in data collection and analysis, while the Guardians helped design the field station layout, trained peers on sampling tools, and compiled group findings. As a result, every student had agency in contributing to a larger dataset while practicing scientific habits of mind such as observation, classification, data interpretation, and environmental decision-making.

This project significantly impacted student learning and school culture. Students demonstrated increased understanding of aquatic ecosystems, pollution indicators, and conservation strategies. Teachers reported that students retained complex ecological concepts more effectively through direct, real-world application. This year, our 5th grade state science test scores increased by 18%! The project also fostered leadership, teamwork, and resilience, as students worked collaboratively, problem-solved in the field, and presented their findings during our Earth and Arts Night.

Socially and emotionally, the macroinvertebrate survey deepened students' connection to the natural world and cultivated a sense of ownership over their school’s biodiversity. Many students who initially expressed fear or discomfort around aquatic invertebrates became confident field scientists, proud of their contributions to protecting the Ogeechee River Basin. The sense of wonder, curiosity, and accomplishment students experienced through this action has made it one of the most powerful and transformative elements of our outdoor education program.

Nearly all of our survey tools—even our sorting trays and sample containers—come from the dollar store, with only the D-nets and chemical test kits sourced elsewhere. This intentional choice empowers students to assemble their own at-home kits and continue exploring local waterways beyond school hours. They’re thrilled to discover that these same simple tools meet the standards of “real scientists,” conforming to Georgia Adopt-A-Stream and Stroud protocols and the equipment recommended by our research partners.

Students conduct macroinvertebrate surveys in "The Ditch" (a bioswale) located between Carver Elementary and Richmond Hill Elementary.

Students can conduct an independent survey and field investigation during any Outdoor Education class

or choose to participate during the Carver Great Macroinverabrate Census, a weeklong event held each fall and spring.

The Ditch, where we have collected over 500 crayfish and 17 species of macroinvertebrates, is about 100 feet long and has complete, full sunlight. It has two culverts at each end. One culvert leads to "The Wetland," a constructed wetland with a small retention pond. The Ditch (a bioswale) has a combination of turbid and clear water, pockets of turbid water, or after a day of conducting census, will be completely turbid. The ditch is located on Pooler Series and Ogeechee Series soil and its water source is stormwater runoff. Students have surveyed dragonfly nymph, mayfly nymph, damselfly nymph, belostoma, leeches, snails, fishing spiders, golden topminnow, killifish, mosquitofish, paranecta and notonecta, tadpoles (green tree frog, pine tree frog, american bullfrog, greenhouse frog), water scorpion, water beetles, true bugs, and tubifex worms in the ditch. Students have seen red shouldered hawks watch the ditch and have seen little blue heron in the ditch, eating. We captured a warmouth at the head of the culvert in the minnow trap (it swam from the Wetland). The water in the ditch is static (lentic) and does not have noticeable flow. The ditch is periodically flooded, and since August, we have only seen about 2-4 weeks of it being without water.

At Carver, students take full ownership of their macroinvertebrate research by selecting their own survey methods, choosing sampling locations, and designing protocols to meet their investigative questions. After mastering the Georgia Adopt-A-Stream and Watershed Institute survey procedures in classroom-held tanks, each student team decides how to collect water and organism samples directly from the ditch or bioswale. They then sort and identify macroinvertebrates in trays, record species counts on custom data forms, and calculate biotic indices and water‐quality scores that inform their next steps. When a landscaper dumped grass clippings into the ditch, students used their data to trace a decline in dissolved oxygen and water‐quality ratings from “good” to “poor,” prompting them to investigate how landscaping affects ecosystem recovery. This cycle of student‐driven data collection, analysis, and adaptive research decisions exemplifies true action competency and systems thinking in our EcoSchools framework. For safety, all macroinvertebrates are handled with spoons and never held directly by hand. All specimen are returned to the area where they are found.

Students collect a variety of data in a variety of ways. They collect data using Georgia Adopt a Stream data forms, create their own data collection forms for their own research and investigation, collect data for Citizen Science initiatives, and collect data for specific research projects. Students like to collect morphometric data of crayfish, microfish, and plant species. 

Using the Georgia Adopt a Stream reporting form, students identify the ditch as having good water quality. 

Students use data collection sheets from Georgia Adopt a Stream and the Stroud Water Research Center:

• Georgia Adopt A Stream Macroinvertebrate Data Form 

• Georgia Adopt A Stream Data Form Collection

• Stroud Field Data Sheet/Site Map 

• Stroud Habitat Data Sheet

• Stroud Biotic Index Data Sheet

• Stroud Experiment Summary Data Sheet

• Stroud Data Form Collection

Students contribute macroinvertebrate data to Georgia Adopt a Stream and MacroBlitz. We contribute crayfish data to the Georgia Southern Freshwater Ecology Lab. 

After learning how to conduct a survey, students begin to develop their own methods using their choice of equipment. Students develop their own goals and collect data independently to support their goals. For example, students identify themselves as "Team Pipe" or "Team Grass." They will conduct a survey in the grassy area of the ditch or at the pool in front of the culverts. Students have learned that different habitats gives different survey results. Students will say, "if you want to find dragonfly nymphs, search in the grass" or, "if you want to find adult crayfish search at the pipe." Students develop their own collection methods and share with others how to collect a sample. Students experiment with a variety of methods and develop collection methods with their peers. Students also organize themselves into collection teams based on where a student wants to survey, their choice of equipment, or their choice of methods. We are noticing that because students are creating their own teams without adult guidance, that they are often working with peers they typically have not ever worked with. They are also establishing their own collection methods and rules of collection which gives them ownership of their learning. 

Students want to increase the water quality index from good to excellent by increasing the biodiversity of the ditch and reducing erosion by adding sedges, rushes, and grasses to the edge of the ditch. They have added leaf packs to the ditch during the winter to increase macroinvertebrate habitat. Students plan to implement regular water quality assessments. Students always remove any trash that is in the ditch. Students also created a rock zone in the ditch for macroinvertebrates to rest, lay eggs, and hide. 

Students use the Stroud Water Research Center Leaf Pack Network Leaf Pack Manual for developing their method of developing leaf packs and placing leafpacks correctly in the ditch. Students also watch the Stroud Leaf Pack Instruction Video Collection.  After one month of placing the leaf packs, students remove and examine the leaf packs and conduct a macroinvertebrate survey. Students notice that leaf packs have increased the benthic macroinvertebrate population, especially dragonfly and mayfly nymphs. 

Carver’s macroinvertebrate survey is grounded in multiple national frameworks and best practices that support high-quality environmental education. The project aligns with the North American Association for Environmental Education (NAAEE) Guidelines for Excellence in K–12 Environmental Education, particularly in fostering inquiry-based learning, systems thinking, and personal and civic responsibility. Students engaged in real-world ecological monitoring using protocols from Georgia Adopt-A-Stream, a program that reflects national citizen science best practices. This hands-on approach is further supported by the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies’ North American Conservation Education Strategy, which emphasizes field-based investigation, understanding of human impacts on natural systems, and stewardship of local habitats. Instructionally, the project integrates Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and Georgia Standards of Excellence (GSE), with a focus on disciplinary core ideas (LS2.A: Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems), science and engineering practices (e.g., planning and carrying out investigations, analyzing and interpreting data), and crosscutting concepts like cause and effect and stability and change. By connecting students with their local watershed through professional-grade research and analysis, the macroinvertebrate project meets the highest benchmarks for environmental literacy and 21st-century science instruction.

CRAYFISH OF CARVER: OPERATION POPULATION

After discovering a crayfish burrow with chimney while conducting macroinvertebrate investigations of the ditch, students wanted to see if we could "catch a crayfish." Through this discovery, we began an extensive year long crayfish monitoring project and are contributing our species census data to research being conduct by scientists in the Ogeechee River Basin, in Georgia, and the Southeast and are sharing research data to contribute to the scientific theory that crayfish are reproducing year round instead of seasonly. We have surveyed over 500 crayfish. We are awaiting DNA confirmation from Georgia Southern to confirm the species of crayfish we have on campus. You can read more about Crayfish of Carver: Operation Population on iNaturalist. 

Our partner astacologists from Georgia Southern come for a site visit in January, 2025 to collect a crayfish sample for DNA analysis. We did an initial habitat assessment walk-through of our bioswale/ditch, wetland, and swamp habitats to assess potential opportunities for Spring. We also planned for a future joint field investigation, surveys, and census. 

Volunteer Impact Statement

I was pleasantly surprised to see how excited your students were about crayfish, and I was happy to be able to share what I know with them as well. They were very inquisitive not just with crayfish, but also with the insects, amphibians, and, in a broader sense, the outdoors in general. I hope we were able to convey to them the importance of protecting the outdoors and that scientists don't all wear lab coats or only work in a lab. That by doing the very same monitoring and sampling that they are doing in your class, they are doing science as well! I'm very excited and proud of what they have accomplished in your class and what you've done with the program, and we at the Checo lab look forward to working with you and your classes again soon. Thank you again for inviting us to talk and share our knowledge and experiences with your classes!

Submitted by Reginald Tuner, Georgia Southern Freshwater Ecology Lab ("Checo Lab")

Building on this year’s macroinvertebrate surveys, Carver students will leverage our collected data to drive deeper investigations and habitat improvements in 2025–26. I will attend the Georgia Adopt-A-Stream 2025 Conference to learn advanced sampling techniques, protocol refinements, and data analysis strategies, then share those insights with the Guardians of the Triangle. Next year, student teams will use our baseline species counts and water‐quality indices to identify priority zones for restoration, design targeted removal of pollution sources, and monitor the impact of native plantings on aquatic health. By integrating conference learnings and our year-one metrics, Carver’s macroinvertebrate monitoring will evolve into a structured, student-driven cycle of assessment, action, and evaluation that exemplifies continuous improvement for Green Flag success. We will also continue with our partner scientists and conduct field studies together in the fall and next spring.

To demonstrate our ongoing “Monitor & Evaluate” process, we will embed key evaluation metrics directly into future macroinvertebrate surveys and documented our findings. These will include a table of total survey hours (9+), the number of independent student‐led surveys conducted each month, and the corresponding water‐quality index values. We’ll also display pre‐ and post‐survey student confidence ratings as well as trends in species richness and diversity index scores over time. By presenting these metrics as clear charts and graphs alongside our narrative, viewers can immediately see how student data collection drives continuous improvement and validates the health of our school’s bioswale habitat. We will continue to contribute data to MacroBlitz in the fall and are also planning to incorporate our MarcoBlitz data in a GLOBE project.