March 12th-13th, 2018 at Upham Woods Outdoor Learning Center

On March 12^th, 2018, Upham Woods hosted an environmental education workshop and training event featuring citizen science water quality monitoring techniques and DOTS technology. This water quality workshop brought together attendees from across Wisconsin with a shared interest in broadening access to environmental education through water quality monitoring. Participants included STEM teachers, camp facilitators, master naturalists, extension agents, and environmental specialists from a variety of organizations. The workshop kicked off on the morning of the 12^th with field science activities that featured strategies for fostering learner inquiry in unstructured, outdoor learning environments. Next, participants familiarized themselves with the DOTS tools: portable, handheld devices that allow users to take measurements in their environment. They practiced taking atmospheric measurements with weather meters, finding GPS coordinates, and collecting water quality data with multi-parameter probes and test tablets.

After lunch, everybody participated in the workshop’s first “data blitz”: they split into four groups and traveled to different locations on Upham Woods’ property to collect a wide range of data points from their surrounding environment, including water samples they collected from the Wisconsin River nearby. One group took microscopic photographs of lichen on a tree using a digital microscope and iPad. Another group found scat on the banks of the river that was made up fish remains; the group guessed that it may have been left by a raccoon or otter. All of the groups then created “scientific stories” of their experiences and uploaded their data points to the DOTS water quality monitoring website, here: https://sites.google.com/view/uphamwoodsdotswatermonitoring/home

Two guest speakers presented on the afternoon of the 12^th: Peggy Compton from Water Action Volunteers and Lainet Garcia-Rivera from the Urban Ecology Center – Menomonee Valley Branch. Peggy Compton facilitated a macroinvertebrate analysis activity. She brought samples of leaf litter and detritus from a creek and had each group use tiny nets, pipettes, and spoons to separate the macroinvertebrates inside into cells of an ice cube tray filled with water. Then, participants used a printed guide to identify each animal and quantify its tolerance of pollution. The groups used this information to rate the level of pollution in the environments where these macroinvertebrates lived.

Lainet Garcia-Rivera gave a presentation about her experiences leading the Young Scientist Club at the Menomonee Valley branch of the Urban Ecology Center in Milwaukee, WI. She spoke about the value of expanding access to nature and outdoor education to youth in urban settings. She talked about several events she facilitated that engaged her students’ families in exploring nature, including a family camping trip. The Young Scientist Club uses the DOTS kits from Upham Woods to make these activities fun and generate interest in science.

The first day of the workshop ended with a discussion about water quality parameters. Participants learned about the science behind the data they collected that day, including measurements of dissolved oxygen, total dissolved solids, conductivity, pH, nitrates, and phosphate. Then, groups used a reference sheet to “score” their water samples based on their data. The evening ended with a campfire down by the river.

On the second day of the training, everybody participated in an early morning data blitz on the Wisconsin River, revisiting the water sampling locations they’d collected data from the day before and observing changes in their readings. Groups noticed evidence of animal activity in the time between their data collection events: one group found a clam shell with claw-marks surrounded by animal tracks they suspected were left by raccoons.

After creating a new set of scientific stories, the groups came back indoors to hear from Lynn Markham, a UW-Extension land use education specialist from UW-Stevens Point. She talked about the relationship between shoreline development, water quality, and freshwater ecosystem health. The workshop came to an end at noon on the second day: participants learned how to request the DOTS technology and water quality monitoring tools they’d used at the workshop from Upham Woods, then shared a final meal together before departing.

Many educators talked about using the kits with their own organizations; two workshop attendees have already submitted lending requests for DOTS + Water Quality Tools from Upham Woods. We are looking forward to collaborating with our new partners to educate and empower new water quality stewards across the state!

Scientific Stories: Water Quality Workshop and Teacher Training, March 12th-13th 2018