Sewickley Students 'Test the Waters'

  seventh- and eighth-graders recently spent a day on the rivers, learning firsthand about the waters that surround the Golden Triangle.

“Providing this type of experience to our students is not only necessary, but critical,” said science teacher Natalie Bulera, who organized the activity with a grant from the state Department of Education. 

Once aboard, the kids were tasked with identifying sources of pollution and summarizing the conditions of the rivers. Working together, the children began with the hypothesis that the water was dirty and unsafe for fish and wildlife. They then worked to prove their theory by collecting and classifying live plankton and other species, and by testing water samples for pollution levels. 

This RiverQuest program is tailored after the state environment and ecology and science and technology education standards and correlates with the St. James science curriculum.  

Rhe goal of the four-hour river program, which focused on biological sciences, chemistry, environmental science and ecology, was to enrich the lessons that students already learn in their classroom, Buler

 “We are able to take classroom content out of our books and into our hands, using our knowledge to apply to the real world," Bulera said. "This type of learning completes the circle that we strive to attain when introducing fundamental science concepts.“

Goal achieved. 

“Learning about the water quality was more enjoyable than I imagined," said student . "The fieldtrip was interesting."

But in the end, all the test results proved the students’ hypothesis to be wrong. 

“I never knew the rivers were so clean,” said student Dan Joyce.  

Veeck added: "Our river was actually very clean, even though we thought differently."