Ferrum, Va. (Oct. 7, 2016) – Every academic year, Ferrum College environmental science program faculty and students partner with Western Virginia Water Authority, Blue Ridge Soil & Water Conservation District, and Benjamin Franklin Middle School educators to teach Franklin Co. 6th graders about human and environmental impacts to watersheds and water quality. This is accomplished with a week of classroom programming followed by Creek Week, during which students spend their class period at Powder Mill Creek on the middle school property collecting and analyzing the benthic macroinvertebrate population, using probeware and conducting chemical tests to measure pH, dissolved oxygen, turbidity, temperature, etc. The students draw conclusions about the creek’s water quality and relate their observations of the immediate watershed to their data. Working alongside the College’s Environmental Science program students and faculty, the middle school students also have the opportunity to learn about ways they can further their science education.
Creek Week details and photographs courtesy of Sarah Baumgardner of the Western Virginia Water Authority.
