This interdisciplinary unit combines mathematics, science, and language arts to solve problems that involve water quality in a two local ponds - the city's pond, and one made by students. Students participate in the Global Water Project. Students perform scientific tests on both ponds and produce lab reports. They collect and enter data on the Internet database for the Global Water Project and submit a proposal based on their interpretations of the data. In addition, they create charts and graphs to represent their findings.
Students publish a newsletter of their pond studies, complete with pictures, on the school Web site.
Students create and provide presentations for their classmates. As an enrichment extension, some students might present a formal presentation to city administrators highlighting their water quality conclusions and recommendations. They maintain a database of findings to record changes over time. All students create and maintain a portfolio to track their progress. Under each category below, click an individual file to open or download it.