Another stipend will be provided to Ken Emo to support his development of materials and approaches for the course that the teachers could use in the classroom after their participation in the course. The other major use of the funds requested will be for materials which can support the continued involvement of the teachers who take the MRS course and other teachers in the Boulder Valley School District. The reason for this choice is that one of the dramatic observations during the field trip is the melting of the snow pack. The children on the field trip also have a clear view of the Green Lakes and Silver Lake in the Boulder Watershed adjacent to Niwot Ridge. Silver Lake can be clearly distinguished by the children as a reservoir because of the dam across the east side.
Silver Lake is an important reservoir in the water supply system.
We have arranged for Prof. Claudia Mills from the Philosophy Department, who has published many children s books, to advise the undergraduate students with this project. We expect that once the text is prepared, the Boulder Water Department will support further publication costs for wider distribution. We would also post the text on our web site. During the spring snowmelt period, the color of the water and the turbidity increase visibly in the local streams along with the increase in discharge. We feel that this is a more real and less abstract activity than the elementary students monitoring just pH and conductivity.