A dozen young scientists and environmentalists in the making Thursday beat the heat, while learning about watershed ecology, water quality and water stewardship during a Mississippi University for Women Science Enrichment Program workshop at Plymouth Bluff.
Following a presentation from Deb Veeder of Mississippi”s Adopt-A-Stream network, the public-, private- and home-schooled students — in grades four through seven — donned life jackets and prepared to board a boat to sample macroinvertebrates, the presence or absence of which is a water quality indicator.
“It”s fun,” Giulia Hintz, 11, said of the week-long workshop. “I mean we learn a lot of stuff.”
The daughter of Melanie Hintz, her favorite part is “taking water samples and learning how to sample water, pH, temperature and turbidity.”
“It”s so we can take care of our streams and so that we can take care of God”s creation and what he”s given us,” she said of the importance of learning water stewardship.
“It”s really fun,” said India Yarborough, 12. “I love going out on the boat and testing the water samples, seeing the river quality and learning about rivers and streams.
“(It”s important) because the water we”ve got now is the water that”s going to be around,” Yarborough, the daughter of Chuck and Leigh Yarborough, added. “We”ve got to take care of that and keep it clean.”
“I think it”s excellent because we”re learning about water samples and stuff,” said Kameryn Lang, 10, the granddaughter of Josie Moore. “They”re important because we”re learning about the watershed and how we”re supposed to take care of the water, so the fish can have a better place to live.”
“I like it; it”s really fun,” said Kathryn Hintz, 9. “I like going out on the boat and testing stuff. Because if we don”t take care of the water, it”ll all get nasty and we won”t have any to drink or be able to use the water.”
“This has been a good group,” Kenny Langley, the outreach coordinator of the MUW Science Enrichment Program, said of the class. “Here we are in record heat, so, considering, I”ve been very impressed with the students overall. I would say, for the most part, they”re happy to be here, interested in the topic and pretty well motivated.”
Funded through a congressional grant received by the Department of Sciences and Mathematics at MUW, the MUW Science Enrichment Program was established to promote the development of science skills among Northeast Mississippi teachers and students.
This summer, the program offered four week-long workshops for teachers and students on topics like ecology, watershed management, geology and astronomy; during the final workshop — scheduled the week of July 27 — parent and student teams will study geology during the days and astronomy at night.
“The main target for the program is the middle grades,” Langley said. “What we”re hoping is we”ll provide some hands-on science activities for them, something that will spark their interest in science or a particular field, drive them toward contributing in the future towards a body of knowledge that will help everyone.
“If you think about why a lot of people got into their field, it”s because they had a positive experience somewhere along the way, and we”re hoping to provide that,” he continued. “The other focus is to increase knowledge-based capabilities in science in Northeast Mississippi. We”re looking to spread out and expand the program into different areas, all science-based.”
The Science Enrichment Program also offers Monday and Tuesday field trips in the fall and teacher workshops on Saturdays.
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