River WaterWorks Newsletter, May 2005

http://www.riverwaterworks.org/News/current_newsletter.html

The contents of the May 2005 newsletter are as follows:
1. PROJECT AWARE FOUNDATION GRANT AWARDED
2. RIVER VESSEL IDENTIFIED!
3. YSI ENVIRONMENTAL INSTRUMENT DONATION
4. CURRICULUM DISTRIBUTED TO SCHOOLS
5. FRESHWATER CONSERVATION CONFERENCE
6. CURRICULM WORKSHOPS

1. PROJECT AWARE FOUNDATION GRANT AWARDED

River WaterWorks was awarded partial funding to be used towards curriculum development by the Project AWARE Foundation Grant on 21.April, 2005.   The Project AWARE Foundation is dedicated to conserving underwater environments through education, advocacy, and action.   For more information, please visit their website at http://www.projectaware.org .

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2. RIVER VESSEL IDENTIFIED!

The vessel that will travel down the length of the Allegheny, Ohio, and Lower Mississippi rivers has been identified!   A used 18 foot SunTracker Bass Buggy Pontoon boat manufactured by the Tracker Marine Company was purchased from David Knepper of Frostburg, MD.   The vessel has been stripped down to a bare deck and plans are underway to construct an accommodations space and bicycle-powered propulsion system on the stable, floating platform.   A 25 HP gasoline outboard will remain on the boat for emergency propulsion and a sail will be added for use whenever the breeze is fair.   More details on the vessel modifications will be posted in future newsletters and on the website at http://www.riverwaterworks.org/vessel.html .

It should be noted that in addition to selling his boat, Mr. Knepper also donated a boat trailer and a healthy assortment of boat accessories to the River WaterWorks organization.

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3. YSI ENVIRONMENTAL INSTRUMENT DONATION

YSI Environmental, http://www.ysi.com/environmental.htm , has generously offered to donate a scientific sampling instrument for the duration of the WaterWorks journey.   The instrument, a model 6920 Sonde, is capable of measuring 14 parameters simultaneously including dissolved oxygen, temperature, conductivity, nitrate-nitrogen, chlorophyll, turbidity, salinity, and pH.   We are excited to be able to use real time data from the river to help demonstrate fundamental principals of water quality to classroom and online audiences.   The full specifications of this instrument can be found online.

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4. CURRICULUM DISTRIBUTED TO SCHOOLS

An information packet containing a detailed description of the WaterWorks project and associated educational curriculum was mailed out at the end of April to fourth grade classroom teachers in 36 schools near the banks of the rivers' edge.   The presentation in each participating classroom will last approximately one hour in duration and engage the students in a hands-on, interdisciplinary inquiry about water.   The program has been designed in accordance with the National Education Standards.   Many schools have already responded with interest in the program, and we are expecting more responses to roll in soon.

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5. FRESHWATER CONSERVATION CONFERENCE

River WaterWorks was present at this year's Spring Symposium of the American Museum of Natural History's Center for Biodiversity and Conservation held in New York City during the second week of April.   The title of the conference was " New Currents in Conserving Freshwater Systems" and it featured over 25 presentations of ongoing freshwater conservation projects around the world.   Dan Danielopol, a speaker at the conference and a Senior Scientist at the Austrian Academy of Sciences' Institute of Limnology, generously provided some amazing educational groundwater video that will be incorporated into the WaterWorks curriculum.   For more information about the conference visit:

     http://research.amnh.org/biodiversity/symposia/freshwater/

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6. CURRICULUM WORKSHOPS

During the past month River WaterWorks has attended two different curriculum training workshops held in Holderness, NH and New York City.   These workshops provided training and curriculum material for four different national environmental education programs including Project WET, Project WILD, Project WILD Aquatic, and Project Learning Tree.   These resources will be used to enhance the WaterWorks educational experience.   More information about these programs can be found online at:

http://www.projectwet.org
http://www.projectwild.org
http://www.plt.org

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Copyright 2005, River WaterWorks
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