Hands-on water quality projects continue for NW Indiana students

Posted May 1st, 2012 in Education, Great Lakes Cleanup
Following up on our post from March 12, Caitie McCoy and Terri Hallesy visited with students in East Chicago to see how their projects studying the Roxana Marsh area were going. Terri sent along some details: 
 
On April 19, Caitie McCoy invited Education Specialist Terri Hallesy, to visit Andrea Bock’s 4th grade science classrooms at East Chicago Lighthouse Charter School. The students have been learning about the Great Lakes Legacy Act cleanup project at Roxana Marsh and how to design a habitat. Jack Brunner, an EPA contractor whose employees work on-site at Roxana Marsh, was invited as a guest speaker to share his restoration work with the students. Caitie McCoy and colleague, Nishaat Yunus, actively engaged students in a discussion about key concepts associated with habitats and restoration projects. Students participated in a hands-on activity to design their own Roxana Marsh habitat by constructing a colorful classroom mural. Students were divided into groups and provided with photos depicting various elements contained within a habitat. Selected photos included nonliving elements, such as the sun and oxygen; above water living plants like black-eyed Susan and wild bergamot; and above water living animals such as the great blue heron and Peregrine falcon. Using various art tools, students designed and illustrated some of the components that comprise the Roxana Marsh habitat. Caitie McCoy and Terri Hallesy affixed the students’ creative illustrations onto a mural, which is now proudly displayed in their classroom. As a culminating event, Jack Brunner surprised the students by presenting a painted turtle that was found on the Roxana Marsh site and has been kept as a pet during the cleanup. The next step in this exciting restoration project will involve the students actually visiting Roxana Marsh to plant natives they’ve been cultivating in their classroom.
All of the students had a great time getting involved and learning about the marsh, and they’re looking forward to planting the native species they’ve been growing in the class.

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Explore the history, impact, and educational power of Meaningful Watershed Educational Experiences (MWEEs).eeLEARN: MWEE 101 is a free, self-paced online course that walks you through the MWEE framework with examples, planning tools, and downloadable resources that you can use immediately.Start learning today at the link in bio.

Some partnerships just make sense. Happy Valentine’s Day from IISG! 💕

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Some partnerships just make sense. Happy Valentine’s Day from IISG! 💕

This February marks a major milestone: 30 years of aquatic invasive species outreach by our team! To celebrate, IISG Director, Stuart Carlton, and Strategic Communication Coordinator, Renie Miles, sat down for a Sea Grant Chat with two key figures in IISG’s AIS history: Pat Charlebois, our assistant director and program leader, who spent over two decades leading our prevention efforts, and Katie O’Reilly, who took over that role in 2022. We discussed the evolution of the invasive species issue in the Great Lakes, the shift toward understanding human behavior, and the creative strategies that make this team so effective.

Dive into the full interview at the link in bio.

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This February marks a major milestone: 30 years of aquatic invasive species outreach by our team! To celebrate, IISG Director, Stuart Carlton, and Strategic Communication Coordinator, Renie Miles, sat down for a Sea Grant Chat with two key figures in IISG’s AIS history: Pat Charlebois, our assistant director and program leader, who spent over two decades leading our prevention efforts, and Katie O’Reilly, who took over that role in 2022. We discussed the evolution of the invasive species issue in the Great Lakes, the shift toward understanding human behavior, and the creative strategies that make this team so effective. Dive into the full interview at the link in bio.

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Introducing the Lake Michigan Explorer! Start exploring the varied factors that impact the Great Lakes with our Explorer Series. This searchable database of external resources can help you find hands-on activities that spark curiosity and inspire action. ✨ What’s inside?Lesson plans, fact sheets, and reading materialsEngaging videos and visualizationsEasy-to-use filters by grade level, topic, and time.Perfect for classrooms and informal learning, this resource empowers students to become stewards of the Great Lakes.🔗 in bio for more.