 Now you can take your students out on Lake Champlain! Work with scientists and educators at the Leahy Center for Lake Champlain to conduct scientific research aboard the University of Vermont's Research Vessel Melosira. This state-of-the-art boat is staffed by university researchers and professional educators, and is fully equipped to enable your students to conduct real lake studies. Students learn about current research and then apply scientific tools and techniques to collect their own data. Throughout this hands on experience, students will be challenged as they follow the scientific method, raise questions, and apply critical thinking skills in comparing data they collect to historic data.
ESSENTIAL QUESTION
How do scientists study the complex system and environmental problems in Lake Champlain?
FOCUSING QUESTIONS
- What can we learn from studying aquatic plants and animals?
- Why is it important to keep track of long term trends (i.e., water clarity, dissolved oxygen, temperature, plankton communities and zebra mussel populations)?
- How do scientists measure and track those items?
- How do human activities affect the lake?
VERMONT STANDARDS & GRADE EXPECTATIONS
7.13 Organisms, Evolution and Interdependence.
S9-12:36; Students demonstrate their understanding of equilibrium in an ecosystem.
7.16 Natural Resources and Agriculture.
S9-12:49; Students demonstrate their understanding of processes and change within natural resources
 KEY PROGRAM ACTIVITIES
- Understanding the natural history and unique regions of the lake
- Physical and chemical characteristics: lake water clarity; dissolved oxygen and temperature measurement from the water's surface to the bottom
- Lake ecology: overview of Lake Champlain ecology, collect and analyze a plankton sample
- The zebra mussel story: learn zebra mussel basics, collect zebra mussels to estimate the population density
DETAILS
Trips will be scheduled on a first come, first serve basis from May through early October, weather permitting (trips may be rescheduled if openings exist).
Grade Level: High School (10:1 student to adult ratio), Junior High (8:1 student to adult ratio); other interested groups may be accommodated.
To register, contact: Erin De Vries, (802) 859-3086 x305 or download a registration form.
What to bring: Wear comfortable, stable shoes, and dress warmly as conditions on the lake are typically cooler than on land on any given day. Other suggested items depending on the weather: sunglasses, sun hat, sunscreen, rain coat and hat. Also, please bring a notebook and a pen or pencil. Lastly, you may want to bring a camera and/or binoculars, and motion sickness medicine if you require it.
PARTNERS
The Leahy Center for Lake Champlain, ECHO, University of Vermont, Lake Champlain Basin Program, UVM Rubenstein Ecosystem Science Lab, UVM Watershed Alliance, UVM Extension, Lake Champlain Sea Grant |
