The Lida Picton Willey Lake: It's Not Just a Pile of Water

In sixth grade, for instance, girls paddled canoes onto the water, dropped weighted strings to measure depth, and also measured the clarity of the water before and after rainstorms. They calculated volume using Google Earth. Topographic maps of the surrounding landscape became instruments for learning how to read and interpret geographic documents and data. These skills, in turn, helped girls grasp concepts involving water flow within a watershed and what can cause the volume of a lake to decrease. The investigation solidified girls’ understanding of the effects of erosion and non-point sources of pollution, especially sedimentation.

 

In similar firsthand learning activities, fifth grade girls collected samples to test for basic water quality indicators such as temperature, turbidity, dissolved oxygen, and pH, then graphed and analyzed the results. They compared their samples with acceptable published levels to identify whether the water is meeting its designated use and to identify any specific pollutants along with possible sources.

Each grade in middle school engaged in similar investigative and interdisciplinary studies of Willey Lake. In every case, girls conducted research, collected and analyzed data, shared analyses between the grade levels and then, where appropriate, prepared recommendations for improvements to the Lake.  

The middle school girls have taken great pride in their Lake projects, as evidenced by their enthusiasm and attention to detail in their data collection and written reflections.  

The lake project was recently featured in "Science Scope," the definitive journal for middle and high school science teachers. In an article in its September issue, teachers Ms. Donna Budynas and Dr. Rebecca Deehr, along with Dr. Barry Gilmore (former head of Middle School, now head of Upper School) describe the goals and tools, what was studied, and what was learned.