On September 21, 2022, in celebration of World Water Monitoring Day, EarthEcho International partners hosted a water monitoring event at Bijou Alternative School in Colorado Springs, CO. This event brought together Mr. Landers’ 5th grade classes reaching a total of 200 students. Throughout the day students participated in hands-on activities at various "stations," learning about water quality and sustainability.

Activities at station one focused on biodiversity and water chemistry, and included the need-to-know steps to become a community scientist through the EarthEcho Water Challenge. At this station, staff from the US Air Force Academy guided students as they tested pH, dissolved oxygen, turbidity, and temperature of water quality using EarthEcho test kits. The second station was also facilitated by US Air Force Academy, who led students through an engineering design process, having them design shower heads and assess the total amount of water used per second, all while identifying ways to reduce their water footprint.

At the third station, students learned how stormwater affects the health of their community. Staff from Colorado Springs Stormwater Education facilitated an interactive presentation to demonstrate the relationship between daily land-use practices and water quality. Various "pollutants" (cocoa, powdered drink mixes, soy sauce, etc.) were applied to the landscape with subsequent "rainfall" (spray bottles)creating contaminated runoff and a polluted watershed. The students very much enjoyed this fun hands-on presentation!

EarthEcho International would like to thank Bijou Alternative School, Mr. Landers, participating students, teachers, and local partners for contributing to the success of the event. Participating partners include Colorado Springs Stormwater Education and US Air Force Academy.

We encourage everyone to continue to monitor their local waterways throughout the year, participate in the EarthEcho Water Challenge, and share your data at monitorwater.org.

 

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