Aquarius Project at Tennessee State University

NSTA Presentation Atlanta Georgia 2004

Presenters: Judy Butler and Toni Peterson

The Aquarius Project demonstrates how teachers and students join biologists, hydrologists, and conservationists looking at water quality issues in a systems approach to solve real community problems.

The Aquarius Project demonstrates how teachers join scientists from Tennessee State University, biologists from the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, hydrologists from the US Geological Survey, naturalists from Warner Park, and members of the Cumberland River Compact to look at water quality issues in a systems approach.

Participants will learn how several educational programs in middle Tennessee use rivers as the anchor for interdisciplinary science. These programs focus on critical thinking, decision-making, and problem solving with the theme of water quality.

Water quality decline and habitat degradation are two of the most important environmental problems of our time. The Aquarius Project, which is a partnership between Tennessee State University and surrounding school districts, uses existing curriculum and develops classroom activities that allow teachers to explore water quality issues with students. Inquiry into real community problems using scientific research helps students think about watershed management in a holistic manner. Teachers will learn how to develop a real world based learning environment to study the interaction and impact of multiple factors on aquatic environments.

Science Teaching Standards -- planning school science programs, planning and delivering inquiry-based programs, assessing teaching and student learning, facilitating student learning, creating environments that enable students to learn science, creating communities of science learners

Let's Go To The River: A Fieldtrip Guide (PDF File) This will download a 10 page document.

index.html

A website for career exploration in aquatic sciences developed by Judy Butler for an on-line course with the American Museum of Natural History http://www.amnh.org/

Tennessee Resources for River Studies

Harpeth River Watershed Association

http://www.harpethriver.org/

Cumberland River Compact

http://www.harpethriver.org/

TN Nonpoint Source Program

http://www.state.tn.us/agriculture/nps/index.html

TN Project Wet In Tennessee

http://www.apsu.edu/wet/

Great listing of resources maintained by TN Project Wet http://www.apsu.edu/wet/links.html

National Projects

World Wildlife Fund Biological Diversity and Conservation

Thank you to the WWF for providing a teaching kit on biological diversity! Please contact Judy Butler if you would like to check out some of these great resources.

Earth Force

http://www.earthforce.org/welcome.htm

GREEN: Global Rivers Environmental and Educational Network

http://www.green.org/

Adopt a Watershed

http://www.adopt-a-watershed.org/

Great Links to Other Watershed Projects

Maintained by Adopt a Watershed

http://www.adopt-a-watershed.org/

Rivers Project

http://www.siue.edu/OSME/river/

World Water Monitoring Day