Stream Team Water Quality Program
Stream Team Water Quality Program
Appropriate for Grades: 9-12
Learning Standards Covered: ENV.ER.3
Program Length: 45 minutes - 2 hours
Vocabulary: watershed, non-point source pollution, point source pollution, runoff, macroinvertebrate, tolerance, taxa, nutrients, eutrophication, hypoxia, harmful algal blooms, turbidity, sedimentation, substrate
Learning Objectives
- Generate a stream quality score by performing biological stream monitoring
- Test the chemical quality of a stream by testing and recording levels of nitrogen, phosphorus, dissolved oxygen, pH, turbidity, and temperature
- Conduct Citizen Qualitative Habitat Evaluation Index (cQHEI) to generate a stream quality score for the physical attributes of the stream
- As a class, produce credible data by monitoring a section of the stream 3-4 times throughout the year
Program Description
Modeled after the volunteer Stream Team program, students learn about various types of water pollution and their sources. Students are taught how to conduct biological, chemical, and physical monitoring on a stream to generate data on the water quality of the stream. This data is used by Licking Soil and Water to monitor the water quality within the Licking River Watershed
**Classes will need to commit to collecting data at least 4 times throughout the year
