WATER You Gonna Read About?

Science teacher Laura Bell took her environmental students to the James H. Barrow Field Station at Hiram College to learn more about watersheds and other topics they had been studying in class.

Hiram College’s James H. Barrow Field Station is a close to campus, research and educational facility. It is used to not only provide advanced hands on experience for students, but to educate the public about the environment.

Senior Sophie Singer said,“the practical application of learning was really awesome, that’s not something we get to do in a lot of our classes”.

While there the students discussed the importance of watersheds and how to evaluate the quality of water. For anyone not in Bell’s environmental class a watershed is a series of rivers, streams, and lakes that collects and directs water from a given area of land, providing drinking water and habitats for many different organisms. This means maintaining a clean and diverse watershed is a major priority.

“It was really cool getting to see all the organisms in an area, and how important it was for them to have clean water.” Said student Carrie Harper.

Students were provided the opportunity to wade through the water in search of different organisms. They also collected water samples to test the PH level of the water. Both of these are different techniques used to determine if there may be anything wrong with the water.

Harper added, “I got to hold salamanders, fish, baby crayfish, and got to analyze the water personally. All around it was a wonderful trip that gave me a better understanding of environmental science.”

In the end the high school students left the Field Station with an experience that not many college students get.

Title credited to Ethan Walker.

Picture credited to Laura Bell.