Testing the Waters

A high school biology class decided to test the water in their local lake and found it was polluted. After researching water pollution and ways to reverse it, the students developed a five-year plan to clean up the lake. In the first year of the plan, they partnered with the Chamber of Commerce and the state Department of Natural Resources to develop a pamphlet that was distributed to residents at an annual town celebration. Students made videos of the lake, kept water-quality journals, and tracked the pollution sources. They worked with the town council to implement pollution reduction plans and developed a presentation to train residents to test water quality. After two years of hard work, students were able to celebrate cleaner water with town residents.