Boise SMART student mentors 6th grade science class
Abby Robison, SMART student at Boise High School, worked with Kelly Brown at Mountain View Elementary to provide hands-on water science lessons and activities to teach the 6th grade water unit. In the classroom the students learned about storm water and runoff as contributors to water pollution by creating a “virtual river” that is influenced by community and landowner practices (see Project WET ‘Sum of the Parts’ lesson). Then the students learned how to classify macroinvertebrates using identification keys and found out that species type and abundance are indicators of water quality. Abby demonstrated and shared the SMART water quality sensor technologies to teach students how to measure pH, dissolved oxygen and temperature of water using the hand-held devices. Abby, Kelly and the 6th graders went on a field trip to the Boise River to put their new water science skills to the test. They collected macroinvertebrates from the river and gathered water quality data that the class will analyze and use to create projects.
