Environmental science students learn about local streams first-hand

| 22 Feb 2012 | 12:08

Elizabeth Bogle, a volunteer with AmeriCorps NJ Watershed Ambassadors Program, visited Mary Rapuano’s environmental science classes at Sussex County Technical School on Feb. 12. Bogle is assisting the state’s Department of Environmental Protection, division of Watershed Management, in monitoring the rivers and watersheds in the Sussex County area. She gave a presentation to Rapuano’s science students that included an overview of facts about water and a hands-on activity, A little prep Before arriving at Sussex County Technical School that morning, Bogle waded into two very cold streams, churned the water up a bit, and used nets to gather up stream insects and crustaceans and other freshwater invertebrates still clinging to leaves and debris. She brought those into the classroom and gave the children the job of finding the organisms caught in the nets. They placed them in trays for later identification. As part of the in-class project, a key was used to identify the organisms according to their tolerance to pollution. The fewer organisms sensitive to pollution in their net, the more polluted the water. “We learned that Sussex County has the cleanest water in the state, but the water is not pristine,” said science teacher Rapuano.