Students at Truckee High School are benefiting from an Excellence in Education grant that is providing hands-on and real-world learning opportunities for students to connect with aquatic ecosystems.
Caroline Dezendorf at Truckee High School applied for the grant and was awarded $9,620 in support of dissection and lab materials for the River Ecology course. The course has two big term projects: A Water and Soil Quality Monitoring Project and a Field Guide. “Having resources to help us identify the biodiversity and health of the ecosystem is so important to having a successful project,” Caroline said.
When she started teaching the courses she found the need to rebuild the curriculum to best fit the needs of the diverse student population. “In revising the curriculum, I am in need of a lot of dissection and ecosystem testing materials that we do not have in the science department,” she said.
River Ecology and Marine Biology are hands-on semester long classes with the goal of engaging students with the natural world. Both classes take an inquiry based approach with an emphasis on labs, student-led projects, and creating connections with the real world.
Students collect soil and water samples to analyze the health of the ecosystem. Some of the tools funded through the grant, like the probes, will allow Caroline to monitor student progress and keep her own records by having precise data. In addition, tools like the stream board allow students to look at how abiotic factors influence and change the ecosystem.
During Marine Biology, they spend the last five weeks of the term examining marine invertebrates and vertebrates. “Dissections allow students to engage fully with the organisms,” Caroline explained. “The dissecting microscope is so helpful, letting me help students find different organs and tissues and for getting up close looks at different parts of the specimens.”
As a biological science elective, the aim of the class is to create as much excitement as possible for students to continue their science pathways. For example, Marine Biology relies heavily on access to dissection specimens including dogfish shark, crabs, perch, sea stars, and more. River Ecology is an applied science where students walk to Donner Lake / Coldstream Canyon 2-3 days per week to collect water samples, soil samples, and collect data regarding invertebrate and fauna biodiversity.
Excellence in Education is proud to provide this grant that helps bolster the curriculum by providing resources that will allow students to better engage with aquatic ecosystems.