The Lake Champlain Dragonfly Mercury Project engages middle and high school science classrooms in the Lake Champlain watershed in authentic mercury research and monitoring, through inquiry-based learning modules. These in-class modules use dragonflies as established biosentinels, or indicators of mercury exposure.
In these project, students are presented with current, regional information on mercury science, and given the tools to collect and interpret scientific data and ask relevant and meaningful questions about mercury accumulation in the region. Data from the project will be included in the Dragonfly Mercury Project (DMP) database, a national monitoring network that involves community scientists in the collection of dragonfly larvae for mercury analysis.
Project Outline
- Summer teacher workshops: sessions include classroom presentations on mercury science, introductions to conducting field research, asking relevant and meaningful questions about mercury in the environment, and how data can be used to answer scientific questions.
- Field sample collection: classrooms visit a local tributary, along with educators from the Watershed Alliance, to collect dragonfly larvae and measure basic water quality parameters
- Samples are sent to Dartmouth College, via the Watershed Alliance, for mercury analysis. Students are provided with data they collected, and given access to the nationwide DMP databases on mercury in dragonflies from all over the country. These data are used to ask meaningful questions about mercury in the region.
- Student projects are developed into a poster by students, and presented at symposium later in the school year.
Partners
- Lake Champlain Sea Grant Watershed Alliance
- Lake Champlain Basin Program
- National Dragonfly Mercury Project (U.S. National Parks Service)
Contact
Email: Vivien.F.Taylor@dartmouth.edu
