Lower Merion Conservancy

High School

Grades 9-12

Field Experiences

Aquatic Ecology
Connect the chemistry, biology, and geology that students are learning in the classroom and the laboratory with current field research being conducted on Mill Creek by the Conservancy's staff and volunteers. Students perform chemical and physical tests, then use their data to predict the species of invertebrates they expect to find in Mill Creek. Using kick nets and other biological sampling techniques to survey the stream’s invertebrate population, they’ll then test their hypotheses. Students discover the tools professional scientists use to assess the health of streams, and become scientists themselves: the data your students collect will be used by the Conservancy in our ongoing studies.

Forest and Field: Introducing Ecology Study species richness, habitat requirements, niche competition, succession, and more all where it’s happening—outside! Students experience the practical application of the knowledge that they acquire in the classroom and laboratory. Through the use of vegetation and animal-use surveys, students make connections between biotic and abiotic elements, plants and animals, geology and biology. They’ll become intimately familiar with healthy and impaired forests, and make predictions regarding the health of Pennsylvania forests under differing circumstances.

Classroom Workshops

Aquatic Ecology
Through a series of hands-on science investigations, your students begin to understand concepts relating to stream ecology including adaptations, limiting factors, watersheds and the water cycle. Students analyze chemical, physical, and biological data collected on Mill Creek to assess the creek’s current health, perform some of these tests, and meet a variety of stream invertebrates. They'll make the connection among disciplines, seeing how biology, chemistry and geology interact in the real world. This experience asks students to think critically, perform scientific experiments, and use basic science knowledge to draw conclusions.

Updated: 1/9/2004 © 2010Lower Merion Conservancy. All rights reserved.

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