This inquiry lab is useful for monitoring water pollution in a freshwater system using direct and/or indirect methods.

Author: Lela Schwitzer, Bonduel Elementary School, BonduelGrade: 1stIn the CKLA Knowledge Domain 8 Animal Habitats, I used Native authors, an Indigenous documentary on sturgeon, our school woods/stream, a local sturgeon webcam, and my Menominee heritage to extend students’ knowledge of the freshwater habitat to promote their environmental capacity to protect area waters similarly as the books’ characters do. The overarching question is Who Are Water Protectors? I used the picture books to provide background knowledge on water protectors and to learn how others interact with water in their area. The documentary conveyed how the Menominee people are connected to the freshwater fish, sturgeon, and how this fish’s survival is important because Namo’o is the keeper of our stories. The webcam connects all students to the sturgeon and gives access to experience their return to spawn. Visiting our school woods and the stream that flows through it provides a meaningful reason to be a water protector to preserve this natural resource for future Bonduel Elementary students. Further, students are given the opportunity to sign a Water Protector Pledge after discussing it at home with their families. Students will be offered an opportunity to clean the freshwater watershed of our school stream on Earth Day. The hope is that students will become lifelong protectors of natural resources.