Grade 8 Students Study Hudson River Through NYU Initiative

On April 26th, Grade 8 Earth Science students, led by Ms. Karlin and Ms. Moldofsky, participated in a citizen science program in collaboration with New York University and the Wallerstein Collaborative for Urban Environmental Education. This project engaged students in real-world science while teaching them about local habitats and community issues.

In a pre-trip visit with an expert on water quality from NYU, students learned about Hudson River basics – what lives there, how we use it, and a little Hudson history. The classes traveled to Pier 84, just south of the Intrepid Museum, and tested and monitored water quality with these local experts. The data collected will be housed in a virtual “field-station,” which other people will be able to access as part of a long-term monitoring initiative. Ongoing data collection will enable the community to examine changes that occur and, therefore, better understand the health of this vital water-body. Using a variety of collection methods, our students tested temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, nitrates/phosphates, coliform, and turbidity.

 

As a follow-up to the trip, students debriefed about their findings and discussed the overall health of the Hudson (it’s actually fairly healthy!). Everyone had a blast during this unique opportunity to engage in real, local science and connect it to the CGPS science curriculum.