Our friends from the Boys and Girls Club of Paterson and Passaic visited South Branch Preserve in Mt. Olive recently to learn all about water quality and how it impacts our lives. These kids had a marvelous time performing science experiments and collecting macroinvertebrates to observe. Education Manager Van Trat’s innovative and hands-on lessons guaranteed that everyone learned a lot and had fun.
Van says, "As we're expanding our Outdoor Ambassador Program, we're looking to incorporate new environmental topics to engage kids. Water quality is an important topic to introduce kids as they are experiencing the affects of it in their livelihoods, health, & future."
Van and the staff were able to show the kids why clean water is important, where our water comes from, and the plants and animals that need clean water just like we do. Here's a snapshot of our day!
Van has been visiting the Boys and Girls Club in Paterson throughout the spring to teach them about water quality; the visit to South Branch is the capstone of this Outdoor Ambassador unit. In the classroom, students have been performing experiments and recording observations about the properties and chemistry of water.
When she's not in the classroom, Van is developing new Outdoor Ambassador modules and participating in workshops for environmental educators, like this recent one at the Meadowlands Environment Center covered by NJ.com. Participants learned about introducing the topic of climate change in a kid-friendly way—how it affects our livelihoods, health, and future—using hands-on activities that truly engage young students. Big thanks to the Meadowlands team for the learning experience and teaching materials!
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