MONITORING THE QUALITY OF WATER AT RILEY SCHOOL

April 18, 2021

Rockport’s Riley School was awarded S.E.A. funding for water monitoring equipment to be used in the school’s hands-on science program, which emphases collecting and interpreting scientific data.

“At Riley School we’ve always encouraged children to have a voice in their education, and what better way to give them a voice than to have them be citizen scientists,” says the Riley School’s Alicia Calder.

Using the equipment, which includes water monitoring kits, refractometers to measure salinity, and various filter equipment, students will learn valuable scientific skills throughout the year They will measure the water quality in the school’s campus pond and stream, as well as by measuring water quality and sampling for micro-plastics in Glenn Cove.

“It’s our hope that as the children participate in these citizen science activities they’ll feel empowered to make a difference in their communities,” says Calder.