Woods Road Students Explore Effects of Marine Pollution
Margaret Gershowitz's fifth grade students experienced a unique presentation and interactive exercise about pollutants led by Marine Program Educator Tracy Marcus from the local Cornell University Cooperative Extension. Ms. Marcus explained to the students where rainwater and other substances go once they reach our storm drains.
She used a model to show what happens to the bay and ocean when pollutants are added. Students assisted her by being the "storm drains," while one held a bucket at the end to be the bay or the ocean. Ms. Gershowitz's students learned about marine pollutants such as paint, fertilizer, oil, detergent and animal feces as they assisted Ms. Marcus by pouring colored water into the storm drain apparatus to simulate the various substances. Students brainstormed different ways to limit or prevent these pollutants from reaching our waterways. The highlight of the presentation was when Ms. Marcus brought out a live horseshoe crab for students to feel and observe. She discussed how the pollutants would affect organisms such as this and explained their importance to both humans and the oceanic food chain. Students "oohed" and "aahed" as they viewed the "slush" in the ocean bucket at the end of the demonstration, depicting all of the pollutants together once they reach our bays and ocean.
This presentation was repeated for all of the 5th grade students at Woods Road Elementary School.