Hocker Grove Students Study Water Quality at Local Creek

Hocker Grove Field Trip Turkey Creek
Shawnee Mission School District

On a field trip to Turkey Creek, Hocker Grove students dove into experiments to learn more about local water quality.

The students worked with representatives from the non-profit Friends of the Kaw organization to run water quality experiments onsite. Click here to see a video

Each experiment was designed to help students practice collection methods and scientific protocols, while also learning about water cycles. Another goal of the lesson is to help students understand how stormwater, drinking water, wastewater, and ground water are connected.

While at the creek, students ran about nine experiments, which included testing the pH of the water, as well as the levels of phosphates and nitrates.

Hocker Grove student Norman Davis said he thinks every student should be able to go on a field trip like this one because it helps them understand how local water quality impacts the water we drink.

“We have to clean it up to make sure that we are healthy and that our water is also healthy, too,” Davis said.

The field trip was also designed to help students learn about possible college and career opportunities related to science and environmental science, Joan Leavens, coordinator of sustainability and community engagement said.

Once the field trip was complete, students and their teachers were able to take the data they had collected back to the classroom to learn more about the meaning behind it and consider ways they can help improve local water quality.

“This is an opportunity to bring our students out and engage them in something purposeful, meaningful, and different than a classroom experience,” Leavens said. “But their work can be taken back to the classroom so they can turn it into an action project.”