To support Iowa teachers in an effort to educate young citizens, we have developed a handbook.  The activities in this handbook are designed to promote inquiry-based activities that provide hands on experience.  Since middle school is a key age for promoting interest in science and the environment, these lessons are designed for that age group, but they should be easy to adapt to other grade levels.  Our goal is to share ideas, and help create excitement for learning and doing science, while focusing on the importance of water quality issues.  These lessons were tested in two one-week science education camps during the summers of 2001 and  2002  and shared with Iowa teachers  during the summer of 2002 (Clear Lake workshop) and 2003 (Water Quality Course).

With the ongoing pressure on teachers and school districts to design curriculum that addresses specific Standards and Benchmarks, these activities meet the goals of the National Science Education Standards.  They specifically work to create a comfortable yet controlled learning environment that can be a site for teaching selected content at a higher standard of understanding.  Our hope is that these laboratory activities will help you share the importance of water quality issues with young people throughout the state of Iowa since their attitudes will be key if we are to raise community consciousness.

To View these lessons, click on the table of contents. You may also access an adobe file which contains all the labs by clicking here.