Wild Watershed - STEM Nature Camp - Summer Camp 2021

OH! Wild Wonder is excited to bring a new camp geared specifically for young ecologists ages 11 - 15! Our Wild Watershed camp will include experiential watershed lessons in the field (fully outdoors, on-site), hands-on experiments and data collection, and the ability to earn volunteer service hours with partnering organizations and projects along the Little Duck Creek watershed in Madisonville, Ohio. Campers will keep an environmental studies notebook and learn key vocabulary for their watershed lessons and experiments, while still allowing for plenty of exploration, adventure and play. Don't worry, no prior experience necessary! Cost includes all materials and the canoe trip on Friday. 

WEEKLY SCHEDULE:

• Day 1: Watershed Introduction and Basics. Students will explore the Little Duck Creek watershed to discover how pollution can affect the water quality.  They will identify point source and nonpoint source pollutants.
• Day 2: Abiotic Water Quality Parameters. Students will learn how abiotic factors, such as pH, water temperature, turbidity, dissolved oxygen, and nitrates influence water quality and how that water quality impacts aquatic life.  Using LaMotte dissolved oxygen kits, the students will determine the dissolved oxygen for the 2 water samples and record the information in their Environmental Studies Notebook.  Students will learn how to use the Northern Kentucky University’s educational Water Quality app on an iPad to analyze and input data.
• Day 3: Discovering Macroinvertebrates. The focus of this lesson is on benthic macroinvertebrates as indicators of water quality, rather than the chemical parameters.  Information on macroinvertebrates of the Greater Cincinnati area will be introduced. The concept that each type of macroinvertebrate has a different pollution tolerance is introduced. Students will identify macroinvertebrates by physical characteristics, feeding habits and pollution tolerance.
• Day 4: Constructing Empiral Evidence Arguments. The students will analyze a mock stream and its benthic macroinvertebrate community and populations at two distinct periods of time. They will create an argument based on the information they learned in previous lesson plans about how pollutants impact macroinvertebrates populations, the description of how the stream has changed and the differences in the population observed. The arguments will be presented in a group format in which equal participation and creativity in presentation is encouraged while still being a comprehensive, well thought-out and supported argument.
• Day 5: CANOE TRIP. The week will culminate in a canoe trip via Scenic River Canoe Excursions on the Little Miami River, working on watershed clean-up along the way, on our final day. Students will draw a connection to the work they have been doing in Little Duck Creek to the Little Miami River and the larger scale watershed preservation efforts. 

This is going to be an incredible camp - you don't want to miss it!

July 12 - July 16, 9am - 3pm. Cost*: $250 

*Contact us at vivian@ohwildwonder.org to learn about discount pricing for siblings and financial scholarships!

HEALTH POLICY: We will work with the Hamilton County Health Department to have an approved summer camp Covid-19 Safety Policy as recommendations become available.