AP students get knee deep in environmental science

Molly Riebau|October 2, 2015

Wading in the Milwaukee River, AP Environmental Science students, with nets in their hands, collect water and bug samples. Rather than conducting all of their experiments in a classroom, the students were able to “actually see what scientists in the field of environmental science would do,” Lizzy Tucker, senior, said.

Beth Emery, senior, enjoyed taking her learning into the real world. “With the sun shining on the river and beautiful scenery, it was a great day to take our learning outside of the classroom. I think a class is so much more interesting when the information you learn can be easily applied to the real world,” Emery said.

The students, under the supervision of Mrs. Dawn Pfaff, tested the water for different indicators of water quality such as dissolved oxygen levels, phosphates and pH levels, to name a few. According to Sadie Leszczynski, sophomore, who tested the water for phosphates, “the topics we learn in class affect the environment of our own city; we got to see that first-hand today.”

Also, the students measured biodiversity and identified several types of organisms that can be found in the Milwaukee River. Some of the findings surprised the students, including Jimmy Oates, senior, who said, “I wasn’t aware that there were so many crayfish in the Milwaukee River. Our class found much more of them than I was expecting.”