Our Stories

Sixth Graders Participate in the World Water Monitoring Challenge

October 8, 2014 by Arava R (’15) (Students) Sami H (’15) (Students)

JPDS-NC’s sixth grade participated in the World Water Monitoring Challenge, an international educational outreach program. It helps build awareness and involvement in protecting water resources. This year, JPDS-NC’s 6th grade students went to Luzon Run, a tributary of Rock Creek Park, which is across the street from the school. In this study, you must find facts about the water quality around where you live. You have to gather data about turbidity, the water clarity, the temperature of the water and air, and the dissolved oxygen, which is the amount of oxygen that dissolves into the water. There is also a test for pH, testing how acidic the water is. After researching at three different sites, conducting many tests, (and some mishaps along the way), we went back to class and averaged all of our classes’ data; we found out that the water in Rock Creek Park is fairly clean.

This is a great educational program for many reasons. First of all, not having clean water is a big issue, and not just for humans. Birds and fish cannot survive in conditions where the water is not clean, which is something that people may not have been well aware of. Also, it is interesting to compare and contrast your data with other people – all over the world! JPDS-NC’s sixth grade has been participating in this program for five years. We hope our participation in the program will help others become more aware of this issue.