Human Influence on Water Quality…
Are Humans Having an Impact on Water Quality In Lake George?

A 5-6 day curriculum outline for learning about Lake George and human impacts on water quality. Lesson plans can be found on the LGA website. Field trips can be set up by calling 668-3558 or emailing the Education & Outreach Coordinator.

Outline:

Lesson 1: "What Determines Water Quality?"

How can you tell if a lake is clean? By sight alone? What other things are important to look at?

Before going on the Floating Classroom have students hypothesize what they think the pH, DO and temperature of Lake George might be based on geography, time of year, time of day, etc.

Floating Classroom (get water quality data from boat, discuss how land and watershed effects water quality)

Follow up: Compare information gathered from the Floating Classroom to that of the RUSS unit. Why does the RUSS unit measure those parameters? Compare the RUSS unit data to data from a RUSS unit in Onondaga Lake from the same date. What are the similarities? Differences? How are humans impacting the lakes?

Otisco Lake, Skaneateles Lake, and other Central NY lakes: http://www.ourlake.org/

Lake George data: http://waterontheweb.org/data/george/index.html

Lesson 2: "What are the issues?"

What are the issues that could be affecting water quality in Lake George?

· Stormwater
· Fertilizer/Lawns- watering, grass, buffers
· Wastewater
· Density- Loss of habitat, increase of impervious surfaces
· Invasive species- Eurasian watermilfoil, zebra mussels, purple loosestrife, etc.
· Erosion
· Sedimentation- deltas
· Non-point source pollution
· Construction
· Pesticides

Visit a Wastewater Treatment Facility
Have someone come in and talk about septic systems, stormwater, etc.
Potential speakers:

-- DPW

-- CCE

-- LGA

-- Soil and Water Conservation

Lesson 3: Have students pick a topic (issue) of their choice relevant to Lake George. Students may work in groups of 3-4. Research the topic a little more. Write a paper on the topic and offer solutions to problem.

Lesson 4: Town meeting to discuss "project" see "Sell Me a Bridge."

Give each student a character that they need to role-play and represent the position of that person in a town meeting forum. Project up for discussion: The building of a bridge from the Northway near Bolton to Pilot Knob with a road extending to Rt.4 near Whitehall. (You will need maps of Washington and Warren Counties- map of Lake George. These can be obtained at the LGA along with a copy of the Chronicle, that originally proposed this idea in an April Fool's issue.).

Lesson 5: Community Service

Pick an area of interest to the whole group. What can the group do to help improve water quality/ spread awareness/educate/ help the watershed? The LGA can provide support either financially, with material resources, or personnel for your project.

Ideas:

· Help install and monitor stormdrain filters to help with deltas and sedimentation
· Adopt-a-stream, monitor, do a clean-up.
· Help with litter control
· Distribute information: invasive species, nonpoint source pollution, etc
· Help install a buffer
· Create a demonstration garden with native plants
· Create a water garden to help with stormwater runoff
· Distribute information on water conservation strategies