Lake Erie!

There are a myriad of animals that call the marshlands home!  

What an amazing trip this is!  Kids have SO much fun on the boat learning about our Great Lakes.  They test the pH levels of the lake and its clarity as well.  They put a camera in the water to see what they can see – plants, fish, etc.  They learn how to tie knots (much like origami, I’m not very good at this!) along with what the various areas of the boat is called.  They learned about littering and how long things will stay in the lakes – a baby diaper won’t go away for 400 years!  They read maps and learn about the lake basin and how the lakes fill and how long they take to do so.  There’s SO much to learn about our amazing lake system!  They also take a look at the marshland in Lake Erie Metro Park (ask them if they remember the difference between a marsh and a swamp!) and investigate critters under microscopes.  This is an amazing experience and I am so grateful that our fabulous PTO makes it possible for us to go! 

Water Tour

As part of our Watery Earth science unit, we researched things that could potentially harm the Great Lakes.  Kids learned about Asian Carp, Sea Lamprey, Nestle buying our water, and Line 5. 

Barton Dam

The bus is a classroom too!

The Ann Arbor Water Treatment Plant on Sunset Road.

Baseline Lake Treatment Plant

What a wonderful day!  Yay!  We had SO.  MUCH.  FUN.  We also learned a lot, which makes the day even better.  First stop:  Loch Alpine.  This is a small community located on the Huron River that serves 500 homes.  The sewage waste plant is totally cool.  They use plastic honeycomb shapes to help filter their water. 

Second stop:  Baselake sewage treatment plant.  This is a community farther west that serves around 1,200 homes.  They use a lagoon system to clean the water.  It’s quite amazing.  With sand, lagoons, and time, the water is cleaned and ready to use again in 100 days.  Truly cool.  We also saw deer and a HUGE wild turkey!

LUNCH!  We ate lunch at the Dexter Huron Metropark.  If you haven’t visited the area metroparks lately, you should.  Next up:  Barton Dam.  This is one of my favorite parts of our trip.  It’s such a gorgeous part of our city and using the power of water to create electricity is totally cool. 

Last stop:  Ann Arbor Water Treatment Plant!  As it turns out, we have one of the most amazing water treatment plants EVER.  Kids learned about the process of how their water is filtered and how complex of a process it really is.  This field trip is a gem.  The only thing better than the field trip is our guide Dave Szczygiel.  Dave is an absolute treasure.  He is THAT guy, you know, the one you go to when you have a question about ANYTHING.  He’s an amazing educator and has a fabulous rapport with the kids.  They love him.  The bus becomes part of our classroom on this trip and Dave teaches them about such a wide variety things during our day.  Thanks Dave!