Creating an Informative Video on the Importance of Healthy Rivers

Objectives:
1. Students will participate as knowledgeable, reflective, creative, and critical members of a variety of literacy communities.
2. Students will collaborate to create a script, plan and film a video, edit and add music to the video, and present the video to the school.
3. Students will understand how to chemically test a water sample.
4. Students will understand the how to interpret the results from a chemical water test.
5. Students will understand the ways in which rivers become polluted.
6. Students will understand the importance of conserving and protecting rivers.
7. Students will understand how to use a video camera and Windows Movie Maker.
8. Students will organize, analyze, evaluate, make inferences, and predict trends from data and communicate valid conclusions.
Activities: We will meet approximately 5 times for 1 hour. Students will learn about rivers and watersheds. They will learn how pollution and sediment get into rivers. They will learn about the harmful effects of pollution. They will learn ways to prevent pollution and protect our rivers. We will hike to the Mechunk River and take a water sample. They will test the sample for temperature, pH, turbidity, and dissolved oxygen. They will determine the health of the river. They will plan, write, and film a video that will educate the school faculty on the importance of keeping our rivers healthy. They will edit the video and add music. They will show the video to the school.