BY SHAY MAUNZ The Dominion Post 

John Tudek, a WVU geology graduate student, held a small Styrofoam ball in his hand. “Did someone lose a hydrogen?” he asked, referring to the atom the ball represented in a water molecule model.

That ball, along with another to represent hydrogen and a larger one meant to be oxygen, had just been pulled from the mud of the West Run watershed, which runs next to the Morgantown Learning Academy (MLA). It, along with 16 similar models, were floated down a section of the stream by students participating in a four-day children’s workshop presented by Project FLOW at MLA.

The students timed their molecules’ progression down the stream in an effort to calculate the water’s velocity. Later, they went inside and graphed the data they collected. They also measured the pH level and dissolved solids in the water in three jars: one with Pyrite in it to mimic the composition of creek water; one with calcite to imitate cave water; and another with a combination of the two.

“That will tell us some things about the water, and then we can compare it to West Run,” Tudek said. “We’re trying to see what makes the water out there orange, what makes water do the things that it does. It’s all about learning about water.” 
And water is what Project FLOW — Future Leaders of Watershed — is all about.

The project is a joint venture between WVU’s department of geology and geography, MLA and the West Run Watershed Association. The group obtained a $15,000 grant from the West Virginia Commission for National and Community Service to fund the kids’ workshop and corresponding teachers’ workshop, and to obtain scientific equipment, including water meters in classrooms, and a permanent weather station and stream monitoring station at the school.

Mary Dumas, a science teacher at MLA, is developing curriculum for the school year based on the workshop. She hopes to plant a flood garden next to the creek to combat the high waters often seen by the school, and provide students with a learning environment.  “We’re going to be monitoring this stream as part of our science curriculum,” Dumas said. “We’ve got such a great opportunity here. We’re so fortunate. We don’t even have to go on a field trip to study a stream.” 
Workshop instructor Dorothy Vesper, an assistant professor in the WVU department of geology and geography, said that working with creeks is a great way to learn chemistry, noting that the topics that arise from that work are especially relevant today, amid constant discussion over environmental concerns.

“I think we want them to develop an awareness of water around them, and the whole world around them. And when they look outside, we want them to be thinking about what it means as a scientist, thinking about what it means as a citizen,” she said. “If we can inspire little scientists, I’m all for that. But even if we don’t, how they vote and what they think is important. How they take care of their yard, contribute to the Earth, is important.”

And Sharda Mohammed, whose son, Ibrahim, was a student in the program, also hoped the workshop would help foster environmental awareness. “I think that there’s all this stuff about recycling and taking care of your Earth and everything, but if you don’t give kids a hands-on perspective on understanding problems and developing a real love for the Earth,” she said, “you can’t respect something you don’t love.”

 -- This article was originally published in the Dominion Post on July 15, 2009 and is reprinted with their consent.