The “A day in the life of” river program is an exciting STEM oriented outdoor education program designed to celebrate the river and estuary ecosystems unique to Long Island. Environmental education partners and students from school districts all over Long Island work alongside environmental scientists/professionals to collect scientific information and analyze samples to capture a snapshot of the environmental health of these ecosystems. Students will use hands-on field techniques to describe their sites, catch fish in nets, collect water and invertebrate samples, develop a biodiversity inventory of the riparian zone and analyze water chemistry. They will examine the physical and chemical aspects of the river/estuary, such as where freshwater and salty seawater meet, the amount of sediments in the water and turbidity and oxygen levels, as well as conduct biodiversity inventories of the flora and fauna in and around the ecosystems. All data collected on these Day’s will be posted on A Day In the Life Portal to Discovery.
On this day the following rivers/creeks will be studied:
Carmans River
Greens Creek
Gardiner County Park
If you would like your school involved in one of these events in the future contact education@pb.state.ny.us.