Grade 5 Students Study the Impact of Water Consumption and Pollution During Aquarium Trip

As part of the water consumption design challenge in grade 5, where students measured personal water usage at home and brainstormed technology solutions to promote conservation, the lessons of the unit were further explored during a trip to the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach.

There, students learned more about the impact of water consumption and water pollution on the state of California and its wildlife during a visit to the aquarium’s watershed exhibit, which contained a three-dimensional watershed model and an educational look at the journey water takes from rainfall in the mountains to its runoff into the ocean.

“As much as you talk about water in STEM, this trip illustrated the ‘why’ of paying attention to our water usage,” grade 5 teacher Erika Higgins said. “Our students were able to learn about how water usage affects California in a variety of ways.”

The visit also had a service component built in. Before heading inside the aquarium, the Tartans conducted a trash clean-up on the grounds of the venue, paying close attention to what was collected near the shoreline.

“Most of it was plastic,” Mrs. Higgins said. “That led to a deeper conversation about the make-up of plastic and how it affects the environment and the ocean when it’s littered.”

The trip was in line with grade 5’s STEM theme of water, and was attended by every grade 5 student and classroom teacher along with Lower School science teacher David Beshk, art teacher Mary Mayer-Grubb and ICE Lab manager Angela Mackenzie.