West Denver Prep Students Learn About Liquid Gold for World Water Monitoring Day

On a rain-soaked and chilly afternoon, students from West Denver Prep Lake Campus joined forces with Earth Force and Cottonwood Institute to learn about water, or what we like to call, liquid gold, for World Water Monitoring Day.

After an extremely damp walk to Sloan’s Lake to discuss the fundamentals of water conservation and to collect a water sample, everyone quickly made it back indoors for a fun afternoon working at 3 different hands on water stations. At the first station, the students performed a pH and oxygen test on the water sample from Sloans Lake. The second and third stations demonstrated the effects of pollution and how easily water becomes polluted when we do not take care of our planet.

It didn’t take long for the students to realize that they need to help protect this precious resource that could one day be more valuable than gold.

A special thanks goes out to West Denver Prep students for their dedication to the environment and education and to Leo Canner for volunteering his time!  May you all continue to make waves!

Click here for a photo slideshow of the day’s events.

Written by Leo Canner and edited by April Pishna.

Gilpin Students Make World Water Monitoring Day a Success

On Thursday, September 17, 2009 students from Gilpin K-8 School headed over to the South Platte River in downtown Denver to team up with Earth Force and Cottonwood Institute for World Water Monitoring Day (WWMD).

In partnership with Keep it Clean from Drain to Stream (KIC), a water education campaign led by Denver Public Works, Denver City Councilwoman Judy Montero kicked off the event with her inspiring opening remarks and encouraged students to do their part to help keep Denver’s water clean. Approximately 25 students and 10 volunteers performed a variety of tests along the South Platte River to check the water quality for the wildlife that call it home and for the people that use it for recreation.  Students performed several water tests including, pH, turbidity, temperature, and dissolved oxygen, waded in the water in search of macroinvertebrates, and participated in an interactive game called “The Incredible Journey” to understand the water cycle.

Students recorded their findings, which will be submitted to the Water Environment Federation.  Community results are published each year in the “Year in Review” report and made available on the WWMD website, so stay tuned for more information. At the end of the day, students had gained knowledge on not just water, but how to keep it safe, how to know it’s safe, and how to enjoy it responsibly.

WWMD was one of three events Cottonwood Institute, Earth Force and Gilpin have planned for the 2009 – 2010 school year thanks to a generous grant from REI. Other courses include a fall camping trip and a spring rafting adventure, so check back with us to keep track of all that we accomplish throughout the year.