One half of the 8th grade New Tech students in Joe Vance’s and Matt Katzer’s classes visited the Elkhart Environmental Center yesterday; the other half will visit today. The students are on the field trip to learn more about local water systems. While they are at the Environmental Center, they will visit six stations including:

1. Native FISH Identification and information, Dargah Deegan –(Elkhart City)
2. River and Riparian Habitat Evaluation–Wildlife Biologist (Indiana DNR)
3. Macroinvertebrate Identification – Jim Hess (SWCD)
4. Civics Component: Invasive species removal–Annie (EEC) IMC volunteer
5. Physical Properties: Stream flow test and calculation, discuss other physical properties, shape, substrate–Jordan Beehler (SWCD)
6. HIKE: Discuss biomes and stormwater, importance of wetlands, ID invasive species–Jamison Czarnecki (EEC)

The students were accompanied on the field trip by GCS Energy Manager/Educator Judy Miller. Thank you to Judy and the teachers for allowing our students the opportunity to learn more about our local water systems. It looks like they learned a lot!