Lawrence Township is crisscrossed by streams and tributaries – from the Shabakunk Creek near Notre Dame High School to the Little Shabakunk Creek at Darrah Lane.
Now, Eldridge Park School and Slackwood Elementary School students will be able to explore those creeks and other waterways, thanks to a $10,000 grant to the school district from the Lawrence Township Education Foundation (LTEF).
The Church & Dwight Employee Giving Fund provided the money for the LTEF grant, entitled “Streamwatch Scientists: Partners in Outdoor Learning.” It will provide outdoor learning experiences and hands-on collaborative environmental education for the students.
“The Church & Dwight Employee Giving Fund holds an extra special place in our hearts,” said LTEF Executive Director Bonnie Giglio. “It is direct funding from the employees.”
The students will work with naturalists from The Watershed Institute, providing them with outdoor science opportunities they may not have had previously, according to the grant application.
The students will observe plants and animals in their own communities. It will help to increase their awareness of the natural world and also deepen their connection to it.
Focusing on the Shabakunk Creek, the students will collect information on its temperature, nitrate level, pH, oxygen, phosphates, salinity and turbidity – all of which will help them to strengthen their math skills.
“This project will ensure that students come to understand why scientists need to collect data with accuracy and precision,” the grant application said.
Kindergarten students at the Eldridge Park School and the Slackwood Elementary School will observe and collect data at their own schools.
First-grade students at the Slackwood Elementary School will participate in a stream walk at the nearby Shabakunk Creek. Their counterparts at the Eldridge Park School will visit a stream in the wooded area next to the school.
All second-grade students will visit Colonial Lake. The third-graders will go to The Watershed Institute in Hopewell Township for a full day of additional learning experiences.
They will interact with each other through Google Docs, Zoom, letters and videos. They can share data, comparing and contrasting what they are seeing.
The Streamwatch Scientists project is one of more than 1,100 programs funded by the LTEF since its inception in 1992. The nonprofit group raises money from individuals, local businesses, corporations and foundations.
