To What Extent Will Infusing a Water Quality Monitoring Field Study into the Biology Curriculum Influence Medford Area Senior High School Students' Environmental Values, Behaviors, Knowledge and Action Skills?

Abstract

The Taylor County Land and Water Management Plan was developed in the Spring of 2000. Serving on the citizen advisory committee and analyzing the public opinion survey for this plan encouraged a water monitoring project to be implemented into Medford Area Senior High School's Biology I curriculum. A water quality monitoring field study involving tenth grade Biology I students was developed in the Summer of 2000. The major goal of this project was to improve students' environmental values, behaviors, knowledge and action skills. During the first quarter of the 2000-01 school year, tenth grade Biology I students were evaluated on the project's impacts on students' environmental values, behaviors, knowledge, and action skills using a pre and post environmental survey. Conclusions were drawn based upon the mean scores of the pre and post survey. The survey results indicated that students improved in all four areas from pre to post survey. These results indicate that a student environmental monitoring program conducted for two months does have a large impact on score gains in knowledge. The modest gains in value, behavior and action skills were determined to be inconclusive due to the length of the monitoring project. It was determined that a year long monitoring program may be necessary to meet the goals of the project.