Science Brought to Life at Highland Middle School

HIGHLAND – Students in Cornelia Harris’ Grade 7 Science class participated in an environmental monitoring project that not only benefits our local ecology, but also made an important connection to their curriculum, all while instilling an appreciation for the beauty of the Hudson Valley.

“Students love things that are alive,” said Harris, a former environmental educator. “I wanted to find a way to bring the living world into our lessons. Harris found two perfect ways—by having students use the school’s nearby stream to perform water chemistry readings, and later becoming involved in a State project to monitor the numbers of the threatened glass eel, which inhabits Hudson River tributaries.

After learning about the eel project—coordinated by the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Hudson River Estuary Program and the Hudson River National Estuarine Research Reserve, in partnership with the New England Interstate Water Pollution Control Commission (NEIWPCC) and the Water Resources Institute at Cornell University—several students visited the Black Creek Preserve in Esopus to wade in the water, collect, weigh, count, and release baby glass eels. The HMS “citizen scientists” then reported the numbers to the DEC, where the data will be used to study how the species is doing.

Highland Middle School Science teacher Cornelia Harris (center) brings a lesson on eels to life by bringing back baby glass eels collected on a field trip to the Black Creek Preserve in Esopus to students who were unable to go. Looking on is Taso Bakatsias (left) and Keira Bishop (right).
Highland Middle School Science teacher Cornelia Harris (center) brings a lesson on eels to life by bringing back baby glass eels collected on a field trip to the Black Creek Preserve in Esopus to students who were unable to go. Looking on is Taso Bakatsias (left) and Keira Bishop (right).

The response to the trip was very positive. “It was a fun and good experience learning about eels and the Hudson River,” said Grade 7 student Ely Meneses. Her classmate, Zackary Maroney, chimed in with, “They felt like wet noodles, and they were really cool.”

For students who couldn’t make the trip, Harris brought in a bucket of baby glass eels to be examined and later released, and students were treated to a live Zoom presentation given by the Hudson River Estuary Program.

Harris explained that the eels are migrating fish, whose movements coincide with the high tides of a full or new moon. Studying them “hands-on” was a practical application to her lessons on moon phases and tidal activity. The water chemistry testing on the nearby stream also turned out to be both a practical and valuable lesson. The students discovered that the water contained contaminants and were eager to clean it up. Harris said that project will continue next year, with the assistance from biologists at Marist College and the Riverkeeper organization.

Sarah Mount, a science educator with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), talks to Highland Middle School students before they start collecting and counting baby glass eels from the Black Creek Preserve in Esopus on April14. The eels migrated more than 1,000 miles from the Sargasso Sea. Listening closely are (from left to right) Grade 7 students Destiney Decker, Ely Meneses, Kyle Menezes, and James Jackson.
Sarah Mount, a science educator with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), talks to Highland Middle School students before they start collecting and counting baby glass eels from the Black Creek Preserve in Esopus on April14. The eels migrated more than 1,000 miles from the Sargasso Sea. Listening closely are (from left to right) Grade 7 students Destiney Decker, Ely Meneses, Kyle Menezes, and James Jackson.

“It’s amazing to see the students become empowered and want to do something to take care of our local natural environment,” said Harris. Another boon to these field studies, she added, is that students are introduced to the ever-evolving field of scientific study. “Studying the natural world is a living, creative process, not just facts in a book. We continue to ‘figure things out’ all the time. I’m glad to introduce students to the mystery of living things.”

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