Learn from the Lake: Getting Your Students to Engage with the Watershed

Learn from the Lake: View a live-stream tour of a shipwreck through the camera lens of an underwater robot. Paddle in Lake Champlain and collect scientific samples to examine under a microscope. Take a trip on the lake aboard the research vessel Melosira. Closely examine many life forms in the lake and surrounding rivers: from microscopic plants to flopping fish and microplastics that affect lake quality.

This free course immerses teachers in the experience of learning from the Lake Champlain Watershed in ways that they can replicate in their own classrooms through the use of meaningful watershed educational experiences (MWEEs). Our sessions will immerse participants in sensory-rich experiences on or near the lake. Additionally, the group will look at resources and learn strategies that will help teachers get their students engaging with the lake as well. We will focus on pedagogical frameworks such as project-based learning and service learning as well as practical strategies to choose an effective field site to bring students as well as keeping students safe out on the water. The culminating project of the course will be to write a lesson plan that incorporates a MWEE and gets students outside, interacting with the watershed.

This course will take place in person the week of 7/7/25-7/11/25, with pre- and post- asynchronous online work using Google Classroom. All participants will receive a $500 stipend for attending and can register to receive 3 free credits from Vermont State University