Saving a stream

Introduction

The original location of this scenario is Szentlőrinc. It is a small rural town in Hungary, surrounded by agricultural desert, but the valuable protected natural areas of the Mecsek hills are within easy reach. Using public transport, the trip would require a full day’s activities. The Bükkösdi stream (locally known as Mózsa) is a natural asset of urban importance. It originates in the Mecsek hills and is becoming increasingly poor in terms of the number of protected species as it moves away from its source. The Nature club of the local primary school adopted the stream, regularly
visiting, cleaning, and studying it, in an attempt to counteract the negative effects of the proximity of the stream to residential areas. Here is a related project plan. During the three-month project, the first thing to be done is active experimentation – stream monitoring. This leads to emotional engagement, culminating in litter-picking actions. Classroom sessions give the opportunity to build abstract concepts, students can revise their knowledge of the species they have learned about, and they can test their knowledge in a quiz. During the reflective observation, higher grade students create a video report on their work, and present their knowledge to lower grade students, even guide them in the field during the next stream survey.

Objectives

• Better understanding of the environment and wildlife
• learning practical research skills
• developing cooperative skills, working with each other, with younger
children and with adults who make decisions
• developing an environmentally aware attitude
• taking action for the environment and influencing others to do the
same

Learning outcomes

By the end of this learning scenario, students will be able to:

• pay attention to environmental problems, threats, and good
solutions
• distinguish between rivers with good, fair, and poor water quality
• know the species and ecological network of native aquatic
macroinvertebrates
• take responsible action to keep their environment, including their
waters, clean
• campaign for solutions to environmental problems and promote
their activities to local decision-makers