Day in the Life of the Oswego River and Finger Lakes (ORFL) gives students an opportunity to learn about the health of their local environment, how their actions on the land upstream impacts downstream waters and habitats, and how they be stewards of their local environment and community. These all bring about better understanding their interconnectedness within the environment.
For more information about the watershed, visit DEC’s Oswego River- Finger Lakes Watershed.
The project builds on the statewide Day in the Life events and enhances existing experiential environmental education programming to:
- train and offer resources to middle school teachers,
- engage and educate students in classroom learning, and
- facilitate a basin-wide, field-based student summit with hands-on environmental monitoring and stewardship activities.
The goal of the project is to serve to engage with middle school students to promote awareness about the goals of New York’s Great Lakes Action Agenda and how they can help protect and enhance New York’s Great Lakes basin, while also creating the next generation of environmental stewards who can continue important efforts to protect our land and water resources. To request information about getting involved, email [email protected].
This Day in the Life of ORFL applies the established Day in the Life statewide watershed education models to enhance K-12 educational programming and partnerships within the Oswego River and Finger Lakes watershed. The project is being funded by the NYSDEC and NYS Water Resources Institute at Cornell University with support from the NYS Environmental Protection Fund, under the Ocean and Great Lakes Ecosystem Conservation Act.
DEC is collaborating with Rochester Institute of Technology, NYS Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation, and other partners to complete the project in support of NY's Great Lakes Ecosystem Education Exchange.
Day in the Life of LOSLR Resources
Day of Event Resources – coming soon, in early August 2024
Classroom resources
- DEC Water Assessments by Volunteer Evaluators sampling guide and training videos
- NYSG Cooperative Science and Monitoring Initiative resources list
- Uninvited Documentary DEC’s award-winning film about invasive species
- Critter Cube Count Lesson from Isaack Walton League
- Invasive Species Activity Workbook: Resource for Educators by Wayne County Soil & Water Conservation District and Finger Lakes PRISM; DEC Educator Note: look at Means & Modes activity in this resource!
Lesson Plans
- DEC's "We all live in a watershed" lesson plan (PDF) and presentation (PDF)
- NYSG Plastic Pollution and You: Pollution Prevention curriculum
- Macroinvertebrate mayhem (PDF)
- New York's Great Lakes Ecosystem Education Exchange curriculum resource links
- Determining Water Quality- Great Lakes Science
- Build your Own Watershed from Great Lakes in My World (PDF) K-8 curriculum (scroll to page 15)
- Ohio Sea Grant's - How can small organisms be big indicators of water quality? (PDF)
Student Activity Resources
