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Using the Hydrolab, student scientists study their own environment

Collage of three images the first long image on the left is Penn High School teacher John Gensic holding the Hydrolab. The top right image is a group of students wading through a local water body The third right bottom is a student using the hydrolab.  and his students deploy the Hydrolab during a field trip to a local water body to collect water quality data. (Credit: Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant)
Penn High School teacher John Gensic and his students deploy the Hydrolab during a field trip to a local water body to collect water quality data. (Credit: Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant)

John Gensic, a high school biology teacher at Penn High School in Mishawaka, Indiana, has been redirecting his teaching from a focus on classroom lectures to having students participate and be actively engaged as scientists. One key way he is achieving that is by putting a Hydrolab in his students’ hands.

Hydrolabs are sensor units that are used by scientists to monitor water quality and have been available for educators to borrow through Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant and the Environmental Protection Agency’s Limno Loan program since 2011. So far, 83 educators, many coming back for multiple years, have engaged nearly 13,800 students in collecting and analyzing data from nearby lakes, creeks, and rivers. This program is funded by the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative.

Read the full story in the IL-IN Sea Grant Newsroom