Students investigate the question, “How clean is the water in our community, and what evidence can we use to tell?” by testing local water sources and studying what people, plants, and animals need to stay healthy. Over four weeks, they work in teams with support from the local water department and a Hudson Valley watershed alliance to collect data, compare it to community standards, and understand how science helps protect water resources. Their work leads to three public products: a community-friendly water quality map, student-made testing kits and demonstration stations, and a public service campaign with posters, short videos, and action steps. This experience builds grade 5 science and research skills while developing students as critical thinkers, effective communicators, reflective learners, creative innovators, and community-minded citizens through real local issues.

Students investigate local streams, ponds, or tap water to collect, graph, and interpret evidence about water quality, including clarity, temperature, and pH, and connect their findings to how water supports living things and communities in the Hudson Valley. They obtain and combine information from field data, community experts, and research sources to explain how communities use science ideas to protect water resources and why fresh water is limited on Earth. In teams, students design and revise a community-friendly water quality map, student-made testing kits and demonstration stations, and a public service campaign that communicates local water concerns, evidence-based recommendations, and action steps for protecting water. Throughout the project, students practice collaboration, shared decision-making, speaking and listening, self-reflection, and the NYS Portrait of a Graduate attributes of Academically Prepared, Critical Thinker, Effective Communicator, Creative Innovator, and Global Citizen as they prepare for an exhibition with the local water department and watershed partners.

Students will create a community-friendly water quality map that marks Hudson Valley sample sites, shares clarity, temperature, and pH results, and gives simple recommendations for keeping local water healthy. Throughout the project, teams will also build student-made water testing kits and interactive demonstration stations to show visitors how they collected and interpreted evidence. By the end, each team will produce a public service campaign with posters, short videos, and clear action steps focused on protecting local streams, ponds, or tap water. These products will be shared during an exhibition where students act as critical thinkers, effective communicators, and global citizens, using evidence and creativity to explain their findings, compare them to community standards, and show why healthy water matters for people, plants, and animals.

Begin with “Water Detectives Day,” where students visit a nearby stream, pond, or school water source in the Hudson Valley and use simple tools to test clarity, temperature, and pH while recording first observations as critical thinkers and academically prepared scientists. Back in class, teams compare their evidence to sample data from the local water department and a watershed alliance partner, then discuss how reflective, effective communicators use evidence to answer: How clean is our community’s water, and what does it need to stay healthy for people, plants, and animals? Follow with a brief “Healthy Water Heroes” gallery walk of posters and short videos about protecting local water, then have students choose campaign teams and test sites as creative innovators and collaborative community members. Close by introducing the challenge: create a community-friendly water quality map, build student-made testing stations, and design a public service campaign with clear action steps for a real audience.

Host a “Hudson Valley Water Matters” community exhibition where teams present their water quality map, student-made testing kit and demo station, and public service campaign to families, the local water department, and a watershed alliance partner. Students act as academically prepared critical thinkers and effective communicators as they guide visitors through sampled locations, explain clarity, temperature, and pH results, compare their findings to community water standards, and share practical actions to protect local streams, ponds, and tap water. Include a gallery walk with posters and short videos, plus a feedback station where guests respond to each team’s recommendations and ask questions, highlighting students as reflective learners, creative innovators, and collaborative community contributors. End with a brief student reflection and partner response circle so students can share what evidence they found, how they worked together, and what the community can do next.