Students will launch the water-quality project by observing nearby water-related sites, comparing different water samples, and generating evidence-based questions about how community choices affect local water in the Hudson Valley.

Students will gather and organize evidence about local water quality through field observations, simple comparison tests, community input, and structured planning routines. They will turn those findings into an empathy-based view of how people affect water systems in the Hudson Valley and draft a clear team problem frame to guide later design work.

Students will turn field observations, partner information, and water-quality notes into a clear design direction for a local water stewardship solution. They will frame a user-centered problem, generate several distinct concepts, use peer and teacher feedback to revise, and select one evidence-based idea to carry into prototyping.

Students will build and test low-fidelity water stewardship prototypes, gather feedback from classmates and a community partner, revise their designs using evidence from earlier fieldwork and water-quality investigations, and prepare a concise stakeholder-facing prototype story that shows how user needs, science ideas, and local data shaped their decisions.

Students will present their Hudson Valley water-quality investigations and stewardship proposals to an authentic audience, use visitor feedback to explain and strengthen their ideas, and reflect on how evidence from observations, community partners, and prototype testing shaped their final recommendations.