In the class, 18 and 24 students will spend the semester going out and monitoring a variety of chemical levels and animal life inhabiting the waterways near the city. The group will also provide the state with vital information about locations such as the Jordan River and Cascades Creek. Previously, the class worked at Clear Creek.
“It’s very hands-on,” Burlingham said, who has taught the class for two semesters.
He said the class is perfect for students with an interest in biology and chemistry who also want to service the community.
The course, originally created by chemistry professor Kate Reck and Kriste Lindberg, a Bloomington education specialist, utilizes the Hoosier Riverwatch resources for training purposes, Burlingham said.
Hoosier Riverwatch is an Indiana Department of Environmental Management program that trains people to monitor waterways by educating them on the physical, chemical and biological properties expected in specific areas, Lindberg said.
“Our department never had a service learning class before,” Reck said.
Students have even enrolled in the course multiple times since its inception in spring 2011.
“What we try to do is find locations to monitor the water where people will go and actually interact with the water,” she said.
After training, students are divided into groups of three or four with kits similar to those used to test chemicals in a pool. From there, the groups are assigned to areas of the Jordan River or Cascades Creek, Burlingham said.
Within the kits, students received tools to test for phosphates, which can cause an excess of algae growth, nitrates, oxygen levels, water temperature, turbidity (whether or not water is excessively cloudy with sediment) and animal life in and near the water, Reck said.
While a well-balanced ecosystem can maintain these levels automatically, humans introducing an excess of these chemicals and conditions can cause serious problems, Reck said.
Burlingham said students take their data and record it into a statewide database.
“This is a course that takes the classroom theory a student develops and puts it into practice,” he said.
Along with this field work, Burlingham said students are taught the basic theories and concepts necessary to complete analysis, work on projects and tour professional facilities involved in the same work they are doing, such as water treatment plants.
Reck said students often can’t see the “big picture” of what they are learning in general chemistry, but classes like this help to bring a real-world focus to the forefront of the learning experience.
Students will also go out and pursue service projects relevant to the class, such as cleaning waterways and labeling storm drains as “no dumping” locations, he said.
“This is real life stuff, and it makes a difference,” Lindberg said.
She said work done by the students in G201 has not gone unnoticed. The project was awarded the BRAVO Award from the City of Bloomington Parks and Recreation Department in spring 2011 and was recognized by the Indiana Department of Environmental Management in May 2013.
Reck said the upcoming semester will include more community outreach than in previous semesters.
She said students in G201 will be working with local high school students to bring them to the sites they monitor and teach them about the process.
This kind of education is vital in Indiana because about half of the waterways are not monitored. IDEM doesn’t currently have the resources to employ people to go out and consistently monitor the waterways statewide, Reck said.
Along with community outreach, Lindberg said IU might soon be one of many universities offering courses like G201, Lindberg said.
“The word’s getting out,” she added.
