Thousands Of Students Turn Rouge River Into Living Classroom

DETROIT (WWJ) - Over 3,000 students from local southeast Michigan schools will be conducting chemical tests, examining aquatic life and surveying the Rouge River.

The students' efforts are a part of their participation in the Rouge Education Project, a program coordinated by the non-profit Friends of the Rouge.

Students participating in the Rouge Education Project may monitor up to nine different chemical parameters of the river including pH, dissolved oxygen, phosphorus, nitrates and fecal coliform bacteria. The students will then collect and identify benthic macroinvertebrates, such as insect larvae that live in the bottom of the river, crayfish and snails. Students also complete a physical stream survey, which includes documenting the erosion of stream banks and measuring the velocity of the water.

Emily R. Hughes, Rouge Education Project Program Manager, said the project gives K-12th grade students an opportunity to gain hands on experience in real-world science, learn about their local ecosystem and form lasting respect for the community in which they live.

The data that the students collect is made available to the public on the Friends of the Rouge website and is provided to communities in the watershed.

Participating schools by city:

• Allen Park
  Inter-City Baptist High School

• Beverly Hills
  Detroit Country Day Middle School

• Birmingham
  Lincoln Street Alternative High School

• Bloomfield Hills
  Birmingham Covington School

• Canton
  Achieve Academy
  Plymouth High School
  Crescent Academy
  Tonda Elementary

• Clawson
  Clawson Middle School

• Dearborn
  Long Elementary
  Edsel Ford High School
  University of Michigan-Dearborn

• Dearborn Heights
  Crestwood High School

• Detroit
  Logan Elementary School
  Winans Academy
  Detroit Academy of Arts and Sciences
  Clippert Academy
  Amelia Earhart School
  Detroit Collegiate Prep
  Ronald Brown Academy

• Farmington Hills
  Steppingstone School
  Dunckel Middle School

• Garden City
  Garden City High School

• Harper Woods
  Chandler Park Academy

• Livonia
  Emerson Middle School
  Riley Upper Elementary
  Ladywood High School
  Churchill High School

• Melvindale
  Strong Middle School

• Northville
  Salem Elementary

• Novi
  Novi High School

• Oak Park
  Center for Advanced Studies and the Arts

• Riverview
  Riverview Community High School

• Rochester Hills
  Deerfield Elementary School

• Royal Oak
  Oakland Schools Technical Campus Southeast

• Southfield
  Stevenson Elementary
  Thompson K-8 School

• Troy
  Troy High School
  Smith Middle School

• Westland
  Huron Valley Lutheran High School

• Wyandotte
  Roosevelt High School

The Rouge Education Project began in 1987 and is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. Its mission is to promote awareness and stewardship of the Rouge River watershed through school-based water quality monitoring, investigation and problem solving. In addition to water quality monitoring, students in the project are encouraged to take action to improve the health of the river based on their findings, and to consider how their everyday actions impact their environment.

For more information, visit www.therouge.org.