Water Monitoring Day November 11, 2011 in Slonim gymnasium 1
This is the second year when Slonim gymnasium 1 has organized World Water Monitoring Day. This time ENO club has managed to expand its activities and invite more students and teachers to join them. The number of the participants has increased. About 30 7-graders became the most active participants to spread the word about the importance of keeping all the world’s water bodies clean. They chose November 11 as a day to celebrate Water Day in their gymnasium as they were eager to showcase their activities in the One Day of Earth project.
On that day they made and showed presentations on the qualities of water to their classmates emphasizing the necessity of every person to save water in their daily life. There were no indifferent students in the discussion “What is your part in preserving water?” That week they also organized the “What do you know about water?” contest and “Drops of life” drawing contest for the students of 3A and 3B grades. Everybody was very excited and enjoyed all the events
But the main thing was monitoring the water bodies. On November 11 18 students of 7A and two teachers Irina Volynets (ENO Belarus coordinator) and a teacher of English Tatyana Shut went to the nearest water bodies to make some measurements there. The students were very thrilled as they were going to monitor the same bodies and compare the results.
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After reading the instructions they went to the Schara River – the main town’s river and the Oginsky Canal which runs to the Schara River and there is a park on its left bank - to sample the water and test it. They measured water temperature, turbidity, dissolved oxygen and pH. |
This year ENO club has been able to monitor 4 more sites. Some parents joined their activities and helped sampled the water from Lake Lobazovskoye and Lake Soldatskoye. |
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As some water bodies were far from the school, testing was done at school where water samples from Lake Soldatskoye and Lake Albertinskoye were brought.
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The weather in December wasn’t typical for Belarus. It’s usually frosty and very cold here. There is a lot of snow. But the weather was like the weather in autumn. The rivers and lakes weren’t frozen and there was one more opportunity to monitor one more site.
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On December 30 the teacher Irina Volynets and her son aged 8 went to the Schara River that flows not far from their house to make the necessary measurements. Her son got very interested and was happy to monitor the river and learn that the river isn’t dirty. |
All the participants of WWMD activities realized that everybody can do their part in the conservation of the environment and all people should unite their efforts to keep water bodies clean.
Water Monitoring Day - November 22, 2010 in Slonim gymnasium 1
On November
22, Slonim gymnasium 1 in
Belarus
joined one of the greatest world’s events of preserving our nature – World
Water Monitoring Day.
A group of nine 6th graders, the most active ENO participants, and two educators – Irina Volynets, ENO Belarus coordinator and Efrosinya Katsevich, a teacher of Chemistry were engaged in water monitoring activities. That was their first experience which was very successful and unforgettable. The participants were happy to be a part of WWMD and are going to extend it throughout the country.
WWMD celebrations started with the program “Water for life”. The students were shown a presentation on water qualities and a few videos about the importance of water for nature and human beings, followed by contests and quizzes and the discussion “What should we do to protect water resources?” Then the educators demonstrated and explained the testing procedures.
From one to three p.m. the monitors surveyed two sites - the Aginsky Canal and the Schara River which had been selected for its proximity to the school and to each other. The Schara River is the main river on which the town of Slonim stands. Long ago it used to be one of the main waterways of the country but now it has become shallower. The Aginsky canal was built in the 18th century in the centre of the town. There is a town’s park on the bank of the canal. It runs into The Schara River. The students sampled the water of the Aginsky Canal in a nice place in the park not far from the bridge and the water of the Schara River not far from the former town’s beach. Some human activities were noted along these water bodies – fishing and feeding wild ducks which inhabit those sites.
The surveys at both sites included measurements for temperature, dissolved oxygen, pH and turbidity. The temperature of the water that the students examined was 6-8º C above zero, the DO was 4 and 8 ppm, the turbidity was 0 JTU and the pH was 7.
All the participants of WWMD activities realized the importance of keeping rivers and lakes clean and that a simple deed done by anyone can become a great commitment to the conservation of the environment.
A group of nine 6th graders, the most active ENO participants, and two educators – Irina Volynets, ENO Belarus coordinator and Efrosinya Katsevich, a teacher of Chemistry were engaged in water monitoring activities. That was their first experience which was very successful and unforgettable. The participants were happy to be a part of WWMD and are going to extend it throughout the country.
WWMD celebrations started with the program “Water for life”. The students were shown a presentation on water qualities and a few videos about the importance of water for nature and human beings, followed by contests and quizzes and the discussion “What should we do to protect water resources?” Then the educators demonstrated and explained the testing procedures.
From one to three p.m. the monitors surveyed two sites - the Aginsky Canal and the Schara River which had been selected for its proximity to the school and to each other. The Schara River is the main river on which the town of Slonim stands. Long ago it used to be one of the main waterways of the country but now it has become shallower. The Aginsky canal was built in the 18th century in the centre of the town. There is a town’s park on the bank of the canal. It runs into The Schara River. The students sampled the water of the Aginsky Canal in a nice place in the park not far from the bridge and the water of the Schara River not far from the former town’s beach. Some human activities were noted along these water bodies – fishing and feeding wild ducks which inhabit those sites.
The surveys at both sites included measurements for temperature, dissolved oxygen, pH and turbidity. The temperature of the water that the students examined was 6-8º C above zero, the DO was 4 and 8 ppm, the turbidity was 0 JTU and the pH was 7.
All the participants of WWMD activities realized the importance of keeping rivers and lakes clean and that a simple deed done by anyone can become a great commitment to the conservation of the environment.