Local leaders are essential for helping Michigan achieve its 30-year water strategy goals. The Michigan Water School is an Extension nonformal educational program to address the knowledge gap of local leaders. We evaluated programs conducted from 2017 to 2019. Results revealed program outcomes in knowledge, attitudes, perceptions of criticalness…

This book uses the water crisis in Flint, Michigan, as a touchstone for the importance and value of including place-based education in the social studies curriculum. Whitlock scrutinizes this local environmental issue to not only drive critical inquiry in the classroom, but also to show how the curriculum can propel valuable social change in the…

The tragic story of Flint has made it increasingly clear that the public needs to know how to evaluate sources of information. All of this is occurring in the age of "fake news," which heightens our awareness of the challenge of determining veracity. Furthermore, a flood of information can be found at our fingertips 24 hours a day. A…

The city of Flint, Michigan switched its water source in April, 2014, and, to reduce costs, anti-corrosion agents were omitted from water treatment. Consequently, lead leached into pipes, contaminating the water supply and exposing Flint's children to lead well beyond safety standards. The event became known as the Water Crisis, and now dominates…

Two major challenges in mathematics teacher education are developing teacher understanding of: (1) culturally responsive, social justice--oriented mathematics pedagogies; and (2) mathematical modeling as a content and practice standard of mathematics. Although these challenges may seem disparate, the innovation described in this article is…

By the time a child graduates from high school, they will have spent an estimated 15,600 hours at school. Because a significant amount of children's daily water intake comes from school water fountains, ensuring their access to safe drinking water at school is essential for their overall health. And one key health challenge that schools across the…

Water scarcity is a global problem in which, through consumption and eutrophication of freshwater, agriculture has contributed. The impact of water scarcity necessitates research into how agriculture, food, and natural resources (AFNR) educators can support solutions. A subset of AFNR educators in the Great Lakes Basin participated in a…

Students in an introductory inorganic chemistry course conducted a semester-long literature-based research project on the then-ongoing drinking water crisis in Flint, Michigan, USA. Students presented their findings at a poster session that was open to the public. The implications of choosing an ongoing news story as a focus and the ability for…

In response to a request from a campus student organization, faculty from three fields came together to develop and teach an integrated interdisciplinary course on water issues and social activism. This course, "Water as Life, Death, and Power," brought together topics from the fields of anthropology, biology and chemistry to explore…

In response to a request from a campus student organization, faculty from three fields came together to develop and teach an integrated interdisciplinary course on water issues and social activism. This course, "Water as Life, Death, and Power," brought together issues from the fields of anthropology, biology and chemistry to explore…

A field-based environmental geochemistry course was developed at Western Michigan University for undergraduate geosciences and environmental studies students to (1) improve student understanding of complex environmental systems, specifically targeting lake systems; (2) facilitate student development of professional-level, field- and…

One of the main goals of Environmental Education (EE) is to develop people's environmental stewardship, which includes people's capacity to take environmental action--their action competence (AC). The purposes of my study were to characterize the interactions found in an EE curriculum, science teachers' pedagogical content knowledge (PCK), and…

In February of 1990, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources identified 2,662 sites of soil and groundwater contamination in the state of Michigan alone. Half of all United States residents and one quarter of the Canadian population used ground water as their primary source of drinking water. Groundwater and surface water are integrally…

Preservation of clean water resources and after school concern about the kids, in South-East Michigan, led to the formation of "The Water Educational Training" (WET) science project. The main goal of WET is to create environment awareness in elementary and middle after school settings.

This sourcebook consists of background information and activities related to groundwater protection. The first section focuses on the characteristics of groundwater, the water cycle, stormwater runoff, and uses of groundwater. The second section addresses household hazardous materials--both from a safety standpoint and a groundwater standpoint.…