Students explore Onondaga Lake Watershed during Honeywell Summer Science Week
By Kate Hill
Staff Writer
This July, around 50 Syracuse-area students participated in the 14th annual Honeywell Summer Science Week — a program organized by the Milton J. Rubenstein Museum of Science & Technology (MOST) and sponsored by Honeywell International Inc.
Open to students who have completed eighth grade, the free program is designed to get young people excited about science and interested in exploring careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).
“I had an interest in the sciences and I thought this would be a good way to test out whether I want to go further with them,” Jack Cofer, a camper who will enter Nottingham High School this fall, said. “Last year I took a class called ‘Living Environments,’ which kind of piqued my interest in the sciences in general.”
The program also serves to get incoming high school students connected to the natural world.
“What’s great about the program is that the kids get hands-on [experience] and they get to come outside,” said camp counselor Tom Butler, a teacher for Oswego County BOCES. “Instead of playing video games and watching TV all summer, they’re actively doing something and learning.”
During the program, the students followed local scientists, engineers, professors and college students into the field to study the Onondaga Lake Watershed and gain first hand experience in environmental science.
The week began with a trip to Honeywell’s Onondaga Lake Visitors Center in Geddes, where the Montezuma Audubon Center led a birding expedition. During their visit, the group spotted 23 bird species, including a bald eagle.
The students also toured the wetlands; participated in a hands-on watershed modeling activity; and learned about the fish in Onondaga Lake, the lake cleanup, habitat restoration and other topics.
The science week also included visits to Heiberg Memorial Forest in Tully, Carpenter’s Brook Fish Hatchery in Elbridge, the Metropolitan Syracuse Wastewater Treatment Plant, and SyracuseCoE — New York State’s Center of Excellence for Environmental and Energy systems.
“We’re never exactly sure what we are doing each day,” Cofer said. “We just go along for the ride. So far it’s been fun and the councilors are great. Getting outside is great too because I wouldn’t have forced myself out otherwise.”
On Wednesday, July 10, the students conducted field work at Onondaga Creek along the Creekwalk between the MOST and Hiawatha Boulevard.
Lead Counselor Gretchen Messer — a visiting professor at the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry (SUNY-ESF) — led the students in a discussion on aquatic macroinvertebrates such as insect larvae, clams, crayfish, snails, worms and leeches.
Messer said because different types of macroinvertebrates tolerate different water conditions, their presence or absence can be a indicator of water quality.
After discovering clams, leeches and snails in their nets, the students noted the animals in the creek seemed to be quite different from those found at Heiberg Forest the day before.
Messer said the differences were due to the fact that the cleaner, colder and more oxygen rich water at Heiberg supports different organisms than the warmer, murky water in the creek.
“Heiberg is up on a hill at the beginning of the watershed,” Messer said. “So the water hasn’t had time to accumulate the impacts of the surrounding area, in terms of runoff. We are now at the bottom of the watershed, so all of that water has had lots of time to collect sediment. Most of these rocks are just covered with sediment, which makes it hard for insects to adhere to them.”
Meanwhile, Counselor Chris Thomas provided another group of students with a hands-on lesson in water chemistry.
Using different instruments, the students conducted environmental sampling and tested the water quality of the creek.
After measuring a number of water quality indicators, such as dissolved oxygen, water temperature, pH, conductivity and turbidity, the students concluded that the water was far from drinkable.
The water sampling activity was a favorite of both Cofer and his fellow camper Xavier Greene, of Fayetteville-Manlius school district.
“I mostly like space and astronomy,” Greene said, “but it turns out the stuff down on earth is pretty cool too.”
The week concluded with Honeywell Discovery Day — an event at the MOST that gave the students the opportunity to share their newfound knowledge and receive certificates of participation.
The Honeywell Summer Science Week benefits from the participation of skilled, knowledgeable and passionate counselors and lecturers, many of whom are leaders or future leaders in their fields.
Thomas, for example, is currently working towards a Ph.D. in bioprocess engineering at SUNY ESF, where he serves as president of the Graduate Student Association. For the remainder of the summer, Thomas will continue his research project, which is focused on transforming waste grains from local breweries into biodegradable plastics.
“The students are learning from people who know what they’re talking about,” Butler said. “Almost all of [the counselors) have backgrounds in STEM, and the people that we take them to see are scientists who work right on the lake and are experts in their fields.”
To learn more about the program, call MOST Chief Program Officer Peter Plumley at 315.425.9068 x2163.
