Lake Champlain Watershed Presentation

We have been learning all about Lake Champlain during the past few weeks.  On Thursday Stephanie  Larkin from the Lake Champlain Basin Program visited our classroom.  She talked about the ways our town can harm the lake.  Stephanie brought a watershed model of a town and each child had the opportunity to "pollute" it with food products that we pretended were pesticides, cow manure, oil, grass clippings, fertilizer, soil and pet waste.  We then had a spray bottle rain storm and everyone watched how the rain carries these pollutants into the lake.  Stephanie then talked about ways to keep the lake clean.  She explained that by protecting wetlands, using plastic bags for pet waste, putting up fences around farms and houses, and planting trees and grass to keep soil from eroding into the lake were ways we can help.  This was a wonderful hands on presentation that everyone enjoyed!