H2O Q in the classroom

Water Chemistry in the Great Lakes Region LogoH2O is a regional experiment for sharing environmental water chemistry with teachers, students, and everyone wanting to study the chemistry of water quality.

Conduct the experiment

  • Measure 6 key water quality parameters of your local watershed
  • Use the American Chemical Society Midland Local Section backpack kit

Contribute to the community science ArcGIS map of data

  • Join classrooms/kids/researchers from all around the Great Lakes
  • Add your data to the crowd source data map

Research your local water quality question and get involved

  • Get your classroom, non-profit organization, research team involved
  • Find or start a stewardship project to improve the water quality of our Great Lakes

The CERM 2019 STEM team is designing a NGSS aligned environmental water quality chemistry activity for middle and high school students. The activities will cover entire STEM NGSS (Next Generation Science Standards) categories and integrate categories outside of science to provide in-classroom teachers with a robust and fully implementable program, which is currently not available. This novel project design leverages the scientific expertise of ACS professionals, providing their STEM expertise at an appropriate science level for everyone involved. The environmental science at the core of this STEM experience is time relevant, an affordable opportunity to perform real science, and helps create a regional community of next generation scientists.

Environmental science encompasses all STEM disciplines and helps students see real science outside their window. Experiencing the chemistry of this vast field will equip the students with the problem-solving tools to work through challenges. The analysis of key markers in the environment (P, N, turbidity, pH, temperature, etc.) incorporates multiple chemistry concepts and materials. By exploring these, students will collect data that they in turn can crowd source to their colleagues. Comparing data from around the region, classrooms can evaluate how their results compare to others, the source of the variation, and the impact on their local environment.