Special Topics in Lake Champlain Natural History, Lee, Summer 2020

Course Number:	EDU 5627 C01a (1 credit) EDU 5627 C01b (2 credit) EDU 5627 C01c (3 credit)
Instructor:	Elizabeth Lee
Location:	Poultney, VT and field sites at West Rutland Marsh, Bruckner Preserve wetland complex, Lake Bomoseen, Poultney River at Carvers Falls, and South Lake Champlain.
Dates and Times:	July 20-24, 2020 from 8:30am – 4:30pm, and 5-6 pm for 3 credit students
Credits:	1, 2 or 3 graduate credits
Tuition:	$550 with 1 credit- 2 days, $725 with 1 credit- 3 days, $1,050 with 2 credits- 4 days, $1,400 with 3 credits- 5 days

Note: Please register directly with the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum (LCMM). LCMM will give you the link to Castleton's online registration form. All payments are payable and due to LCMM.

Course Description

This is a hands-on science course focusing on the natural history and ecology of Lake Champlain, its watershed, and other similar freshwater ecosystems. The course is presented in modular fashion-- each day is a stand-alone course if so desired. The suite of modules offers a unique overview of freshwater ecology of the region and also offers an exciting variety of field-science activities and research to pursue with students.

Day 1: Geology and Archaeology of the Poultney River sub basin of Lake Champlain Day 2: Water chemistry: Local Inputs and Status

Day 3: Phytoplankton to Macrophytes, including natives and invasives species

Day 4: Freshwater mussels: vulnerable life histories and endangered species;

Day 5: Identifying and understanding Lake Champlain fish

This course is being taught through a partnership with Poultney Mettowee Natural Resources Conservation District and Champlain Valley Native Plant Restoration Nursery.

Audience: Teachers with science and outdoor education interests, grades 3-12.

Course Goals:

Special Topics in Lake Champlain Natural History equips educators with the scientific knowledge and field-sampling techniques that will enable them to engage students in stimulating observations, projects and research based in local waterways.

Course Objectives:

Learn from leading experts and researchers about specific topics (i.e., geology, water chemistry, invasive species, mussels and fish) highly relevant to Lake Champlain and its tributary watersheds.
Delve into specialized topics using techniques that are both accessible to students and exciting to research.
Engage in the creative process of adapting and constructing lesson plans based on freshwater ecology projects that are close to educators’ home communities.
Discuss how science proficiencies can be met when students pursue personalized and project-based empirical studies of freshwater ecology.

Required Texts

The readings below are recommended. Please contact the instructor directly for more detailed information.

Lake Champlain Basin Program. 2018 State of the Lake and Ecosystem Indicators Report. (2018 State of the Lake and Ecosytem Indicators report available June, 2018)

Winslow, Mike. Lake Champlain: A Natural History

Stapp, William B. and Mitchell, Mark K. Field Manual for Water Quality Monitoring: an Environmental Education Program for Schools. 1996. GREEN Project, Ann Arbor, MI.

Lake Champlain Maritime Museum 2009 Quadricentennial Curriculum

Lake Champlain Basin Program Aquatic Invasives Guide

Lake Champlain Maritime Museum On-water lesson plans

Demarest, Amy B. This Lake Alive! An Interdisciplinary Handbook for Teaching and Learning about the Lake Champlain Basin. 1997. Shelburne Farms.

Thompson, Elizabeth Hathaway, and Eric R. Sorenson. Wetland, woodland, wildland. Vermont Department of Fish and Wildlife and The Nature Conservancy, 2000.

Prescott, G. W. (1964). How to know the freshwater algae. How to know the freshwater algae.

Vinyard, William, C. Diatoms of North America, Mad River Press, 1979.

Mark LaMay, Erin Hayes-Pontius, Ian M. Ater, Timothy B. Mihuc (faculty); Revised Key to the Zooplankton of Lake Champlain, Lake Champlain Research Institute, SUNY Plattsburgh, 2013.

Pearly Mussels of New York, Strayer, David

The Freshwater Mussels of Vermont, Fichtel, Christopher and Smith, Douglas. G., Vermont Fish and Wildlife, 1995.

The Freshwater Mussels of Maine, Nedeau, Ethan, McCollough, Mark and Swartz, Beth, 2000, Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife

https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/vermont-freshwater-mussel-survey

Marsden, J. Ellen, and Richard W. Langdon. "The history and future of Lake Champlain's fishes and fisheries." Journal of Great Lakes Research 38 (2012): 19-34.

Bosanko, Dave, Fish of New York Field Guide, Adventure Publications, 2008.

Langdon, Richard W., Ferguson and Cox. Fishes of Vermont. 2006.

Werner, Robert G. Freshwater Fishes of NY State, Syracuse University Press, 1980.

Witten, Matthew. Dichotomous Key to the Common Fishes of Lake Champlain. 1996.

For additional course information

Elizabeth Lee
(802) 475-2022 x 102

For additional registration information

Elizabeth Lee
(802) 475-2022 x102