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For Release: Monday, October 6, 2008

Students from across the State Engage in Hands-on Scientific Learning Exercises in the Hudson River

Over 50 Locations Participate in the 6th Annual "Day in the Life of the Hudson River"

On Tuesday, Oct. 7, students from the mouth of the majestic Hudson River in the New York Harbor to Troy will participate in the sixth-annual "A Day in the Life of the Hudson River" field program. Hosted by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Hudson River Estuary Program, the annual event is aimed at educating Hudson Valley residents about the ecology of the river through innovative and engaging public programs and through the development of a K-12 curriculum.

Students will work on the river collecting scientific information to create snapshots of the waterbody at dozens of locations (information on the sites is listed below). Using Web-based distance learning video technology, they will have follow up opportunities to share their data to enable them to better understand how their piece of the river fits into the larger Hudson estuary ecosystem. In 2007, more than 2,000 students participated at 50 locations This year for the first time, teachers can continue to use the Hudson River as the centerpiece of science, math, social studies and language arts lessons in the classroom with newly developed Hudson River Lesson Plans.

Sponsored by DEC's Hudson River Estuary Program, and run in conjunction with Hudson Basin River Watch, "A Day in the Life of the Hudson River" coincides with National Estuaries Day, which celebrates these remarkably productive and valuable ecosystems. From New York Harbor to the federal dam at Troy, the Hudson River estuary nurtures an incredible diversity of plants, animals, fish species and habitats, and is the setting for some of the nation's most important environmental progress.

"A Day in the Life of the Hudson River" thrives on partnerships between schools, state agencies and environmental organizations throughout the Hudson Valley," said DEC Commissioner Pete Grannis. "It highlights the cooperative learning and discovery that is at the heart of the upcoming 2009 Quadricentennial celebration of Captain Henry Hudson's historic journey up the river."

"That students can safely enter the river to do this kind of learning is a testament to the successes of the past," Estuary Program Director Frances Dunwell said. "We want students to be inspired by this hands-on experience with the river, but also to understand that the work of cleaning the river is never done."

At the various locations, teams of students and environmental educators will examine the river using such tools as seine nets and lab equipment to investigate the variety and number of fish, the types of aquatic plants, algae and phytoplankton present, the temperature and pH of the water, and the concentration of key chemical components, such as salt and dissolved oxygen. Many groups will also collect core samples of river-bottom mud for analysis by the Lamont -Doherty Earth Observatory at Columbia University in Palisades, Rockland County.

Some of the findings will contribute to ongoing research projects. Data from the event is incorporated into the curriculum developed by the Hudson River Estuary Program, which is available to all teachers in the Hudson Valley. The data will be posted within two weeks on the "A Day in the Life of the Hudson River" web page. The first installment of a standards-driven, place-based, and interdisciplinary K-12 curriculum centered on the Hudson River is available free online.

Using this data, students will study how distribution of fish species varies with salinity or observe how, at any given time, tidal phenomena may differ from place to place along the estuary. Atlantic silversides are common in brackish water from the Tappan Zee south, whereas sunfish are usually found only in fresh water north of the Hudson Highlands. Some animals tolerate a wide range of salinities, such as the blue crab, which last year was found as far south as Manhattan and as far north as Stuyvesant, Columbia County. The diversity of fish netted in 2007 included familiar species like the striped bass and white perch, plus oddities like the oyster toadfish.

Dissolved oxygen tests may hold surprises for the student teams. While stories of pollution still color public perception of the Hudson, water quality has improved over the 30 years since the Clean Water Act and other state and federal programs enabled the construction and improvement of sewage treatment facilities, and stopped industrial pollution. Oxygen levels are expected to be in the range of 6-10 milligrams per liter, a range indicating a generally healthy ecosystem. However, oxygen readings vary due to factors such as time of day, wind conditions, and presence of plants and algae.

Promoting public understanding of the Hudson River is one of 12 goals in the Hudson River Estuary Program's Action Agenda. Since 1999, Estuary Program grants have helped more than 100 projects to develop a network of environmental education centers along the Hudson with high quality exhibits, facilities and programming. In addition to coordinating river-wide efforts like the "Day in the Life of the River," the estuary program provides teacher training in workshops and master classes that 100 valley teachers have so far attended, curriculum for grades 3-5 being used in at least 22 elementary schools, and a variety of other resources for educators.

In 2009, New York will celebrate the Quadricentennial of Henry Hudson's 1609 voyage up the Hudson River. By then, the Estuary Program aims to make a riverfront field station accessible to every school district in the Hudson Valley and increase the program's curriculum offerings so that schools throughout the region can focus attention on the history and ecology of the river throughout the anniversary year.

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