GMCG’s Young Sapling Page

  School Programs 

Each fall, local school children help GMCG sample rivers and streams for macroinvertebrates, tiny critters that have no backbone and are visible to the naked eye. Aquatic macroinvertebrates can tell us about the water quality of a waterbody since some species are sensitive to pollution, while others are more tolerant of pollution. The program gets students actively engaged in an ongoing citizen science program that tracks water quality over time through the Volunteer Biological Assessment Program (VBAP), a partnership with the NH Department of Environmental Services.

Students or teachers interested in participating in VBAP can contact GMCG to sign up for training in August, or schedule a date when their class can sample a local river in September with biologists. For more information about the program, visit: the NH DES Biomonitoring website.

What teachers & students say about the program 

“Thank you so much for having us to the river. It was a great learning experience and the whole class loved it. (I think some of them might become biologists). That would be cool. Thanks for the t-shirts too. P.S. my favorite macroinvertebrate is the casddisfly because of its pretty case.” ~ Mackenzie 

“I wanted to thank you for letting us come to the river. We all learned a lot about macroinvertebrates and a lot of other things. I had a lot of fun doing the rock scrubbing and plucking all of the creatures. But most of all we all had fun!” Logan 

“Thank you for the t-shirts and helping us identify the macroinvertebrates. I learned how to collect macros and I learned a lot about them. One thing I learned is that caddisflies build a little case to protect them from predators. I had a lot of fun!” ~Melissa 

“Our school, Tamworth Learning Circles, has worked with GMCG for 4 years now in the Macroinvertebrate Water Quality Monitoring Program. Our students have really enjoyed being part of this project. The staff at GMCG have consistently been friendly, professional and attentive to the questions of our students. It has been a great experience working with them, and they offer a valuable service to the community and to education.”

Watershed Workbooks for the Classroom

Watershed Workbooks for the Ossipee Watershed schools in Effingham, Freedom, Madison, Ossipee, Sandwich and Tamworth are a continuous work in progress. In 2010, GMCG was funded by the Dorr Foundation and New Hampshire Charitable Foundation to start it’s work with local schools, teachers, students, volunteers, and partner organizations to develop the workbook. The focus of the workbook is watershed-specific education, data collection, service learning and field-oriented activities and presentations that encourage watershed stewardship and community service. Workbook activities are correlated to the NH state science standards, and cover multiple disciplines including art and math.

 Each spring, as part of the School Program Initiative, which includes the development of the Watershed Workbook, over 150 local students from K.A. Brett School, Ossipee Central School, Tamworth Learning Circles, and Mustang Academy/Madison Elementary School participate in a groundwater education program known as GET WET! Through a partnership with Teresa Thornton (University of Maine), GMCG was able to bring GET WET! (Groundwater Education Through Water Evaluation and Testing) to NH and the Ossipee Watershed. Students collect important water quality data that helps create a long-term groundwater quality database for the towns of Effingham, Freedom, Madison, Ossipee, Sandwich, and Tamworth that share the Ossipee Aquifer as a drinking water resource. With the assistance of many community volunteers, students test their own personal well water for pH, chloride, iron, hardness, nitrates, and conductivity.   

For more information about GET WET! http://www.umaine.edu/waterresearch/outreach/GetWet/index.htm. Funding for the GET WET! program was provided by the United States Department of Agriculture, Lakes Region Fund of the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation, and the Dorr Foundation.

 Join the Watershed Workbook Yahoo Group to review the contents.   

Summer Camp Programs 

Summer camps around Lake Ossipee have been helping to monitor the water quality of the lake each year with conservation organization, the Green Mountain Conservation Group (GMCG).   Since 2003, Camps Calumet, Cody, Huckins, Robin Hood, Marist and Danforth Bay Campground have helped with GMCG’s monitoring efforts coordinated with the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services as part of the Volunteer Lake Assessment Program(VLAP).   Camps volunteer campers and staff to assist with deep spot sampling three or four times each summer and learn about and track water quality for this long-term monitoring program. 

Ossipee Lake and its four bays, Leavitt, Broad, Berry, and Lower Danforth Pond, are each sampled near their deepest spots. By using a Kemmerer bottle, a sample is collected at each of the water bodies’ three thermally stratified layers. Samples are analyzed for chlorophyll, chloride, pH, acid neutralizing capacity, turbidity, total phosphorus, and conductivity. In the field, water clarity is also determined by lowering a secchi-disk until it can no longer be seen and measuring that depth. Once a summer, the deep spot is also sampled for phytoplankton. The types of phytoplankton, or microscopic algae which live in the water, can be used as a general indicator of water quality. For more information, visit the NH DES VLAP webpage

 Green Mountain Youth Art & Writing Projects

 Green Mountain Conservation Group is looking for some fun, imaginative contributions from children in the Ossipee Watershed or visiting the Ossipee Watershed to display in upcoming newsletters and on the new “Young Sapling” page on our website.

Anyone is welcome to send in a poem, story, drawing, painting, quote, photo, or other form of writing or artwork. If you would like to share your work inspired by nature, an animal you saw or heard, a person in your community you look up to, or a special place that is meaningful to you, please send your submission by clicking the turtle, or by mailing: Green Mountain Conservation Group, PO Box 95 Effingham, NH 03882.

 Send My Project