The Passaic Basin Eco-Explorers Summer Program in Environmental Science, Ecology, and Computer Technology is a two-week (M-F), all-day sessions for middle school students (6th to 8th grades). The program consists of visits to natural, notable sites related to the Passaic River and area ecology (such as the Great Falls National Historical Park), important environmental infrastructure (such as Newar
k’s Pequannock Water Treatment Plant) as well as visits to area forests, streams, and lakes to conduct field studies (such as Alfonso Bonsal Preserve and Branch Brook Park). Topics studied include watershed protection, water treatment and analysis, biodiversity, wildlife habitat and management, erosion and sedimentation, water sampling, industry-river relationships, groundwater and tidal hydrology, estuarine ecology, ecosystem management, and related computer technology. Students visit and study areas from the headwaters of the Passaic River to its mouth at Newark Bay. Typically, students are picked up at their local school at 8:30 in the morning and brought to their field trip/study destination. At the completion of morning field activities, students are transported to Montclair State University in the afternoon for lunch at a cafeteria on the MSU campus. The afternoons are spent in a computer laboratory learning skills in computer technology. On the last day of the program, each students presented a PowerPoint presentation highlighting their camp experience (documenting field observations, knowledge gained, collected field data, data analysis with charts generated using Microsoft Excel, photos taken in the field with cameras provided by the program, and a summary of their findings) to their peers and family members. The goals of the program are to:
Improve attitudes toward and knowledge about nature and the environment by exposing Newark students to nearby fascinating and beautiful natural features
Improve awareness and understanding of the environmental infrastructure that supports life in Newark, and the benefits, threats, opportunities, obstacles, and efforts related to that infrastructure
Improve attitudes toward science by stimulating curiosity and excitement in the students about ecology, environmental science, and computer technology
Introduce the substance and tools of a career in ecology or environmental science/engineering
Increase students’ perception regarding the feasibility of attending college and a career in science by placing students in a university environment, interacting with college students and professors as role models
