Since Lincoln Park Zoo was founded in 1868, the South Pond has attracted visitors who stroll the scenic path, cuddle on park benches, ride on paddleboats, and admire the resident and migratory birds.

But in the past year some visitors have been doing some curious things. They plunge plastic tubes into the water, they scrape samples from the banks, they paint orange circles along the asphalt and hop into rafts and snoop around the pond’s islands.

These visitors are student scientists participating in the South Pond Environmental Education Project. Since September 2004 students from over 40 elementary schools, high schools, and colleges have been collecting data that will help the zoo and its partners, including the Chicago Park District and Chicago Public Schools. “The overall goal is to turn this pond into a more viable habitat with greater biodiversity,” said Tatiana Garrett, the zoo’s Education Manager who is overseeing the student-research aspect of this project. “In doing that we want to engage students as citizen scientists to help collect baseline data and voice their opinions on improvements that should be made to the pond.”

Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy
One chilly fall afternoon science teacher John Thompson supervised four of his students from the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy. “I want these kids to have ownership of this project,” Thompson said. “I want them to think. And that’s the zoo’s premise too.”

Thompson watched from the south bank as the students marked the pond’s perimeter with paint at 25-meter increments. The markings were then entered into a global positioning system (GPS) device to help with future mapping of data collection points at the pond.

Afterward they conducted a biological study of the water, testing for plankton and other animal and plant life. They monitored the birds in the area (pigeons were being chased by a juvenile hawk) and explored the ecosystems on the pond’s two islands. On future weekly visits they netted, cataloged and released fish and studied light penetration of the water to estimate the variety of submerged plant life.

One student at the pond that day, Ashley Lebato, plans to pursue a career in biology and chemistry. The pond project incorporates both. “I’m learning science without having to sit in a classroom,” Lebato said as her classmates prepared the raft that would carry them across the pond. “It’s science with a purpose.”

Louisa May Alcott Elementary
While the academy kids were thrilled by the intellectual stimulation,
eighth-grade students from Louisa May Alcott Elementary School seemed more excited by the grittier aspects of the project. With guidance from their teacher, Carolyn Maragh-Collins, Alcott students have proposed student security groups to protect the local waterfowl and educate the public about why it’s dangerous to feed wildlife. These kids have also gotten dirty taking soil samples from around the pond to test its properties and have even shown excitement when testing the levels of fecal matter in the water.

The results of this day were ultimately turned into presentations in Ms. Maragh-Collins’ classroom. Then her students interpreted their data to provide suggestions to the zoo for the pond’s future improvements.

Sieden Prairie Elementary
“Do you feel anything sticky?” asked the study sheets for the second-graders from Sieden Prairie Elementary, who scampered around the pond with their clipboards, as interested in climbing trees as studying them. “Do you see living things in the pond? Can you see to the bottom?” asked the materials of these little scientists.

“We want kids of all ages to get the experience of being scientists,” said Karen Meany, second grade teacher at Sieden Prairie. “We’re trying to dispel the myth that scientific research is the domain of white-haired men in white lab coats.”

Unexamined for Decades
The South Pond has not been studied in decades, so it surely harbors a number of mysteries. Just how corroded and cracked is the man-made bed? What treasures or trash sit silently beneath the four feet of water? What creatures slither through the water under the cover of darkness?

The students’ work is being used to create a baseline model that will help professional researchers and scientists determine how changes to the pond, including pollution and fish stocking, affect the ecosystem in the long term.

Northwestern University professionals, Roxana Hadad and Gary Greenberg maintain a web site on which participating schools post their data for all to share. It’s an online forum where participating teachers and students can collaborate on research. The site is password protected for the protection of students.

Another example of collaboration is the GPS map of the pond drafted by a graduate student from Northwestern University, Liza Pono. The map helped other schools more accurately record where in the pond samples were being taken and volunteers at the zoo are able to use the same map so data collection is more consistent and comparable. Additionally, the students presented their findings in May during Lincoln Park Zoo’s annual South Pond Project Fair sponsored by the Women’s Board. Illinois Math and Science Academy hopes to eventually publish their work in an education journal.

When the five-year project is completed in 2009, the habitat will host an even wider range of wildlife than it does now, while engaging visitors through programs that focus on the natural and social history of the South Pond and its future as a wildlife sanctuary.

Supporting Student Scientists
The South Pond Environmental Education Project has received grants from the Illinois EPA, Kemper, HSBC, Johnson Controls, Peoples Energy, and a BP Leadership Award which will support:

• 3 mobile labs from which volunteer naturalists can engage visitors as citizen scientists through studies of the water and avian life at the pond.
• Educational loan kits designed for take-away education projects in classrooms (these kits cover the subjects of “Pond Life”, “Beginning Birding”, and “Water Quality”).
• Free docent-led public tours focusing on birding at the South Pond.
• An educational video on the history of the South Pond.
• A children’s book (written by contest winner, Kayla Fox).
• The volunteer training program for South Pond Naturalists
• Transportation for eligible schools to participate in the South Pond Project.