Lake Doctor | A Lilly Center for Lakes and Streams Podcast

Lake Doctor | Anchored in STEM: Transforming Schools and Lakeside Communities

• Lilly Center for Lakes & Streams • Season 1 • Episode 2

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Discover how STEM education is revolutionizing our community with insights from Dr. Rachael Hoffert of Grace College's School of Education and Dr. David Hoffert, superintendent of Warsaw Community Schools. These passionate educators share their unique journeys and discuss how their efforts have led to the development of STEM-certified schools, enhancing learning experiences from elementary through high school with interdisciplinary and hands-on approaches. Gain valuable perspectives on the vital role of STEM in maintaining community vitality and inspiring future generations.

Uncover the unexpected intersection of fishing, science, education, and community engagement in Kosciusko County. Grace College students are not only learning about practical fishing activities but also imparting these skills to local fourth graders, many of whom have never had the opportunity to fish. This hands-on experience fosters essential problem-solving and collaborative skills while also instilling a deep appreciation for local ecosystems. Reflect on how real-world examples like water testing and environmental conservation are increasing water literacy in education and community consciousness.

Finally, listen to heartfelt stories from local educators and leaders as they share their dedication to education and environmental stewardship. From the inspiring journey of a history teacher turned superintendent to a college instructor shaping future teachers, learn about their hopes for leaving a lasting positive impact on the community. Engage with our fun lake science trivia challenge and discover practical ways you can contribute to making your local lakes healthier. This episode is packed with inspiring stories and applicable insights into STEM education and community involvement.

Speaker 1:

Thanks for listening to the Lake Doctor podcast. I'm your host, suzy Light, and I get to share some stories and talk about our beautiful lakes with my friend, dr Nate Bosch. Nate, you got your doctorate degree from the University of Michigan in limnology right.

Speaker 2:

Correct, suzy. Unlike oceanography, though, limnology is the study of freshwater aquatic systems, so limnology is the study of freshwater aquatic systems. On this podcast, we're going to dive into lake science. We're going to meet another person who's passionate about our lakes and have some fun together.

Speaker 1:

Super. You can learn more about the topics in this episode or support the Lilly Center's work by visiting our website lakesgraceedu.

Speaker 2:

In today's episode we're excited for you, our listeners, to hear from Dr Rachel Hoffert and Dr David Hoffert. Rachel is with the School of Education at Grace College. David is with Warsaw Community School Corporation.

Speaker 1:

We are so excited about today's episode. The doctor is in. Thanks so much for joining us for the Lake Doctor podcast. I am so excited today. I'm surrounded by doctors Dr David Hoffert, Dr Rachel Hoffert, Dr Nate Bosch, David and Rachel. I've known you guys forever. Tell us a bit about yourselves, please.

Speaker 3:

Sure Well, I'm Rachel Hofford. I work at Grace College great place to work and I work up in the School of Education. I never thought dreamed that would be my profession. I always thought I'd be a third grade teacher, but the Lord led me into higher education and I absolutely love our future teachers. Coming to work and being with them in the classroom brings me so much joy, so I'm excited to be here and just share a little bit about some of that work that we're doing.

Speaker 1:

Very good, dr. David Hoffert.

Speaker 5:

Well, Susie, you really won out because you got the smarter of the two Dr Hofferts to speak first.

Speaker 1:

He always does that.

Speaker 5:

I am the lesser of the two, Dr Hofferts for sure, but gratefully married for 23 years to the other, dr Hoffert almost 23 years, just about. We have three sons, two of which came to us from Ethiopia. I have been blessed. I'm finishing up year number 10 as superintendent, year number 22 in public ed and, as you know too well, susie, hometown kid product of Warsaw Community Schools and the Community Foundation while you were there.

Speaker 5:

Scholarship recipient One of my favorite stories with you is always the one where you pulled out the thank you letter that I wrote back in 1998 for the scholarship for future teachers, and so I would not be here today if it was not for Susie Light. So again, I feel always grateful to be in the room with you, but I feel blessed to be able to lead Warsaw Community Schools in the role of superintendent and Nate the partnership with the Lilly Center that we have and I know that kind of leads us into this podcast but again feel very blessed with STEM education and really what's transpired here over the last 10 to 15 years here in Warsaw Community Schools with the partnerships.

Speaker 1:

So that's one of the things I wanted to ask you both, all of you, about STEM. Education is really important to our community, to Lilly Center, to Warsaw High School, to Grace College, but I bet that some of our listeners may not know what STEM is about. So, nate, do you want to kick us off?

Speaker 2:

Sure, let's start first with what it stands for right. So, science, technology, engineering and mathematics. It stands for right. So science, technology, engineering and mathematics and what STEM does is it helps bring the best. Stem education brings all of those together in kind of an interdisciplinary sort of way of thinking, and at the Lilly Center we rely on all of those areas for various projects that we're working on, and the most important problems often that our society needs to solve are sort of STEM related things where we need the help of each of those fields.

Speaker 1:

And how is Grace College educating to be teachers on STEM?

Speaker 3:

Yes, well, we totally revamped our methods of science class just a couple years ago. We hired a STEM coach from our local schools to teach that class. Our candidates learn how to engage students in inquiry. They learn, they really look at just all the different methods of STEM education. They lead STEM after school clubs in our local elementary schools so they are involved with everything from coding to problem solving to 3D printers. I mean just a lot of different processes that our candidates have to learn how to do and how to use the materials to promote inquiry. And then we get them in the schools in small groups with students, and they really practice those skills and refine their skills. Before we would ever say let's go into a class and, you know, lead the STEM inquiry unit. They have practiced with a lot of the hands-on pieces so they're ready to embrace then that whole class instruction.

Speaker 1:

And then how does that impact our elementary school and our high school?

Speaker 5:

Oh, it's huge. It's huge. You know. I think back to a little bit of the history and this really came out of about 12, 13 years ago. Orthoworks had a report called the Cambridge Study that was looking at the vitality of our local community and what needed to be provided inside of our schools, and they came back and said we're missing STEM education and STEM was a new acronym at that point and that really led us to the journey that if we're going to stay relevant inside of our local community, we needed to be a forefront leader in STEM education, and that led about to the development of our first STEM school, which was Washington.

Speaker 5:

Now, as we look 12 years later, we have four STEM elementary schools in Claypool, jefferson, madison and Washington. We have a STEM certified middle school and when you look at what's happening in our career center and our high school, every single day, it is STEM focused, and really one of the things that it encompasses more than anything else is there's different versions of STEM, and STEM can be very, very wide-reaching. When you think about the science, technology, engineering and mathematics, that can encompass a lot of different classes, a lot of different areas, but the one pillar that brings us all back together is the idea of lakes and streams in our local community, because we are a lake and stream community. Yeah, 101?

Speaker 1:

our local community because we are a lake and stream community. Yeah, yeah, 101 over 100 in Kosciuszko County and 600 miles over 600 miles of streams too, so you'd probably really need to be a good stem person to understand the cubic amount of water yeah in our county yeah but it doesn't take a rocket scientist to understand that water is really important.

Speaker 2:

It is.

Speaker 1:

So tell us about some work that you've been doing, maybe with some Warsaw students, related to water testing, water quality.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, yeah. Well, it's so much fun to have both of these guests here because we've connected to both of your spheres of of influence and, uh, expertise. So we do a lot of educational programs at the Lilly Center. Um just surpassed 12,000 student connections for the first time this this past school year, and many of those were with the Warsaw Community Schools and many of them in collaboration with our school of education at grace, and so some of the highlights that come to my mind would be outdoor education. I I love being out, so outside myself, and so when we bring these younger students outside um and and I think of kindergartners out in the wetlands behind the lily center and Center and learning through the five senses, we try not to do touching of poison ivy.

Speaker 5:

That's good. That's good. Thank you for that.

Speaker 2:

But yeah, and just learning about just the amazing environment that we have around us and how to care for that in a really hands-on way. We bring aquariums, kind of like what are behind us here, these aquariums. This is a 10-gallon aquarium here, but in our local schools we have 40-gallon aquariums that we install libraries and schools and these are ways that kids can learn right from their own desk or right from the seat in the library of their school about the native fish and the native plants that live in our lakes and how to better take care of them. We do a lake adventure day every fall where we bring lots of fourth graders from all of the school corporations in Kosciuszko County and the School of Education helps that and I've loved interacting with some of our education professors, like Rachel here, and they right away start to get some senses of their students and what some of the strengths are even freshmen getting freshmen college students involved in that day.

Speaker 1:

What do the kids do during Lake Adventure Day?

Speaker 2:

So there's several different stations. Do you want to talk about it, maybe from an educational standpoint?

Speaker 3:

Sure, I always love Lake Adventure Day. It's something I look forward to because I know it's going to be right. After Labor Day, tuesday, thursday, we kind of have that consistent time. It's at Winona Lake Park. I am teaching our seniors at that time. So these are seniors that in the spring will student teach and then graduate.

Speaker 3:

So one of our first big tasks I introduced to them is I say we get the privilege to help facilitate Lake Adventure Day. Not only do we get the privilege to work with a bunch of fun fourth graders, but we also get to bring in our incoming freshmen. So students that just arrived on campus, that are nervous to be education majors, you're going to walk alongside them, You're going to be doing the teaching, they're going to be assisting, we're going to welcome them to our school of education, to Grace College, this way and we're going to show them just how we can really impact fourth graders and so they get really excited about that, which I love. And then on that, prior to that day, we go to the Lilly Center at Grace College and our students are trained from the Lilly Center staff on the four stations that they will facilitate and they practice, you know, teaching those. I love the lesson plans because they all start with an essential question and then they introduce vocabulary to kids in really fun and student-friendly ways and then from there there's just a lot of hands-on pieces.

Speaker 3:

So I'll just give you one example there's a station on erosion so our students facilitate with the fourth graders causes and effects of erosion on our lakes, streams and ponds. And then our students facilitate with the fourth graders causes and effects of erosion on our lakes, streams and ponds. And then our students eventually are building landscapes and they're putting water to show how erosion works. And then they give them materials that can deter erosion so they'll add those to their landscapes and they'll see the effect of different like trees, grass, soil and how that impacts erosion. And so it's very and that's where you see like those light bulb moments for the fourth graders they come on and my students will look at me and be like you know they'll want to be like look, they get it, they understand it, and I'm and I always will say to them later it's because of this great lesson you had and the way that you facilitated and promoted that inquiry and our students get really excited about that, about the light bulb coming on for those fourth graders.

Speaker 1:

Have you heard anything from the fourth grade teachers about the experience, like what they've seen in their students?

Speaker 5:

Absolutely, and I just have to say Lake Adventure Day is a win-win for Warsaw Community Schools. I mean, we are the big benefactor inside of this. So not only are we preparing teachers to go into STEM classrooms, because it's really important, I mean, one of our first questions inside of our interviews is how comfortable do you feel getting in a set of waders and going out in the creek?

Speaker 5:

And I've had a couple principals over time that have actually used that as part of their interview.

Speaker 5:

Not only the question, but hey, at the end of the interview we're going to hop on a golf cart, we're going to go down to Eagle Creek or Cherry Creek and we're going to get you in the water and see how comfortable you are pulling out a leech out of the creek or trying to find a three clam muscle that's inside of there, or how does that impact into literacy? So definitely, hearing from our teachers, they love the guidance that happens from the Lilly Center, from the Grace College students. They're working as mentors for our teachers, helping them to learn how to teach STEM education For our students. You can just see the look of joy on their face. I would say that it is a winning day in education when teachers feel inspired and students feel inspired at the same time, and this is one of those type of days every single year that happens, where you see that joy and excitement. One of my favorite stations I know Rachel mentioned the erosion station Probably my favorite station is the fishing station.

Speaker 5:

I thought you were going to say that, yeah, I'm going to bring this up because the look of joys of students that have never gone fishing before that all of a sudden are pulling this fish out of the water, all right, and holding this thing up like they just caught a prize winningwinning uh, fishing contest.

Speaker 3:

I mean, it might be the smallest little fish that you have ever seen, but to them, that fish just keeps getting bigger and bigger over time all right, and I always tell my students when they catch it we are going to clap and, you know, make noise and make it just a big moment, because that I want them to see like we want to have fun, we want to engage kids, we want to have fun, we want to engage kids, we want to celebrate, you know, and they do. And then Dave's down there taking pictures, you know, of the fish, and then the Lilly Center has pictures of the different fish that are in our waters and so then the kids are all gathering around you know, the bucket, trying to figure out what type of fish this is, and it's just such a great learning experience and they're collaborating on that. And I thought you were going to say the fish.

Speaker 5:

You thought I was going to say the fish. Yeah, you know me pretty well. Who takes?

Speaker 1:

the fish off the hook.

Speaker 5:

You know what? They actually train the Grace College students to take the fish off the hook. And that's an interesting part too, because a lot of these college education students have never taken a fish off of a hook either, so they are learning the whole time and they're trying to look like they're really big and strong in front of the fourth graders. And so that's kind of fun to see too. And then also the bait, the worms, the crickets.

Speaker 3:

I have learned how to bait well through this experience and I've had to model that for my students.

Speaker 2:

Have you added that to your resume?

Speaker 3:

I need to add that to my resume. I'm pretty good with those crawlers actually.

Speaker 1:

Isn't it amazing what we could do well when we're having to model the?

Speaker 3:

bait.

Speaker 2:

Exactly, exactly, yes, we have a diverse community in Kosciuszko County, and many of these kids, though they've grown up within a mile or two of a lake, they've never had a chance to go fishing.

Speaker 2:

They've never held a fishing pole in their hand right and we just sort of take that for granted oftentimes. We're in this county with over 100 lakes. The city of Warsaw, particularly, is called the city of lakes. We've got three lakes within the city boundaries of Warsaw.

Speaker 2:

But yet many of these kids I would say over half of these kids it's the first time they've ever held a fishing pole in their life. And so you're right seeing that look of wonder when they pull that fish out of the water. And when you look at it from the Lilly Center's perspective and what we're trying to do in our communities, we're trying to raise up water literate citizens that can, as they go into positions of influence, they can influence our decision-making to better protect our lakes and streams. And if a grown person in our community has never had an experience fishing, there's going to be a detriment there for how much they're going to value a local lake or stream, Whereas if they've had that fishing experience and seen that there's these little critters that actually live in that body, of water they're going to be that much more excited when they're making decisions as a business owner or county council member or a teacher or superintendent or a professor, to make good choices then in that regard.

Speaker 2:

So that's one of the reasons I love that inspirational sort of aspect of fishing.

Speaker 1:

What would be your grand vision, and I'm going to leave you for last. What's your grand vision for our community, for STEM education, for education in general?

Speaker 5:

Problem-based learning. You know there are a lot of skills we're preparing students for jobs that don't even exist yet, but the one thing that is inside of all of them is our students need to be problem solvers for the future. There are going to be all kinds of problems out there that we don't know about, but through this program and I'm going to go back to this part with STEM education, and I'm going to go back to this part with STEM education One of my favorite lessons that was learned was when students are down doing water testing and they find something wrong, all right, they have to figure this out, just like a scientist. I mean, these are real world problems that they're identifying. Is the E coli too high in the water? Is there something that happened because of runoff? I mean, these are things that Dr Bosch is doing every single day on the professional level, but we're training our students how to do this.

Speaker 5:

And then, how do you solve those problems? What are those next steps that you have to go through to be able to make sure drinking water is safe, make sure that our lakes are safe? What type of problems are we being able to trace back to the root cause that is happening. So, as we look at it, this is one piece of education, but it's definitely a microcosm of what we want to teach in the future with our students, the skill sets that we want them to have to grow up to be that next group of leaders. And you know, one of the the things that I always love seeing in students is sometimes the students teach us things as adults.

Speaker 5:

It's amazing what we can learn from fourth graders just in the way of courage, going back to our fishing day. Um, you know, and these students have have no fear. They have not had enough life experiences sometimes to have those fears. So sometimes their research, their scientific process, their engineering process can teach us a lot of what we need to be doing as adults, of not being stuck in our ways and being okay with change and maybe looking at things in a different light.

Speaker 1:

Super.

Speaker 3:

I would probably piggyback a little bit on that Helping our students, like even the fourth graders, be collaborative in nature and think about how to talk to each other.

Speaker 3:

So you know, I'm thinking about that erosion example I gave you, not just put the tree here or do this, but I wonder if we tried this, so using language that is affirming, that isn't just demanding, but just how do we talk to each other in very productive ways and it's amazing to watch them wonder if we place this here and then if the water came this way and they start really engaging in these conversations that you know, as adults in the workplace we need to be having, we need to be doing, and so I think about no matter what problem they might have later in life.

Speaker 3:

We want them to use that, those collaborative skills. And so even with my teacher candidates, you know, if you see a group and they're not really getting along, what language can you use with them to promote more inquiry and thinking, Because that's what I want you to foster in your classroom. So it's so neat, just through this one experience and I know you have so many at the Lilly Center how our teacher candidates can grow as they're interacting with fourth graders by the lake in inquiry type lessons. It's just amazing.

Speaker 2:

I've got a few ideas there, so one would be speaking specifically of the teacher candidates in the School of Education at Grace. I don't know if you guys had similar experience growing up in schools, but some science teachers were good and some science teachers not so good, and the good ones got beyond just a list of terms that needed to be memorized. The good ones got you experiencing and doing things with your own hands and critical thinking and inquiry based sorts of things, and so I love being able to invest in school of education students because there's a multiplicative impact there Right. So when, when we at the Lilly Center invest in these future teachers, we're investing in all of the future students that each of those teachers will have.

Speaker 2:

It's crazy to think about that, and we're then able to have all of these little science or STEM ambassadors out there then, many of which stay in our local schools here even after they graduate from Grace College, and so there can be that sort of impact, and then the goal of that is, as I mentioned before, what we call water literacy, so we want these students, as they grow up, to understand how our lakes and streams work, how do we protect them better, and when they move into those positions of influence, then, as a business owner or in local government, or maybe a teacher themselves, they're going to be influencing in that positive direction. The one thing that I'll mention, though, is we do know that we need to change some behaviors now. We can't wait for a whole generation to move into leadership. We have a history in this country of students coming home and influencing their families for the better. I can think of smoking cessation and recycling as two that come to mind right.

Speaker 2:

And so we likewise want to see these youngsters come home talking about hey, you know the fish that I caught and that lives in Pike Lake, and did you know the stream that goes behind our property ends up in Pike Lake? So we need to make sure we don't dump this in or we need to take care of this on our property, because there's fish that live in that lake down there and I think that's a really cool thing that we can make impacts right now.

Speaker 1:

So my granddaughter, a former Warsaw student, asked her grandfather about his fertilizer for his grass because of what she learned.

Speaker 2:

Yes, that kind of hit a little close to home.

Speaker 1:

We already had discussed that so he was able to tell her he was using the low phosphorus.

Speaker 5:

Right, that's really good Good point, steve White.

Speaker 1:

Okay, so this has been really fun. What do you think about your legacy for Kosciuszko County? What do you hope that it will be? I'm going to ask all of you that question your legacy.

Speaker 5:

Legacy. You know I got into education because of teachers. That made an impact on my life. My goal when I went off to college was to come back here and be an educator in this community and I loved doing that. I was able to do that for seven years as a history teacher and track coach, then for about three years as a principal of a junior senior high school and then moving back into the role at central office, both as assistant superintendent, now superintendent. So I would say my legacy has never changed. It might look a little different, not being in the direct classroom, but my role now is to support principals. It's to support teachers that are able to support our students. So it's really for my hometown, in my hometown, loving this community. This is the community that I love. I want to be in, I want to make an impact. So I hope when I leave this position someday that people can look around and say you've left it a better place than you found it.

Speaker 5:

And that's a very environmentalism type of comment, but the environmentalism of education and the idea of just leaving things better than what you found them and hopefully leaving people on a firm foundation that we've made an impact on the thousands of graduates that are going through our schools.

Speaker 1:

When I think of legacy David, I think of your great-great-grandfather, because you are fourth generation Orsonian Warsaw education.

Speaker 2:

Is Orsonian a word. We've made it. We've made it. Maybe I got that from you even originally, because I've said that many times over.

Speaker 5:

Orsonian is definitely a word. It is a legacy. I love it.

Speaker 1:

Okay, your great-grandpa would be proud.

Speaker 5:

Thank you, thank you.

Speaker 1:

And Rachel, you're not a native. No, you grew up in.

Speaker 3:

Michigan. Yeah, and I always thought I'd go back to Michigan and teach and then we applied for jobs and landed here. You're a Hoosier now, baby.

Speaker 5:

I am, I think I am and a Worsonian, and a Worsonian, I'll take both, yeah.

Speaker 3:

I don't know.

Speaker 3:

You know I think about legacy and when I walk into the college classroom it will hit me at different times and I'll look out at my students before I start and I'll think to myself, wow, like this is a big responsibility that I don't take lightly.

Speaker 3:

I have fun with it, but I don't take it lightly Because each student that's sitting in my class, like we talked about, is eventually going to walk into a classroom for hopefully, many, many years and influence many, many children.

Speaker 3:

And so I think about the type of teacher that I want to model to my college students.

Speaker 3:

I want to build those relationships with them. I want to make sure they know I care, that I'm competent, you know, and hope that as I do that and as I model that they can really see that a vision of what an effective teacher looks like, a vision of what an effective teacher looks like. I also stress to them they are entering just authentic mission fields. They are going to enter the classroom with kids with so many different backgrounds, some students who are vulnerable, and how do we really love them well and impact them well? So I guess legacy to me would just be I want to equip my students to be those hands and feet that go in the classroom and teach kids absolutely how to read, how to write, how to be involved in STEM, but also have that relationship and that role model piece that they can really influence the classroom and the kids that they're in front of. So, yeah, it's a wonderful job, but I do sometimes when I walk in the class I think, wow, yeah, thank you, but I'm so thankful to be in this role.

Speaker 1:

We're thankful that you are in this role, you too. Okay, Nate legacy, yeah for me.

Speaker 2:

I think of two aspects of it, as both of them were talking. One would be sort of the physical environment and the other would be more of the relational sort of people that I would like to impact over the course of my career. And so, if I think first of the sort of physical environment, we take lots of measurements and we'll be talking with other partners on the podcast here about some of those measurements when we focus more on research but actually see the needle move in some of these measurements over time you know you mentioned, david, cleaner lakes and streams, right. So that's what we want to see is those measurements actually change. And if, over the course of my career, I'm able to influence and through our other Lilly Center team members and partners, we're able to together influence those lakes and streams into a cleaner status, that will be. I'll take pride in that for sure. On the relational side, I think of similar to what Rachel was just saying.

Speaker 2:

I think of these environmental science students that are at Grace College. Many of them work at the Lilly Center for Lakes and Streams. I think this past school year we had 46 college student interns working for us, getting a paycheck from the Lilly Center, and we're treating them already as environmental professionals, even before they've graduated from college. And then I get to see them move out into different careers and they're still impacting. Many of them stay in Kosciuszko County, so they're still impacting our lakes and streams even after they graduate. And seeing them just blossom and move into these areas and very quickly eclipse what I know and what I taught them to kind of come up with their own knowledge base and skill sets, it's just really rewarding to see that and being able to look back. I can only imagine, after looking back of a whole career and seeing all of those hundreds of students out there, that that will be a really strong sense of accomplishment.

Speaker 5:

Well, Susie, let's turn the table on you for a second. You talked about legacy.

Speaker 4:

You've lived a couple different careers here.

Speaker 5:

Okay, what's Suzy Light's legacy?

Speaker 1:

I hope that people would say I fulfilled my purpose, whatever role I was playing. I did retire from the Community Foundation. I did not retire from our community, so I'm still purposefully engaged. Thank you, nate, and yeah, that's it. That's it, that's it.

Speaker 5:

That's it. Well, I can't speak for everybody at the table, but I can speak for myself. I think you've hit your legacy.

Speaker 3:

Yes, and it's still forming, but again I think you've hit a legacy. Yes, and it's still forming, but again I think you've had a legacy. I'm not done yet. You're not done yet?

Speaker 2:

You're not done yet, but you left a lasting impact, like I said, at least with this end of the table, definitely and actually, before we started recording here, as we were just chatting a little bit before the episode, you guys were asking about Susie and my connection. You guys were asking about Susie and my connection and I call Susie my number one coach and cheerleader, kind of in starting the Lilly Center for Lakes and Streams back in 2007 and she's remained a number one coach and cheerleader right up until present day.

Speaker 1:

I'll continue that role.

Speaker 3:

Thank you, that's amazing.

Speaker 1:

Thank you, drs Huffert, for joining us today. Thank you, dr Nate, for being here as part of our Lake Doctor podcast. We are so excited. You are not going to want to miss what's coming up next. We've got fourth graders who are going to be part of a challenge, so please stay tuned for our next segment and our next Lake Doctor podcast.

Speaker 4:

Welcome to. Are you Smarter Than a Fourth Grader? Where we pit two fourth graders against two community members? On the fourth grade team, we have Charlotte and Natalie, smart fourth graders and best friends who go to school together. On the community team, we have two professionals in their respective fields. We have Rob Parker, president of the Kosciuszko Chamber of Commerce, and Derek Pike, STEM instructional coach at Washington Elementary. We are so excited to have all of you here to play our game, so are we ready to start?

Speaker 5:

You're ready, let's go.

Speaker 4:

Awesome. Here's the way this game works. Each question is related to Lake Science in some way. Today, our topics are algae and nutrients. I will read the question and multiple choices out loud. Once you've locked in your answer on your whiteboard, ring your bell. The winner of this round will receive gummy algae and major bragging rights. Is everybody ready, I suppose? So Perfect, let's get started. So our very first question I have is what is a nutrient? What is a nutrient? So we have A disease-causing organism, b growth compound or C inorganic substance. So yeah, write your answer and then ring your bell when you have it Perfect, all right. So we're going to go with our community members first. What do we have as our answer? B B, we have B Growth compound. All right, natalie Charlotte. What do we have as our answer?

Speaker 4:

B B, we have B growth compound all right, natalie, charlotte, what do you have a? A, we have B. All right, our correct answer was B. So, community members, you both got it correct. Unfortunately, only one of you got it correct, but it is a growth compound, so great job. Alright, our next question are we ready?

Speaker 4:

So, what are two main nutrients? A lake needs to support algae and other plant growth, so is it A nitrogen and phosphorus, b oxygen and nitrogen, or C phosphorus and oxygen? Ooh, ringing in quick, wow, all right, I'm impressed we're going to start over here this round, because they had it going on. So what are your answers? A A, all right, what do we have over here? B B, oh, all right. I'm sorry, gentlemen, but our lovely ladies over here.

Speaker 5:

it is A it is nitrogen and phosphorus.

Speaker 4:

Phosphorus, perfect. All right, are you ready for question number three?

Speaker 3:

Yes, I'm ready.

Speaker 4:

All right. So what is it called when big clumps of algae form? Is it A? Oh, we're already ringing in over here.

Speaker 2:

I love it.

Speaker 3:

Oh, my Come on Charlotte, Is it?

Speaker 4:

A, a clump, is it B? A cluster, or is it C a bloom? We all ring in. Alright, we'll start over here. What are your answers? C, we have C, and what do we have over here? C, it is C, so it is a bloom. Good job, everybody. Yay, perfect, alrighty. Our next question what is a type of algae that can potentially be toxic? Is it A, blue-green, b, white or C blackbeard? I heard our ringing over here. We'll start over here with you, ladies. My answer was A. A, all right, what do we have? I have A.

Speaker 4:

Not quite C, it is A, it is blue-green.

Speaker 2:

Black beer is not like a pirate algae.

Speaker 4:

I'll let you leave a guess on that one. All right, our next question what type of bacteria forms in blue-green algae? All right, is it A I am not going to try and pronounce this one Bacteria, cyanobacteria, I am being taught over here. All right, is it B green sulfur bacteria or C, cyanobacteria?

Speaker 5:

No clue.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, fine, all right, we'll start over here. What?

Speaker 5:

do you?

Speaker 4:

ladies have C yeah Fine, all right, we'll start over here. What do you ladies have C? C, all right. What do?

Speaker 1:

we have. Oh man, that's brutal.

Speaker 4:

We have B and C, it is cyanobacteria.

Speaker 1:

I knew we were wrong, as soon as you guys had it Good job.

Speaker 4:

Nice job, ladies.

Speaker 2:

Can we Google our?

Speaker 3:

answers.

Speaker 4:

No Googling, I'm sorry. All no googling, I'm sorry, all right. Our next question what is one condition that helps algae form? Is it a cold weather, b still water or c a storm?

Speaker 2:

I think I know this.

Speaker 4:

I think I know this all right, we'll start over here with you. Gentlemen, what do you have?

Speaker 5:

still water, still water b still water.

Speaker 4:

And what do we have over here? B, a, b and A, it is B, still water. You guys are hanging on. I'm proud of you. This is rough, doing a great job. Thank you All right. Next question what element does the excess algae reduce or eliminate in the water?

Speaker 3:

Is it A Carbon B?

Speaker 4:

Nitrogen, or C nitrogen or c oxygen. Oh, that was quick, that was quick. All right, we'll start over here with you. Ladies, what do you have?

Speaker 5:

c, c, perfect and what do we have? C? C?

Speaker 4:

great job, everybody got that one correct, all right. Are we ready for our next question?

Speaker 1:

yes, yes, all righty.

Speaker 4:

So how do nutrients enter ecosystems? Is it A through rain, b through minerals or gases, or C through plants? Quick.

Speaker 3:

Slow down Charlotte.

Speaker 1:

How did you know that so fast?

Speaker 4:

All right, do we have our answer? Five seconds, four, three, two. Okay, fine, all right, since we hesitated. What do we have? Our answer Five seconds, four, three, okay, two, fine, all right, since we hesitated. What do we have over here? B and C. All right, what do we have over here? B and C.

Speaker 1:

Interesting.

Speaker 4:

The correct answer is B through minerals or gases.

Speaker 5:

That was a tough one.

Speaker 4:

That was a tough one, all right. Are we ready for our next question? What determines the health of a lake? Is it A number of fish, b number of nutrients or C number of plants? We have a lake expert over here. Alright, ladies, what do you have? B, b, awesome. What do we have B? Yep, you all got it right Number of nutrients, very important for our lake. All righty, now how can we prevent algae from contaminating fish tanks? Is it A keep the light on, b change the water. Or C leave extra food, because fish get hungry, just like I do. All right, what do we have over here? We have B. What do you, ladies, have B? The correct answer is B Change the water. Got to keep that water clean, alright. So after our questions, we got the score back. So which side thinks that they won?

Speaker 5:

For sure, right here.

Speaker 4:

Alright. Well, we have 14 points over here, 14. Now, ladies, you had 17. So you are kicking some butt over here so great job 17.

Speaker 3:

So, unfortunately, you guys are not smarter than a fourth grader, but I can draw algae. That's my Mr Algae. Unfortunately, you get no bonus points for that. It looks great.

Speaker 2:

No, give me some points for that.

Speaker 1:

At least three.

Speaker 4:

All right. So unfortunately, since you guys did not win, you do not get our prize for the day. However, ladies, you did win our prize, so you get some lovely gummy candy because you are our smarty pants of the day. So congratulations, ladies again, good job.

Speaker 1:

Thanks for listening to this episode of the Lake Doctor podcast. Join us next time. It's bound to be fun Listening to this episode of the Lake Doctor podcast. Join us next time, it's bound to be fun.

Speaker 2:

Listening to this podcast is the first step to making your lake cleaner and healthier. Visit our website for full studies of our applied research and discover some tangible ways you can make a difference on your lake. Join us at lakesgraceedu.

Speaker 1:

We'll see you next time. The doctor is in.