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Thanks Will for the description of activities with the leaf pack.

The materials could be adapted to either Middle School or Upper School students. With MS students, I would start, as you suggested, with the investigation of scoops of muck. Upper School students could start with the leaf pack sampler in moving water and extend the investigation to the calculation of the biotic index. Both age groups would benefit from the experience of mapping the location of the environment under investigation. Rather than a one time experience that might not have a long term benfit to the students' understanding of the health of an ecosystem, you suggested returning to the same site for testing during three seasons. Comparing the health of the ecosystem under different conditions has the long term benefits of:

• developing and practicing the technical skills involved in the collection, separation, and categorizing of living things
• investigating change over time of a specific ecosystem whether by visual observation and counting of organisms of each type or calculating the biotic index and preparing graphs
• building of a personal relationship with an ecosytem to develop a sense of responsibility toward the planet as a whole