Kate Howell and Mya Davis working on their school project together.

By DONNA BURROUGHS
Superintendent, Triton Community School Corporation

BOURBON — Third graders at Triton Elementary School have been learning about natural resources and how they can be used to help us solve problems. Students worked to solve a potential “real world” problem where a local river was getting too low at times; which did not leave a suitable amount of water for fish to live in.

This problem for the fish also created problems for those in the community that enjoyed fishing. Students planned what earthen materials could be used to create a dam in the river that would help prevent excess water loss from their fishing area. Each student designed, built, and then tested their earthen dam by adding water to one side of their model.

Classmates used timers to see if they could retain the water on one side of their dam for five minutes or more. Each creation was unique and outcomes varied. Everyone was able to learn what was successful about their design and what could have been done differently to create more positive outcomes.