Marion 8th and 12th grade science students and their teachers have been studying the presence of microplastics in their backyard of Sodus Bay. Launched as the final unit of the school year for two classes of 8th grade science life science students and one class of 12th grade students in a course for college credit (FLCC), we worked with incredible support and energy of four UR undergraduate science majors. These four fellows have been on hand to support two science teachers and Warner MS graduates (8th grade teacher, Becky Goodman ’06W (MS), and 12th grade teacher, Dr. Ryan Pasquarette ’19W (MS)) in exploring what community- and place-based science education can look and feel like for science education.
Begun on May 27, 2025 Sodus Bay Watch is a school-based project that engages students in various inquiries including dissecting fish from Sodus Bay, analyzing sand samples for microplastics, and investigating how even our clothes shed microplastics as we move. By the end of the project, students had created art with plastics pollution they collected, authored a peer-reviewed journal publication for the Journal of Emerging Scholars, and led the community in interactive stations of science, art, and activism on June 21. This community event was hosted with Save our Sodus, a local community-based organization.
We were very happy with how the project went, but we also learned many lessons about how we can make it better next year!!
tudying the experiences as learning sciences researchers – exploring how place- and community-based experiences and focus like plastics pollution in Sodus Bay Watch can help transform science education to be centered on sense making that is meaning to both student and teacher learners!
Sodus Bay Watch is a collaboration between Marion Public Schools, University of Rochester’s Warner School’s GRS Program, Save our Sodus Community-based Organization, UR’s Biomedical Engineering, and UR’s Sustainability Program – Whew! That’s alot!
Thanks All!!!!! Can’t wait for next time!
–Warner School’s Get Real! Science (GRS) director April Luehmann, Warner doctoral students, Molly Wilson and Sarah Sarchet, and UR’s Post Doc Samantha Romanick, in collaboration with Save our Sodus.