TITLE OF THE LEARNING EXPERIENCE: Pass The Salt!
Author: Michelle Watkins
Beaver River Central School, P.O. Box 179, Beaver Falls, NY 13305
1. LEARNING CONTEXT
This learning experience challenges students to assume the role of a scientist who has received a grant to study the impact of road salt on Adirondack flora, fauna, and associated watersheds. Students are introduced to bioassays as a quantitative strategy for assessing environmental impact, and are challenged to use this technique in experiments that they design.
The Environmental Inquiry website hosted by Cornell University is a key resource used by students throughout this experience. Technology is also integrated in this learning experience as students prepare their culminating scientific journal article using word processing, spreadsheet and graphing software.
The Pass The Salt learning experience is designed for use by Biology students in Regents or Advanced Placement levels of study. Given the project’s multifaceted nature it provides students with an inquiry opportunity in the laboratory component of these courses while providing direct links to the study of maintenance in living things and ecological principles, including the impact of humans on ecosystems.
Prior to their involvement in this learning experience, students should be familiar with the impact of salt on the water balance in a cell and basic microscopy techniques.
This learning experience assesses New York State standards MST 1, 2, 4, and 5, as well as ELA 1 and 3. The specific key ideas and performance indicators that are assessed are detailed in Appendix 1 of this document.
2. PROCEDURE
Pass the Salt, challenges students to become involved in authentic scientific research regarding an environmental issue that is the subject of ongoing public policy debate. A Powerpoint presentation is used in conjunction with a "taskforce packet" to introduce the scenario to students. This learning experience is inquiry- based and conducted by cooperative teams. Each individual completes a taskforce packet, a scientific journal article and a cover letter.
This learning experience is a component of a laboratory based unit on scientific methodology. The experience is multifaceted, but organized in a manner that could mirror real-world research. An outline of the dimensions of Pass The Salt follows:
Part I. I say….You say….Bioassay! (An introduction to the usefulness of the bioassay as a quantitative tool for measuring environmental impact.) A. What is a Bioassay? B. Bioassay Basics 1. Procedure for setting up 2. Data collection plan C. Bioassay Analysis
Part II. Background Check! (Students do research to learn what is already known about the impact of road salt on Adirondack plants and animals.)
Part III. Salt and Survival (While allowing time for seed
germination, students review microscopy techniques
and information about
diffusion osmosis, in the context of this learning experience.)
Part IV. Research: Project Design, Implementation, and Reporting (Students develop a hypothesis regarding the impact of road salt and/or deicing alternatives, design an experiment to test to test the hypothesis, and prepare a scientific journal article to report their findings.)
Part V. Let the research speak (Students prepare a cover letter designed to influence NYS environmental policy makers to adopt the best management practice for Lewis County based on research findings.)
The Pass the Salt "taskforce packet" details the scenario posed to students and the key segments of its responsibilities. A copy of the taskforce packet can be found in Appendix 2 of this learning experience. This document provides student instructions and enables taskforce teams to direct their study toward the achievement of specific objectives.
This learning experience is built upon a tremendous Internet resource provided by the Environmental Inquiry (EI) curriculum development project at Cornell University (http://ei.education.cornell.edu/home.html). This project offers students experimental design challenges and allows secondary students to contribute their work to a community of student scientists.
3. INSTRUCTIONAL/ENVIRONMENTAL MODIFICATIONS
The Pass The Salt learning experience is subdivided into a number of different experiential segments, ranging from highly directed to inquiry-based activities. Instructors may opt to use only portions of the experience based on the needs of the students being served.
The experimental segments of this experience involve the use of equipment that is very portable thus facilitating the extension of time for students, where needed.
4. TIME REQUIRED
Prior to the implementation of this experience, time is invested establishing deadlines for different laboratory sections and obtaining basic materials.
This activity has been implemented using a series of five 39-minute laboratory meetings to launch the project, and additional time outside of structured classes and laboratories.
5. RESOURCES
Materials needed are very basic and include:
Lettuce seeds, Salt, Filter paper, Petri dishes, Pipettes, Pipette pumps, Elodea cells, Plastic bags, Background Information Articles, CMA, Chloride test kits, Daphnia, Duckweed, and seeds of plants that typically grow in this region. Access to computers is necessary for student data analysis and journal article preparation.
6. ASSESSMENT PLAN
Multiple assessment tools are used during this learning experience. Students are provided with copies of the assessment tools at the outset of the experience for their self assessment during the learning experience.
During this experience, "Teacher checks" provide an embedded assessment component that forces "taskforce" cooperative teams to confer with the instructor after completing key tasks. Group work is assessed during each laboratory period using a holistic rubric assessing a students effectiveness in the "taskforce" setting. Each part of the learning experience also contains a rating scale designed to evaluate the correctness and the completeness of student responses. The scientific journal article is the most substantial element in this experience, prompting its rating scale to be more detailed. The final component of the experience, "Let the research speak," evaluates a student’s ability to articulate the impact of scientific research on real world issues.
The assessment guide appears in Appendix 3 of this document.
7. STUDENT WORK
This learning experience is currently being field-tested. Samples of student work will be available for submission prior to June 30, 1999.
- REFLECTION
This learning experience was designed to provide students with a long-term project experience rooted in authentic research. It bridges content areas and includes the use of technology as a research tool, a data analysis instrument and as a means of communicating with the scientific world.
Implementation of this experience affirms our awareness that students need a great deal of additional instruction and practice, communicating scientific results precisely. Likewise, this group of activities challenges students to design creative experiments, and to take advantage of Internet resources.
Appendix 1: Key ideas and performance indicators assessed by Pass The Salt!
Appendix 2: Pass the Salt "taskforce packet" - Student Materials
Appendix 3: Assessment Guide / Rating Scales
Appendix 1
New York State Standards addressed by the Pass The Salt learning experience
New York learning standards, key ideas and associated performance indicators that this project is designed to address and assess include:
MST 1: Students will use mathematical analysis, scientific inquiry and engineering design, as appropriate, to pose questions, seek answers, and develop solutions.
Scientific Inquiry
Key Idea 1: The central purpose of scientific inquiry is to develop explanations of natural phenomena in a continuing, creative process.
1.1 Students elaborate on basic scientific and personal explanations of natural phenomena, and develop extended visual models and mathematical formulations to represent their thinking.
1.2 Students: hone ideas through reasoning, library research and discussion with others, experts.
Key Idea 2: Beyond the use of reasoning and consensus, scientific inquiry involves the testing of proposed explanations involving the use of conventional techniques and procedures and usually requiring considerable ingenuity.
2.1 Students devise ways of making observations to test proposed explanations.
2.2 Students refine their research ideas through library investigations, including electronic information retrieval and reviews of the literature, and through peer feedback obtained from review and discussion.
2.3 Students develop and present proposals including formal hypotheses to test their explanations, i.e. they predict what should be observed under specified conditions if the explanation is true.
2.4 Students carry out their research plan for testing explanations, including selecting and developing techniques, acquiring and building apparatus, and recording observations as necessary.
Key Idea 3: The observations made while testing proposed explanations, when analyzed using conventional and invented methods, provide new insights into phenomena.
3.1 Students use various means of representing and organizing observations (e.g. diagrams, tables, charts, graphs, equations, matrices) and insightfully interpret the organized data.
3.2 Students apply statistical analysis techniques when appropriate to test if chance alone explains the result.
3.3 Students assess correspondence between the predicted result contained in the hypothesis and the actual result and reach a conclusion as to whether or not the explanation on which the prediction was based is supported.
3.4 Students based on the results of the test and through public discussion, they revise the explanation and contemplate additional research.
3.5 Students develop a written report for public scrutiny that describes their proposed explanation, including a literature review, the research they carried out, its result, and suggestions for future research.
MST 2: Students will access, generate, process, and transfer information using appropriate technologies.
2.1: Information technology is used to retrieve, process, and communicate information and as a tool to enhance learning
2.1a Students understand and use the more advanced features of word processing, spreadsheets, and data-base software.
2.1b Students prepare multimedia presentations demonstrating a clear sense of audience and purpose.
2.1c Students access, select, collate, and analyze information obtained from a wide range of sources such as research data bases, foundations, organizations, national libraries, and electronic communication networks, including the Internet.
MST 4: Students will understand and apply scientific concepts, principles, and theories pertaining to the physical setting and living environment and recognize the historical development of ideas in science.
Key Idea 5: Organisms maintain a dynamic equilibrium that sustains life.
5.2 Students explain disease as a failure of homeostasis.
5.2a Homeostasis in an organism is constantly threatened. Failure to respond effectively can result in disease or death.
5.2b Biological research generates knowledge used to design ways of diagnosing preventing, treating, controlling or curing diseases of plants and animals
5.3 Relate processes at the system level to the cellular level in order to explain dynamic equilibrium in multi-celled organisms.
5.3a Dynamic equilibrium results from detection of and response to stimuli. Organisms detect and respond to change in a variety of ways both at the cellular level and at the organismal level.
Key Idea 6: Plants and animals depend on each other and their physical environment.
6.1 Students explain factors that limit growth of individuals and populations.
6.1b The atoms and molecules on the earth cycle among the living and nonliving components of the biosphere. For example, carbon dioxide and water molecules used in photosynthesis to form energy-rich compounds are returned to the environment when the energy in these compounds is eventually released by cells
6.1e In all environments organisms with similar needs may compete with one another for resources, including food, space, water, air, and shelter. In any particular environment, the growth and survival of organisms depend on the physical conditions including light intensity, temperature range, mineral availability, soil/rock type, and relative acidity (pH).
6.3 Students explain how the living and nonliving environment change over time and respond to disturbances
6.3a The interrelationships and interdependencies of organisms affect the development of stable ecosystems.
6.3b The environment may be altered in substantial ways through the activities of organisms, including humans, or when climate changes. Although these alterations are sometimes abrupt (e.g. natural disasters), in most cases species replace others resulting in long-term gradual changes in ecosystems.
Key Idea 7: Human decisions and activities have had a profound impact on the physical and living environment.
7.1 Describe the range of interrelationships of humans with the living and nonliving environment.
7.1a The Earth has finite resources; increasing human consumption places severe stress on the natural processes that renew some resources and deplete those resources that cannot be renewed.
7.1b Natural ecosystems provide an array of basic processes that affect humans. Those processes include but are not limited to: maintenance of the quality of the atmosphere, generation of soils, control of the water cycle, removal of wastes, energy flow, and recycling of nutrients. Humans are changing many of these basic processes and the changes may be detrimental.
7.1c Human beings are part of the Earth's ecosystems. Human activities can, deliberately or inadvertently, alter the equilibrium in ecosystems. Humans modify ecosystems as a result of population growth, consumption, and technology. Human destruction of habitats through direct harvesting, pollution, atmospheric changes, and other factors is threatening current global stability, and if not addressed, ecosystems may be irreversibly affected.
7.2 Explain the impact of technological development and growth in the human human population on the living and nonliving environment.
7.2a Human activities that degrade ecosystems result in a loss of diversity of the living and nonliving environment. For example, the influence of humans on other organisms occurs through land use and pollution. Land use decreases the space and resources available to other species, and pollution changes the chemical composition of air, soil, and water.
7.2d Many factors influence environmental quality. These include: population growth and distribution, resource use, capacity of technology to solve problems, as well as the role of economic, political, ethical and cultural views.
7.3 Explain how individual choices and societal actions can contribute to improving the environment.
7.3a Through a greater awareness and application of ecological principles, each individual can help to assure that there will be suitable environments for succeeding generations of life on our planet.
7.3b Individuals in society must decide on proposals which involve the introduction of new technologies. Individuals need to make decisions which will assess risks, costs, benefits and tradeoffs. Members of our society should understand the appropriateness and value of raising basic questions such as "what can happen?"—"what are the odds?"--and, --"how do scientists and engineers know what will happen?"
MST 5: Students will apply technological knowledge and skills to design, construct, use, and evaluate products and systems to satisfy human and environmental needs.
MST 5.3: Computers, as tools for design, modeling, information processing, communication, and system control, have greatly increased human productivity and knowledge.
PI 5.3a: Use computer technology to gather information and present it to an intended audience in a form that is useful to them in a decision making process.
MST 5.6: Technology can have positive and negative impacts on individuals, society and the environment and humans have the capability and responsibility to constrain or promote technological development.
PI 5.6a: Identify the impact that technology, society and individuals have on an organism’s ability to survive, and advocate for proposals designed to remedy negative situations.
ELA 1: Students will read, write, listen, and speak for information and understanding.
ELA 1.2 Speaking and writing to acquire and transmit information requires asking probing and clarifying questions, interpreting information in one’s own words, applying information from one context to another, and presenting the information and interpretation clearly, concisely, and comprehensibly.
PI 1.2a: Write and present research reports, feature articles, and thesis/support papers on a variety of topics related to all school subjects.
PI 1.2e: Revise and improve early drafts by restructuring, correcting errors, and revising for clarity and effect.
PI 1.2f: Use standard English skillfully, applying established rules and conventions for presenting information and making use of a wide range of grammatical constructions and vocabulary to achieve an individual style that communicates effectively.
ELA 3: Students will read, write, listen, and speak for critical analysis and evaluation.
ELA 3.2: Speaking and writing for critical analysis and evaluation requires presenting opinions and judgments on experiences, ideas, information, and issues clearly, logically, and persuasively with reference to specific criteria on which the opinion or judgment is based.
PI 3.2b: Make effective use of details, evidence, and arguments and of presentational strategies to influence an audience to adopt their position.
PI 3.2c: Monitor and adjust their own oral and written presentations to have the greatest influence on a particular audience.
Appendix 2
Pass the Salt!!!
Congratulations! You have been selected to serve with a team of scientists that have been hired by the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation and the NYS Department of Transportation to evaluate the impact of road salt on the flora and fauna of the Adirondack Park.
Your taskforce’s research will be used to influence environmental policy in the State of New York. As with any environmental issue there will be a number of risks, costs, benefits and tradeoffs, associated with the conclusion(s) that you will draw from your studies. In order to be an effective member of this team, you will need to familiarize yourself with the issue, learn scientific techniques used to study the impact of the problem, and use critical thinking skills to draw conclusions and to propose solutions.
The basic background information that you have been provided with includes the fact that in 1980, New York State instituted a "bare road" policy regarding snow and ice. This was done to insure that visitors to the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid would enjoy their stay, The Adirondack Aquatic Institute has identified that this policy is still in effect and that it is having negative effects on lakes and streams in our area (http://www.paulsmiths.edu/aai/salt.html). Others remind us that Homo sapiens are important Adirondack fauna who are placed at a high risk for motor vehicle accidents when road deicing is not made a priority (http://www.saltinstitute.org/30.html). Economic issues, the effectiveness of different road deicing products and the observation that wildlife are attracted to salted highways just like they are attracted to salt licks, are just some of the other realities that factor into this issue.
Your taskforce will be evaluated during each of your formal meetings (lab periods,) and this "on-the-job" evaluation will be multifaceted. You will be graded based on your contributions to this scientific study team, on the quality of your preliminary work and on the scientific paper that you write to communicate your findings. The Task Force Action Plan for your laboratory section, identifies the deadlines that have been established for the completion of each portion of this task. Be sure that you stay on schedule!
Be sure that you or a member of your team has a BRCS Internet license. You will be using the Environmental Inquiry website (http://ei.education.cornell.edu/) hosted by Cornell University throughout this learning experience.
Task Force Action Plan
Pass The Salt
Project Outline: Established Deadlines
Part I. I say….You say….Bioassay!
(An introduction to the usefulness of the bioassay as a quantitative tool for measuring environmental impact.)
A. What is a Bioassay? ____________________
B. Bioassay Basics
1. Procedure for setting up ____________________
2. Data collection plan ____________________
C. Bioassay Analysis ____________________
Part II. Background Check! ____________________
(Do research to familiarize yourself with what is already known about the impact of road salt on Adirondack plants and animals.)
Part III. Salt and Survival ____________________
(Review microscopy techniques and information about diffusion and osmosis, in the context of this learning experience.)
Part IV. Research: Project Design and Implementation ____________________
(Develop a hypothesis regarding the impact of road salt and/or deicing alternatives, design an experiment to test to test the hypothesis, and write a scientific journal article detailing your findings.)
Part V. Let the research speak ____________________
(Prepare a cover letter designed to influence NYS environmental policy makers to adopt the best management practice that your research findings suggest would be most appropriate for Lewis County.)
Part I. I Say….You Say….Bioassay!
While we may be tempted to evaluate how toxic a particular chemical is to vegetation by considering the color of a patch of plant material, this type of a result would be qualitative and potentially subjective. Quantitative studies provide us with data that can be analyzed in a manner that is often easier and more reliable. Reference toxicity tests, called bioassays, are conducted in order to quantify how toxic a substance is to a particular organism.
A. What is a Bioassay???
Consult reference resources to learn more about what exactly a bioassay is. You should use printed and electronic materials for this purpose. Respond to the following requests for information:
1. Define the term, "Bioassay."
2. List at least three ways that bioassays are used to insure the health and welfare of people in the United States, today.
3. Brainstorm at least three ways that bioassays can be used to test for the environmental impact of toxins present in the Adirondacks.
4. Record the bibliographical information of at least three sources that you used, to answer the questions above:
B. Bioassay Basics
In the next segment of this lab activity, your team will learn how to conduct a bioassay so that you become comfortable with the technique, and so that you can draw preliminary conclusions regarding the impact of road salt on plants. The following procedure has been adapted directly from the Environmental Inquiry website (http://ei.education.cornell.edu/).
Setup Procedure:
a) Soak lettuce seeds for 20 minutes in a 10% bleach. Then rinse five times. This kills fungal spores that can interfere with seed germination.
b) Place a 7.5-cm paper filter in each of six, 9-cm petri dishes. Label each of the petri dishes with one of the following concentrations of NaCl (salt.):
0.200 M
0.100 M
0.075 M
0.050 M
0.025 M
0.000 M - Control
c) Add 2 ml of the salt solution indicated by the petri dish’s label, to the filter paper in the petri dish, using a pipette. Be sure to rinse the pipette carefully. Hint: You will be able to reduce the chances of error due to contamination if you apply the solutions to those petri dishes assigned the lowest concentrations, followed by those with successively higher concentrations.
d) Add 10 lettuce seeds to each dish. Space the seeds evenly on the filter paper so that they do not touch each other or the sides of the dish.
e) Place the dishes in a plastic bag, and seal it to retain moisture. Incubate in the dark at constant temperature (preferably 24.5 degrees C) for 5 days (120 hours). Record the time and date that you are starting this incubation period:
Starting Date_______________ Starting Time ___________.
f) Prepare for data collection by designing data tables that will illustrate the following:
i.) Table 1: The number of seeds that germinated when different concentrations of salt were present in the environment. Remember that you will need to record the number of seeds that were placed in each Petri dish, the number that sprouted and that you will calculate the percentage of seeds that germinate.
ii.) Table 2: The average root length of lettuce seedlings that germinated when different concentrations of salt were present in the environment.
g) Have your data tables checked. ____________ Data tables approved for use
Teacher Check
Data Collection:
h) Indicate the date and time that you are collecting data, next to each data table.
i) Record data in Table 1. Count the number of seeds that germinated in each petri dish, the number of total seeds that were present in each dish. Calculate the percentage of seeds that germinated.
# of seeds that germinated
% Germination=--------------------------------------------- x 100
Total # of seeds in the petri dish
j) Record data in Table 2. For each sprout, measure the radicle length to the nearest mm. (The radicle is the embryonic root). Look carefully at the plants to make sure you are measuring just the radicle, not the shoot as well. For example, in the picture below, you would measure just the part between the two arrows, not the shoot and cotyledons to the left.
k) Calculate the average root length for sprouts exposed to each salt concentration.
l) Compile data that each group in your laboratory section has collected using the classroom blackboard. Record this on the back of this sheet of paper.
m) Have your data tables from steps k and l, checked.
_________________ Data tables acceptable
Teacher Check
C. Bioassay Analysis
After you have collected data it is important to evaluate its quality, and to analyze what it tells us.
1. Consider the petri dish that was designated as the experiment’s control.
Control: Concentration=________ M NaCl
The control is used to identify how well the seeds will grow without any added contaminants. If fewer than 80% of the seeds in your control dishes sprouted, something may have gone wrong in your experiment. Describe the growth that you observed in the "Control" petri dish. If the germination rate is especially low, suggest factors that may account for this.
2. Consider the variability of results that were collected by different teams. Why might one "taskforce’s" results differ from another’s? Consult the Environmental Inquiry website (http://ei.education.cornell.edu/) for ideas regarding this important issue.
3. Use the computer to prepare a two graphs of the data that you collected. Figure 1 should illustrate the effect of salt concentration on germination rate of lettuce seeds. Figure 2, should illustrate the effect of salt concentration on the average root length of lettuce sprouts.
Have your graphs checked. _____________
Teacher Check
4. Describe any general trends in seed germination and growth that you observe.
5. Identify the pros and cons of using lettuce seeds to evaluate the toxicity of salt on plants.
Part II: To salt or not to salt???? Background Check!
At this juncture you have explored a technique that is useful to your taskforce, and have obtained preliminary information regarding how it might be used to assess the impact of road salt. It is valuable at this point to do a literature search to determine what is already known about the topic of interest. Otherwise, they may spend a great deal of time discovering that they have only "re-discovered" interesting information. You’ll use your knowledge of biology and your research skills to investigate what is known about the impact of road salt on living things and their environment. Later in the project to you’ll use this information to write the introduction to your scientific paper.
Three articles have been selected to assist you in your study of road salt and deicing alternatives:
*Cryotech CMA: Calcium Magnesium Acetate (http://www.ga.com/cryotech/CMA/htm)
*The New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services, Environmental Fact Sheet, entitled: Road Salt and Water Quality (http://www.state.nh.us.des.swqb-7.htm)
*The Adirondack Aquatic Institute’s Home Page
(http://www.paulsmiths.edu/aai/salt.html)
1. Identify the potential bias (if any) that the article is written from and suggest what type of information that the article might emphasize as a result:
CMA:__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
Road Salt and Water Quality:_______________________________________
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
The Adirondack Aquatic Institute’s Home Page: ________________________
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
2. Using the information from each of the articles, insert descriptive statements of the pros and cons of road salt as well as the pros and cons of the alternative compound, CMA, in the charts below:
Road Salt Use CMA Use
Advantages Disadvantages Advantages Disadvantages
Part III. Salt and Survival
Use your knowledge of biology and your critical thinking skills to:
1. Prepare a wet mount slide of a typical plant cell by adding one drop of water to the plant cell sample. Draw a diagram of this cell. Then draw a second diagram that illustrates what that same cell would look like if it had been placed in a 2% salt solution.
2. Describe how the salt concentration changed and how this influenced the water balance in the cell. Be sure to use the terms, "diffusion" and "osmosis", in your answer.
3. Prepare a brainstormed list of life processes that a plant uses water for. (For example, water is a raw material for photosynthesis.)
4. Based on these reflections, predict the impact that salt would have on a plant. Suggest characteristics that might enable certain plants to be more resistant to salt damage.
Part IV. Research: Project Design and Implementation
The principal investigator has challenged you to devise a unique study that will test a hypothesis designed to learn something new regarding the impact of road salt or its alternatives on plants and animals. Your team must opt to do an experiment that fits in one of the following categories:
A) It investigates the environmental impacts of road salt on plants further by
1) Measuring and testing actual road salt residue OR
2) Evaluating which plants are most and least tolerant to road salt damage
B) It compares the toxicity of road salt with that of CMA
C) It evaluates the usefulness of Daphnia or duckweed as a bioassay organism for
studying the impact of road salt on living things.
The Environmental Inquiry website (http://ei.education.cornell.edu/) will provide you with critical information as you develop ideas regarding experimental design. Be certain that you consult the "Design Challenge" and "Some Tips for Planning an Experiment" segments of the website for ideas. Consult the grading rubric/rating sheet to determine what is required in each segment of the journal article that you prepare.
1. Have the topic for your unique study checked by your instructor:
_______________
Teacher Check
2. State a hypothesis based on your knowledge of this topic:
3. Develop a diagram that illustrates the experimental procedure that your team is planning to use to test this hypothesis. Have this checked when it is complete.
_______________
Teacher Check
- Specify the experimental protocol that you will use, carry out the experiment, analyze the results, and draw appropriate conclusions. Use the scientific journal article rubric to assess your product and that of your fellow taskforce members.
Part V. Let the Research speak!
Share your research results with a public official or employee who makes policy decisions regarding the de-icing of North Country highways.
Prepare a cover letter to accompany your scientific journal article that identifies your concern regarding this issue, offers a synopsis of your research findings, and presents your suggestions to a policy maker on how this issue might best be addressed in our region. Make suggestions that you identify as the best management practice for Lewis County given economic and environmental considerations.
Submit this letter with a copy of your scientific journal article for the final assessment of your product.