Children and Four Mile Creek (Draft Two)

This topic submitted by Laura Englehart, Austin Kleon, Lia Silver, and Lauren Dean ( kleonaw@muohio.edu ) on 2/23/03. [ Rivers Team: Laura Englehart, Austin Kleon, Lia Silver, and Lauren Dean-Section: Garrison/Green]

I. Introduction

We want to determine the links between the environmental health of Four Mile Creek and the developmental health of the children who interact with the area. How do the scientific and aesthetic attributes of stream health correlate to child development, both psychologically and physically, and is this correlation dependent on the child's social,economic, geographic, and cultural place in life? We hypothesize that interaction with a healthy creek environment contributes positively to the development of a child. By studying child development, we will measure aesthetic response, overall enjoyment, and the number of times the children actually interact with the creek.

Put simply, our project is an interdisciplinary study on children and creeks. Culturally, we hope to inquire into the ways that
children perceive creeks, their personal experiences with creeks, and what part creeks play in childhood as a whole. Socially, we are concerned with what socio/economic/geographic factors bring children to creeks, how education aids or hinders children's perception of creeks, and how the creek shapes the psyche of a child. Scientifically, we want to test the area of Four Mile Creek where children interact for signs of creek health, and study what pollutants/toxins/bacteria that can be found in Four Mile are harmful to children. The synthesis of these three areas will answer for us: What is a healthy environment, what is healthy childhood development,and how does this apply to the creek/child interaction? We hope that our project will be a reflection on the significance of Four Mile Creek and all creeks in the lives of today's children.

II. Research

Library/Journal Sources

Barrows, Anita. "The Ecopsychology of Child Development" in Ecopsychology. San Francisco, CA: Sierra Club Books, 1995.

Anita discusses the relationship between developmental psychology and humanÍs connection with nature. She believes that every child is born "undamaged" by cultural distortions and is waiting to connect with nature. There is an importance in teaching children to reconnect with nature even with the presence of such cultural ideologies as individualism and competition make the connection more difficult.

Brown, Robert M., and Nina I. McClelland and Rolf A. Deininger and Michael F. OÍConnor. "A Water Quality Index- Crashing the Psychlogical Barrier." in Indicators of Environmental Quality. William A. Thomas, ed. New York: Plenum Press, 1972.

This article discusses water quality indices and explains that "quality" is essentially a value judgment. It explains nine scientific parameters that should be measured to determine water quality. These include dissolved oxygen, temperature, fecal coliforms, turbidity, pH, nitrate, phosphate, total solids, and 5 day BOD.

Carver, Raymond. "Nobody Said Anything." Where IÍm Calling From. New York: Atlantic Monthly Press, 1988.

This short story is about a young boyÍs experience fishing in a creek behind a housing development near his home.

Cooper, Mary H. "Water Quality: The Issues" in Environment 02/03. John L. Allen, ed. Guilford, Ct: McGraw-Hill/Dushkin, 2002.

Here it is argued that water quality has drastically improved over the past three decades. Yet, there is still cause for concern„the EPA reports that 40% of the United StatesÍ waterways are still too dirty to be put to use or enjoyed. Unlike the problems with factories and sewage plants throughout history, pollution today is coming largely from non-point sources such as nutrient pollution. This article looks at safety and health concerns related to water quality, as well as at approaches that can be taken to improve the water quality.

Fijalkowski, Agata and Fitzmaurice, Malgosia, ed. The Right of the Child to a Clean Environment. Burlington, VT: Ashgate Publishing Company, 2000.

This book addresses the basic rights that children should be entitled to concerning their well-being and health. It states the importance of a clean environment for children and how they are more susceptible to various types of pollution. We will use this information as a base in proving that a childÍs physical health is affected by a unhealthy environment.

Frost, Robert. A Swinger of Birches. Owings Mills, Maryland: Stemmer House, 1982.

This is a book of Robert FrostÍs poems selected for young children. Many of them are nature poems. Illustrations are included that depict wilderness scenes and scenes of people interacting with nature.

Heimstra, Norman and McFarling, Leslie, ed. Environmental Psychology. Monterey, CA: Brooks/Cole Publishing Company, 1974.

This book explains the different types of interaction between man and nature in general, including recreational uses of the outdoors. It defines the terms temporary and permanent interaction with nature. These terms help explain the difference of interaction in urban and rural environments.

Larrick, Nancy, Ed. Room for Me and a Mountain Lion. New York: M. Evans and Company, 1974.

This poetry collection is intended by author to introduce children to nature and "open space" through poetry. Some of the poems were selected by young readers.

Moore, Robin. ChildhoodÍs Domain. Dover, NH: Croom Helm Ltd., 1986.

This book explores how environmental experience of children through play is limited or controlled by social, cultural and physical factors. It explores the importance of interdependence that exists between children and the biosphere and the role of physical environment in child development. It also offers a distinction between outdoor play from both urban and rural perspectives.

Patrick, Ruth. "Aquatic Communities as Indices of Pollution." in Indicators of Environmental Quality. William A. Thomas, ed. New York: Plenum Press, 1972.

This article explains scientific parameters that should be used to describe a natural community. It recommends the use of the Shannon-Weiner biodiversity index as a measure of environmental health.

R.E.M. "Nightswimming." Automatic For The People. Warner Brothers, 1992.

This song captures the experience of children swimming in a waterhole. The
swimming hole serves as a symbol of growing up.

Report of the Committee on Water Quality Criteria. Washington D.C.: Federal Water Pollution Control Administration, U.S. Department of the Interior, 1968.

This report observes the importance of water to humans, specifically for aesthetic and recreational values and purposes. It also provides average and recommended numerical values for many scientific measures of water quality and stream health.

Seligman, Martin E.P. et al, Ed. Abnormal Psychology. New York: W.W. Norton and
Company, 2001.

This textbook offers information relating environment to human psychology. According to the text, environmentalism states that "all organisms, including humans, are shaped by the environment" (102). Furthermore, a socioeconomic perspective is taken in exploring how people react and develop in enriched vs. impoverished environments, as well as in stressful environments.

Yolen, Jane. Color Me a Rhyme. Honesdale, PA: Wordsong /Boyds Mill Press, 2000.

A book of nature poetry and photos that uses individual colors to talk about nature
scenes. It is explicitly targeted as "nature poetry for young people".

Web Sources

EPA Website. "Water Quality Reporting." http://www.epa.gov/owow/monitoring/reporting.html. February 13, 2003.

National reports on water quality and how to report water quality.

"This Summer, "Waterproof" Your Child: Tips for Keeping Kids Safe On and In Water"
http://www.kidsource.com/kidsource/content5/waterproof.child.html. February 13, 2003.

This web article serves as an interesting counter-point to the above-mentioned article on the importance of water to childhood learning. In this article, water is something to be feared, to protect children from scrapes, cuts, etc. It suggests that water is good, but it should be experienced in a safe, sterile environment like a clean swimming pool.

Three Valley Conservation Trust Website. http://www.3vct.org/ February 13, 2003.

Organization trying to protect the area around Oxford that includes Four Mile Creek
through private land easements. A major point of their campaign is preserving land for children of landowners.

Water Education Foundation Website. http://www.water-ed.org. February 13, 2003.

This is the website of a non-profit organization that markets informational materials about teaching children about water to school systems and teachers.

"Water play: A key to children's living-learning environment" http://www.kidsource.com/kidsource/content3/waterplay.t.p.2.html. February 13, 2003.

This web article focuses on how water can be used for a learning tool into math, science, etc. "When it comes to play materials, children don't mind getting messy or wet." It suggests that children prefer learning with an organic material such as water.

III. Approaches / Research Design / Methods

Included within our project are these individual research activities:

Visit to Hueston Woods: We will conduct an interview with the rangers at Hueston Woods to get a grip on the services and activities that the lodge offers to
children and families. Locate the areas where swimming and recreation takes place near Four Mile Creek. Find possible contacts of parents and children that
frequent the park/live nearby. Interview and photograph children and parents that
reside near Four-Mile creek. How do they interact with the creek? What values do they place on nature? Do they have health concerns? Regarding the history of
the creek, have health concerns changed over time?

Interview with Larry Frimerman: How does the TVCT approach landowners in regards to their children? Do they sponsor educational programs geared towards educating children?

Pfeffer Park Visit April 4th: Observe elementary students participating in PWEEP park visit.

Visit Stewart Elementary School: Ask children to write about their interactions with water. Have they come into contact with Four Mile Creek in Hueston woods? Compile a book of water experiences. We will ask them to include pictures and poetry as an artistic response to the creek. Including a survey with a scale, we will ask the children some tentative questions such as:

1. Where is your favorite place to play? (by a creek,on concrete, inside)

2. How often do you play in or near a creek?

3. Where is your favorite place to play along the creek? Where the stream flows faster or stays still?

4. What do you like best about the creek?

5. What don't you like about playing in the creek? (is it dirty, does it smell bad)

Four Mile Creek Testing (at Hueston Woods): Measure coliform, ph, nitrate-phosphate levels on samples from swim holes and frequented recreational areas. Also run a biodiversity index to factor the health of the water. We will take these measurements three times throughout the semester and create a data sheet including a timeline of the dates and the results of the testing.

Survey schools in Oxford and Inner-city Cincinnati: Compare responses of water interaction between urban/rural areas.

Our testing of the creek and surveying of students will result in statistical analysis, while the other activities will be largely interview/observational.
Using StatView, we will process and analyze all of our collected data, qualitative and quantitative.

To divide up responsibilities within the project, Austin and Laura will be in charge of the scientific testing of the water. Lia and Lauren will visit the schools mentioned and compile psychological and social research. We will all participate in setting up and conducting interviews and compiling all of the final
data.

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