Children and Four Mile Creek (DRAFT FOUR)

This topic submitted by Laura Englehart, Austin Kleon, Lia Silver, and Lauren Dean ( Kleonaw@muohio.edu ) on 3/6/03. [ 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 health of the children who
interact with the area. How do the scientific and aesthetic attributes of stream
health correlate to child development and is this correlation dependent on the
child's social,economic, geographic, and cultural place in life? What is
the relationship between water quality/stream health and the quality of a child's
experience with a stream environment? 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:

Check it out: http://www.dnr.state.oh.us/parks/parks/huestonw.htm

Our sites of interest here will be
the dam and beach area and where the creek flows into Acton Lake.

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?

We're wondering if the "artificial"
watering holes known as swimming pools are replacing creeks as a play area for
children. On the website for Hueston woods, more attention is paid to thier
indoor/outdoor swimming pools than to their creek/lake area. Why is this? This
carries over to our work with the McGuffey Foundation School.

Four Mile Creek Testing (at
Hueston Woods):

(Acton Lake)

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. We also want to get data from high-recreation
times like in summer to compare to our own low-recreation data.

Interview with Larry Frimerman:

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

check out this link: http://www.3vct.org/kids/kidsframeset.htm

Pfeffer Park Visit April 4th:

Observe elementary students participating
in PWEEP park visit.

Visit McGuffey Foundation School:

We plan to contact Janet Kretschmer
and set up a focus-format group with children from the spectrum of ages that
the school teaches. We will ask children to talk about their interactions with
water. Have they come into contact with Four Mile Creek in Hueston woods? Where
is thier favorite place to play (by a creek,on concrete, inside)? How often
do they play in or near a creek? What do they like best about the creek? What
don't you like about playing in the creek? (is it dirty, does it smell bad)

From this we hope to compile a book
of water experiences. We will ask them to include pictures and poetry as an
artistic response to the creek.

http://w3.iac.net/~mcguffey/

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.

Next Article
Previous Article
Return to the Topic Menu