The Day in the Life of Lake Ontario- St. Lawrence River project, with funding from the US EPA Great Lakes National Program Office, by training teachers and educators, providing equipment and stipends to teachers, and coordinating student summit events in support of New York’s Great Lakes Ecosystem Education Exchange and New York’s Great Lakes Action Agenda. The development of lesson plans, activity instructions and classroom resources integrated the 9 objectives of the Lake Ontario Lake wide Action and Management Plan, which include safe drinking water, being free nutrients that promote nuisance algae, being free from harmful pollutants, safe swimming beaches, allowing for fish and wildlife consumption, providing healthy habitats for native species, being free from invasive species, being free from harmful groundwater contamination, and being free from other negative effects, such as climate change. Teachers and educators also learned about research being conducted under the Cooperative Science and Monitoring Initiative to understand lake wide conditions. Environmental education outcomes of this 2 year project included: engaging 12 teachers and 25 education partners in a one-day training workshop, providing 10 teachers with equipment bins that they can use with classes beyond the project funding, and engaging 684 students in hands on learning about the Lake Ontario- St. Lawrence River ecosystem to build sense of place and promote stewardship. Monitoring data collected by students at 6 sites under an EPA and DEC approved Quality Assurance Project plan was also completed and made available on the DEC Education website. Based on the success of this 2-year project, recommendations include continuing to coordinate with DITL of LOSLR teachers and partners trained in 2022 and 23 to support student summit events and applying the DITL model to support programming in the Oswego River/Finger Lakes watershed in partnership with DEC, OPRHP, and other interested partners. Website: https://dec.ny.gov/get-involved/education/teacher-information/day-in-the-life-lake-ontario-st-lawrence-river
