Boone County Cooperative Extension partners with Boone County Conservation, Sanitation District No. 1 of Northern Kentucky and Northern Kentucky University to provide a unique experience for youth ages, 11-16, to learn about the ecological importance of algae in water ecosystems as well as the negative impacts of having too much algae.  

This program is one lesson from a series of monthly meetings of the Stream Team.  The Stream Teams overall goal is to create water quality stewards in youth and build leadership, as well as, career skills that youth can utilize in their future.

Six students out of ten Stream Team members attended the algae program.  This program allowed students to learn how to use a microscope, identify different types of algae, sketch what their observation and understand the ecological impacts of algae.  As a follow-up to the science lesson, participants learned how to create a mosaics based on their algae observations.  In these mosaics, students learned real-world skills such as how to grout tile. 

Only one student has familiar with how to operate a microscope before the program and none were familiar with the different species of algae, their shapes, sizes, or movement mechanisms. This led to an increase in knowledge in the topic in a fun, hands-on, activity.  The art project follow-up portion of the program introduced the concept on diatom art by Klaus Kemp to all students.