First, keep the END GOAL in mind: Conduct meaningful community outreach, effectively communicate the science and your message to your chosen audience, and ultimately make a positive impact in your local community.
Project Checklist
Download, print, and read through the entire Project Checklist before you begin. Keep it accessible throughout the project and use it to track your progress, checking off each task as you complete it to make sure nothing is missed.
Introduction to SEPA
Introduce your students to the project by explaining its goals, purpose, and importance. Emphasize the project’s public health focus and how collecting and analyzing water samples can help identify potential concerns and contribute to better health outcomes for individuals, families, and the broader community.
Help students understand that their participation is part of a larger effort to promote community health and awareness. Highlight that the ultimate goal is to use what they learn to support meaningful community outreach, share information with others, and contribute to positive, lasting change at the local level.
Modify this PowerPoint presentation to meet your students’ needs or visit our StoryMaps for more arsenic-specific and SEPA project information!
Drinking Water Kit Components
All items below must be part of each kit. Teachers will use their classroom award (invoice template below) to purchase kit components. A manila envelope with a “seal and peel” or clasp closure will suffice to hold all the components.
- 50 mL conical tubes (these self-standing tubes might be convenient!)
- Parafilm-3 squares
- Envelopes (to hold kit components)
- Labels and magnets, contact us at arsenic@mdibl.org; we will send them to you!
- Parent letter with permission form (see below)
- Sample Collection Protocol (see below)
- Water Sample Datasheet (see below)
- Intergenerational Learning Activity (see below)
Classroom Award Invoice Template
Every school will receive a classroom budget of $500 for kit components and other supplies. Download this invoice, complete it, then send it to the email address listed at the top of the document.
Informational Letter and Permissions for Parent/Guardian
Print this letter and include it in the drinking water kit with other components.
Protocol for Collecting 50 mL Samples for Analysis at Dartmouth Trace Element Analysis Core
This protocol should be sent home with the tubes, parafilm, datasheet, informational letter and permission form, intergenerational activity, and magnet (if available). It explains how to collect a sample.
Datasheet for Drinking Water Sample Collection
Students must complete all information on the datasheet for every water sample.
Intergenerational Activity
An intergenerational activity is a required component of the project. An easy way to meet this requirement is to include one of our at-home intergenerational activities with the drinking water sample kit. Students can then complete the activity with a parent or guardian while collecting their household water sample, creating an opportunity for learning and conversation across generations.
Sample Registration on Anecdata, Manifest & Tracking
You or your students MUST register samples into the All About Arsenic project on Anecdata. This is mandatory.
Before shipping samples to Dartmouth, teachers must assure that all data sheet information is entered into the All About Arsenic project on Anecdata, and that all information on each datasheet matches its corresponding sample registration in Anecdata.
Then, send the datasheets to MDI Biological Laboratory for archiving.
Use the Excel sheet below to keep track of who gets which sample number and if the sample is returned. This is very important in managing this project.
The second tab on the sheet will serve as your shipping manifest. Every box must be checked for each sample to ensure that a permission slip has been signed and sent to Dartmouth, that a datasheet has been completed for each sample and sent to MDI Biological Laboratory, and that information on each datasheet has been accurately entered into the All About Arsenic project on Anecdata.org.
Unless there is a manifest acknowledging that samples have been entered into Anecdata and that all permission forms have sample numbers and have been signed, the samples cannot be analyzed.
Shipping to Dartmouth College
You can find sample submission dates and shipping and email addresses to Dartmouth on the homepage of our SEPA LabCentral Workspace.
Make sure each sample is appropriately wrapped with parafilm (around the perimeter of the cap) to prevent spills. Pack your samples as tightly as you can so they don’t roll around. You could put them in Ziploc bags or stuff the remainder of your package with newsprint or bubble wrap. Samples must be shipped with signed permission slips. If these are missing, samples will not be analyzed.
Include in the box a copy of the worksheet from the Teacher Sample Tracking Excel file, labeled “Manifest for Shipping to Dartmouth.” You should also email the manifest to Ramsey at the Trace Element Analysis Core to let her know to expect your package.
How to Check Results
Look up your sample number
Case Study
At the end of the project, you are required to write up a case study. Case Studies will be shared on the project website to support future teachers, highlight the range of curricula and activities students participated in, and showcase each class’s final community outreach product (e.g., a community meeting, presentation to the school board, brochure for the school library, op-ed, or similar project).
Case Studies are also an important part of our project evaluation and are essential to preparing our annual report for our grant funder, the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Your Case Study helps us demonstrate the impact of the project and document the valuable work you and your students accomplished in your community.
Check out the Case Studies tab for examples of case studies from previous years.
Download the Case Study Template here.