Observation and analysis of environmental factors of surface waters: An internet of things educational approach

Aquatic environment plays an extremely important role in the existence of life on Earth. However, aquatic ecosystems are directly at risk from increasing pollution, climate change and biodiversity loss, which makes it more than necessary to keep them constantly and thoroughly monitored. In this paper, the implementation of a STEM educational practice using the Internet of Things (IoT) systems, together with properly Design-Based Learning (DBL) activities, is presented to inquiry aquatic environments. In particular, it describes the design and implementation of an automated system that exploits data from installed sensors in lakes and rivers to monitor and record environmental parameters. Through the effort to raise school's community awareness for water quality protection as a result of STEM educational activities, in which knowledge of science, technology, engineering and mathematics is applied, students gain: a) knowledge and understanding of basic physical and chemical parameters of aquatic ecosystems, and b) the ability to correlate, interpret and evaluate changes in the physical and chemical parameters of water.