Minnesota Middle and High School students create an original digital media campaign informing the public about the impact of water quality on native mussels.

The school groups that get the message out to the most people will receive FREE field trips to the Minnesota Zoo including bussing, admission, parking and interactive sessions about our Mussel Conservation program.

Almost half of Minnesota’s native freshwaters mussels are threatened are endangered of extinction. This project provides an opportunity to talk about these unique species while also addressing water quality in our area and seeking solutions. It also has interwoven an element of community service and local engagement.

In addition, creating a digital media campaign can be a powerful hands-on strategy to help students highlight their science research projects, retain content knowledge and even increase learning goals.

The project can be implemented to address the following benchmarks:

• Minnesota Science Standards related to:
  • System Relationships
  • Changes in Ecosystems
  • Humans Effects on Ecosystems
  • Decisions and Health
  • Impact of Chemical Technology

• Advanced Placement Environmental Science (APES)
  • Earth Systems and Resources (10%–15%)
    • Global Water Resources and Use
  • The Living World (10%–15%)
    • Ecosystem Structure and Diversity
    • Natural Ecosystem Change
  • Pollution (25%–30%)
    • Pollution Types
    • Impacts on the Environment and Human Health
    • Economic Impacts
  • Global Change (10%–15%)
    • Loss of Biodiversity

• Minnesota English Language Arts related to:
  • Comprehension and Collaboration
  • Presentation of Knowledge and Ideas
  • Media Literacy

• International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) standards related to:
  • Digital Citizen
  • Knowledge Constructor
  • Creative Communicator

• Yes! To access our Free Downloadable curriculum, click here.

YES! Virtually watch the Show Us Your Mussels Virtual Teacher Training videos to learn more about native freshwater mussels, water quality, and the Minnesota Zoo and DNR’s important mussel conservation work. This training is self-guided, allowing you to access the information at a time and place that works for you. The training is divided into 9 different short videos so you can pick which topics work for you.

To watch this asynchronous training, simply clink on the following link to our YouTube playlist at: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLM4y6zy8KyFM5jn6OF-FoXTkdynPs5N6z

For more information email us at [email protected].

Information about the Challenge and resources are continually updated via our Facebook page (MnZooEdu). Please follow-us! We also provide teachers with updates via email.

If you are interested in us coming to your school to talk about the project and the information that the Zoo is doing in mussel conservation, we would be happy to visit if we are available. For more information, please email us at [email protected].

The projects must be created and/or disseminated digitally. Examples may include online videos, websites, social media outreach, games, simulations, radio ads, etc. Specific resources have been developed to support teachers in developing and tracking YouTube videos, websites and Instagram campaigns.

Besides having a digital component, the campaign must encourage community members to take some kind of action to improve water quality and conserve native mussel populations.

Projects may be created by individual students or in small groups. Each school may have as many campaigns going on at the same time as they wish. Winning schools will be selected based on the total amount of votes that school receives and how many people are reached by the campaign.

This year we would like students to focus on the following actions to improve water quality:

Pet Waste
Pet waste that washes off lawns and parks during rain and snow melt events contribute to harmful bacteria and nutrient contamination of our river water. Impaired water can become so bad that swimming is not recommended within 48 hours of a rainstorm. Help prevent this by always carrying bags to pick up pet waste and disposing of them in the trash or flush it down the toilet without the bag.

Boating & Fishing, Clean in Clean Out
Invasive zebra mussels that harm our native mussels attach to boat docks and boat hulls. If you use a boat, you can help prevent the spread of zebra mussels by removing all aquatic plants from the boat and trailer, draining all of the water from your boat and bait bucket, never dipping a bucket into a lake if the bucket contains water from another lake, and allowing your boat and trailer to dry in the sun for at least five days before using them in other waters.

Reduce Salt Use
The salt we put on our roads, sidewalks and driveways are not only melting the ice, but the excess eventually runs into our lakes and streams raising the overall salinity of our freshwater ecosystems. This increase in salinity is deadly to our mussels as well as to our fish, amphibians, and other aquatic species. Reduce the amount you use and sweep up any excess that remains. Save and reuse it for another day.

Winners will be selected based on two criteria: 1) number of votes received online and 2) number of people reached by the campaign.

Online Voting

The Zoo will provide teachers with a link to embed in student projects. When a member of the public clicks on the link it will send them directly to the voting site. They will be prompted to answer two simple questions and vote for that school. Each person can vote once. Number of votes earned will be reported to schools weekly. The voting portion of the campaign opens in February.

People Reached
As part of the project, students will be responsible for keeping track of how many people they reach through the campaign. This will mean counting likes, follows, shares, etc. and reporting them back through to the Zoo. Each student group will complete a reflection form which describes their project and its reach.

Registration deadline: December 31
Live Campaign: The month of February

To register, fill out the simple form at the top of this webpage or email your name, name of school, grade level and number of students participating to [email protected].

Once registered, you will receive an initial confirmation email, then weekly emails in January. Teachers can decide how/when to develop campaigns in their classrooms. However, the website for tracking votes will only be live in February each year. This is the timeframe where students will track how many people are reached through their campaign.

Participants from the schools with the highest combined votes and reach will receive a FREE field trip to the Minnesota Zoo including bussing, parking and admission. They will also receive a behind the scenes tour of mussel conservation work at the Zoo.

Winners will be announced by the middle of March.

By the end of the school year. The exact dates and times will be arranged with the Minnesota Zoo and the winning schools.

Important Dates
Summer 2025	Registration opens for the 2025-2026 Challenge
December 31, 2025	Registration closes for the Challenge.
January 2026	Teachers receive weekly emails and a link to embed in student projects.
February 1- 28, 2026	Site is open for voting.
March 6, 2026	Student reflection forms due to the Zoo.
March 13, 2026	Winners contacted by the Zoo.
April-June 2026	Field trips for winning schools.