WEST MELBOURNE, Fla. — The plight of the struggling Indian River Lagoon is well known these days, and on Thursday, local students from Central Middle School joined thousands more in a big research effort.

  • Brevard students help collect scientific data on Indian River Lagoon
  • Project a part of 'A Day in the Life' research program
  • Data collected will be compared; results to be released in a month

It's part of "A Day in the Life" science research program focusing on the fragile ecosystem.

More than 2,000 students like 7th grader Christina Keen spanned the 156 mile-long stretch of waterway -- collecting simultaneous scientific data.

"It shows more people care about the lagoon, it's not just us," she told Spectrum News after spending time in the water. "There's a very thick layer of muck at the bottom."

The kids mapped their site, grabbed water and sediment samples, and took lots of pictures of fish and plants.

"To be able to coordinate these teams up and down the lagoon, and sample and snapshot of what the nitrogen is … normally you can only get it at one point at a time," said Robert Weaver, Florida Tech Ocean Engineering Associate Professor.”

They also examined oyster mats put in the area a year ago to gauge water quality.

You could call all of the work an “environmental report card.”

"All of these metrics are critical," Weaver said.

It’s also important for these young kids to become stewards of this Florida treasure.

"If nobody learns about it, the lagoon will slowly die off," Keen said.

All of the data collected today by the students will be compared, and results are expected in about a month.